It was a basic Corey Conners sort of round Thursday at The Players Championship.
And with that, the Canadian has discovered himself in the mix at a big-time event.
Conners shot an opening 3-under 69 at TPC Sawgrass – a course he informed Sportsnet.ca Monday is one of the “favourites” they play annually on the PGA Tour – and is simply two again of the early lead heading into Friday.
He’s at the moment tied for tenth.
The first round of The Players was suspended at 7:37 p.m. ET with 4 gamers left to complete their opening rounds, together with one of the co-leaders, Austin Smotherman.
Maverick McNealy, Lee Hodges, Sepp Straka, and Sahith Theegala all shot 5-under 67s earlier in the day. There was a 21-minute delay Thursday on account of a passing storm that made the golf course unplayable.
Conners noticed his tee time in the afternoon delayed by half-hour, nevertheless it appeared to matter little to the Canadian, as he birdied his opening gap, the par-4 tenth. He gave it again with a bogey on the island-green par-3 seventeenth however added birdies on Nos. 1, 2, and seven earlier than entering into the home.
If something, Conners’ opener at TPC Sawgrass was a microcosm of his season as an entire.
His world-renowned ball placing returned as he ended the day third in strokes gained: tee to inexperienced and sixth in strokes gained: method to inexperienced. He struggled with the putter once more Thursday, nevertheless, shedding nearly a shot-and-a-half to the discipline.
His putter was chilly whereas his iron play was scorching.
Conners missed seven putts of lower than 15 toes on Thursday (together with two of eight toes or much less), six of which have been for birdie. If he managed to make only a third of these, he’d be tied for the lead.
Conners informed Sportsnet.ca earlier than the event he’s a “momentum putter” and simply wanted to get some mojo going by seeing balls fall into the gap. It occurred often Thursday, however there’s room to enhance.
“I’m working hard at it as I’ve been trying to do the same stuff that served me well last year,” Conners stated of his placing. “It’s been getting better.”
The excellent news is that Conners will get out early Friday for his second round on contemporary greens and can look to make a tidy transfer on the leaders earlier than the weekend. It’s nearly cliché to listen to a golfer say how shut they’re, however in Conners’ case, it’s a singular half of his sport that simply wants a slight enchancment over the subsequent 18 holes.
Sudarshan Yellamaraju, who’s making his debut at The Players, has one gap to finish in his first round Friday morning. He’s at the moment at 1 over and the second-best Canadian on the leaderboard.
Mackenzie Hughes, Taylor Pendrith, and Nick Taylor all shot 2-over 74s.
AJ Ewart, who can also be making his Players debut and is grouped with Yellamaraju, is 5 over via 17 holes.
