ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Buoyed by some Canadian cheers and encouraged by a hot putter, Corey Conners is firmly in the mix at the PGA Championship after his opening round.
Conners, of Listowel, Ont. (only 340 kilometres from Oak Hill Country Club) shot a 3-under 67 to open the second men’s major of the year, rolling in six birdies in the process.
He was tied for the lead for most of his back nine before falling into a tie for second late in the afternoon.
Conners, who came into the week after a tie for eighth at the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow (a long-time major championship venue itself) made bogey on his second hole of the day but rolled in birdies on Nos. 5, 6, and 8 before making the turn.
After a tough bogey on the par-4 10th, he also added birdies on Nos. 12, 14, and 15. The birdie on the par-3 15th came from more than 30 feet away and Conners, whose putting is the lone part of his game that holds him back, was sublime on the putting surfaces Thursday. He was fourth in strokes gained: putting through late afternoon.
Combine that with his usual sparkling tee-to-green effort (he was seventh in strokes gained: tee to green and eighth in strokes gained: approach the green) and you have a very solid start.
“It’s still a little early but I saw some leaderboards out there today and I knew I was near the top,” Conners said, “and it’s a nice place to be.”
Conners called the momentum he gained from giving himself chances and rolling in a few putts all “really important” as he searches for his first major-championship title.
“There are a few moments out there for sure like making a couple birdies back-to-back… a nice par (save) on the 11th hole after blowing my birdie putt way by (and) after bogeying 10… it was nice to make that par and follow it up with more birdies,” Conners said.
The first round of the PGA Championship was delayed by nearly two hours due to frost. It was not something that shook Conners, as he was the lone golfer on the course Wednesday morning practicing with the temperature hovering around zero degrees. He said that he would often be clamouring for the golf courses to be opening up back home in Ontario by the time mid-April rolled around, so the single-digit temperatures earlier in the day didn’t bother him.
“I would say I’ve certainly got plenty of experience playing in cold weather, growing up in Canada. Played a lot of golf even at Kent State at university and some colder tournaments. I’m certainly not afraid of it,” Conners said.
Conners has had a bit of an up-and-down year in terms of results he told Sportsnet.ca earlier in the week, but this is the kind of golf course that he enjoys. So much so that when asked after his opening-round effort what his ideal type of golf course would be, he said something like Oak Hill would suit him just fine.
“I’ve been excited to get here to Oak Hill for a while. It just has a little bit of a Canadian feel, like I’m playing back home. Familiar with the grass. Yeah, tight fairways, deep rough, small greens. That’s what you’ve got here,” Conners said.
Oak Hill underwent a significant renovation completed in 2020, and it’s a true major-championship test with all of the attributes Conners mentioned. To have success a golfer must be accurate and long with the driver, dialled in with the irons, and rolling the putter well. Conners was doing all of that Thursday.
He wasn’t 100 per cent sure he saw six birdies being out there, but things were just going his way in the opening round.
And he took advantage.
“I knew it was possible to give yourself some opportunities,” Conners said. “I would say the couple of things that worked really well, I hit a couple of great approach shots when I could be aggressive and hit a lot of smart shots and was able to roll in some putts.
“I felt like I was seeing the lines really well and hit a lot of really solid putts.”
As the afternoon wave began, Conners was one shot back of the lead held by Bryson DeChambeau and was tied with major winners Scottie Scheffler and Keegan Bradley for second.
Conners was giving the crowds plenty to cheer for in his opening round, and now he’s hoping to keep it going.
“Lots of Canadian cheers,” Conners said with a smile. “Being so close to the Canadian border, I think lots of fans came down from Canada. I felt pretty special to have a lot of support out there.”
