ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Adam Hadwin finished up his round just as Corey Conners was on the practice green doing final preparations for his Sunday at the PGA Championship. Hadwin gave his countryman a hug and told him it was a good day to have a good day. It’s what you practice for, he said, these moments.
Unfortunately for Conners, the day started tough and got harder as he fought his way around Oak Hill Country Club. The Canadian, who was in the penultimate group Sunday and came into the finale just one shot back of the lead, shot a 5-over 75 to finish tied for 12th.
Conners was just one of two golfers inside the top 15 on the final leaderboard who was over par for Sunday’s finale.
Oh, what could have been.
There was plenty of supporting characters all trying to help Conners take this championship across the finish line. A group of eight buddies from London, Toronto, and Ottawa all wore red ‘Team Canada’ shirts feature a bad-boys-for-life style photo of Conners and Mackenzie Hughes. A foursome wearing Listowel Cyclones hockey jerseys cancelled a golf tournament today to come cheer.
“We had booze and food ordered but we put it in the freezer since we had more important things to worry about,” the leader of the group said.
Conners’ wife, Malory, was there. Other friends and family. Golf Canada’s CEO Laurence Applebaum. Conners’ mom, Janet.
They all wanted it. Conners wanted it. It was just not his day.
“That’s golf, really,” Conners said. “As brutal as some of the shots looked today I felt like I was really close to hitting a lot of great ones — just wasn’t meant to be. There’s certainly a fine line and that’s why the game beats us up sometimes — but it’s also rewarding.”
This PGA Championship was the most rewarding for Brooks Koepka, who won by two over Scottie Scheffler and Viktor Hovland. This was Koepka’s fifth major triumph and third PGA Championship – tying him for the most Wanamaker Trophy victories in the modern era with Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods. Nice company. He shot a final-round 67.
Koepka stayed up late to watch the Florida Panthers’ overtime victory Saturday night. A few nights ago, when the Panthers won by in quadruple overtime, he fell asleep on the couch. The next morning, he woke up and shot 66.
Something about those Panthers (or, the ‘P’s’ as Koepka calls them).
For Koepka, who returned from a myriad of injuries back into the major-championship form that earned him four majors in two years, this victory was extra special. His wife, Jena, is pregnant with their first child. His struggles were well documented in Netflix’s “Full Swing.” He jumped to LIV. A lot has happened since he last won a major, the 2019 PGA Championship. He nearly won the Masters six weeks ago, but he choked (his own admission) and finished tied for second.
“I spent the whole night thinking about it. I knew what I did and I knew I was never going to come out and think that way again,” Koepka said of what he learned at Augusta National.
Koepka also bucked the trend of his final-round scoring average at majors since 2019. It was a pre-round story – could Koepka close? That number was 72, which would have been 2-over on this day. That wasn’t the case, however, as his 3-under 67 was among the third-lowest in the final round.
After Koepka defected to LIV last year he has since won twice on that circuit – in October of last year and in April of this year. LIV was represented again on this major championship leaderboard, with Bryson DeChambeau – who was grouped with Conners Sunday – finishing tied for third and Cameron Smith, after a low-round-of-the-week 65 finishing tied for 9th.
The narrative of LIV versus PGA Tour subsided this week, with plenty of the biggest names staying quiet. One group made their choice, the other didn’t, and life goes on, it seems. Koepka, never one to be rah-rah about much of anything (even when he was on the PGA Tour) just keeps getting up for the majors – week-in and week-out tournaments be darned.
At Sunday’s conclusion, it was the 18th time since 2017 that Koepka led or co-led a round of a major. No other player has more than eight in that span.
His fifth major triumph ties Koepka with icons of the game like Byron Nelson and Seve Ballesteros. For all the aforementioned reasons, and plenty more, this one he would classify as the top of the top.
“This is probably the sweetest one of them all because of all the hard work that went into this one,” said Koepka. “This one is definitely special.”
While Koepka leaned on his strengths – and major mojo – Sunday, Conners’ usual strengths turned into his weaknesses. He was absolutely dialled in for the first 54 holes of the week with his ball-striking – 10th in strokes gained: off the tee on Saturday but 70th in that stat Sunday. His strokes gained: approach the green number ballooned from 27th on Saturday to 74th for the finale.
Was it pressure? Was it the moment? How did things turn for the worse?
He misjudged the wind a few times, he said, early in the round and ending up “hacking it” out of the rough on the back nine. Tough to make up ground when you’re trying to play catch-up.
There were new moments for Conners this weekend at a major. Final group on Saturday. Penultimate pairing on Sunday. Those are some late tee times, and some lonely driving ranges. Conners didn’t let that bother him, he admitted, it was just a day when he was a little off and the score reflected it.
“To be honest I did feel quite comfortable out there,” Conners said. “Felt like I was relaxed, felt like I was playing with freedom, just didn’t execute the shots like I wanted.”
So, Conners – who will remain the top-ranked Canadian male in golf after this week – heads into an off week after a major week. He’ll tee it up at the Memorial in Ohio next, at a golf course he loves, before returning north for the RBC Canadian Open and the U.S. Open in California the next week. Plenty more opportunities for Conners to have a big moment on a big stage.
Mike Weir had his own learning experiences late in majors before he finally won one 20 years ago. If you chalk this Sunday up as a teachable moment for Conners, then don’t be surprised to see him back in the mix at a major sooner rather than later.
“Disappointing day today,” Conners said, “but I’ll be hungry when I have that chance again.”
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