Canada's Corey Conners off to hot start close to home at PGA Championship

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.  

Conners shared a piece of the lead for most of his back nine but ended up in a tie for third at day’s end.

The second round will be completed Friday, as a frost delay Thursday morning pushed tee-times by nearly two hours. Play was officially called for the day at 8:30 p.m. ET.

Eric Cole was the leader at 5 under thru 14 holes while Bryson DeChambeau sits in solo second at 4 under.  

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 seventh in strokes gained: putting through late afternoon.  

Combine that with his usual sparkling tee-to-green effort 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.  

Despite the chilly morning temperatures, Conners wasn’t fazed. He was the lone golfer on the course Wednesday morning practicing with the temperature hovering around zero degrees embracing the conditions. Conners said 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.” 

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.” 

There were some solid results from the rest of the Canadian contingent as well Thursday at Oak Hill.

Adam Hadwin was 1 under through 15 holes before play was called and tied for 10th. Adam Svensson and Taylor Pendrith were at even par. Pendrith scrambled for par on his final two holes – including rolling in a 21-footer on No.18. Nick Taylor shot 1 over after making double bogey on his final hole of the day, while Mackenzie Hughes shot a 4-over 74.

DECHAMBEAU’S DIET

Bryson DeChambeau hasn’t been playing his best golf over the last few years, but after a dramatic diet pivot – for the better this time – and a return to form, he had a magical start to the PGA Championship.

DeChambeau shot a 4-under 66 and is in solo second. The 2020 U.S. Open winner defected to LIV last year and has two top-10s in his career on that Tour. He found out his body was “super inflamed” after withdrawing from the Masters in 2020, and has spent the better part of two years trying to return to full health.  

DeChambeau said he stopped eating 5,000 calories per day and is down to 2,900 or thereabouts. He took a Zoomer peptide test and found he was allergic to corn, wheat, gluten, and dairy (“Pretty much everything I liked, I couldn’t eat,” he said). He lost 18 pounds in 24 days – water weight, he said. He also had surgery on his hand in April 2022.

It’s been a long way back, but he’s in as solid a spot as you could ask for after 18 holes at the PGA Championship.

“It's been a while,” DeChambeau said. “You see me out there on the range. That's something I don't want to do. I don't want to be out there all night, but I've had to (do that) to figure out what I did so well in 2018 and what made me so successful then. I feel like I'm catching on and trending that direction.

“Figured out a couple things this week, and it certainly paid off today.”

RORY’S “FIGHTING SOMETHING”

Justin Thomas was caught on camera as he and Rory McIlroy left the 10th tee box taking a step away from McIlroy with a laugh – he knew something was up.

Turns out McIlroy, who shot a 1-over 71 Thursday at Oak Hill, is indeed under the weather.

“I'm fighting something. I thought I got a great night's sleep last night, and I look at my Whoop and I was 22 percent recovery, and my skin temperature was 3.5 degrees higher than what it's been,” McIlroy said.

He thinks he’ll get better with “plenty of water and a bit of rest.”

But McIlroy is still fighting his golf swing. He hit only two fairways on Thursday and had to have a mad scramble to get out of an early rut. He finished strong, however, with three birdies in his final seven holes. “I'm just struggling with my swing. Yeah, it's pretty messy out there, so just trying to make pars,” McIlroy said. “There was a couple of glimmers of hope in there coming in.”

SCOTTIE’S UP, RAHM’S DOWN

The world’s top-ranked golfers went in different directions Thursday at Oak Hill.

Scottie Scheffler fired his first-career bogey-free round at a major while Jon Rahm fired a 6-over 76 – tied for his worst round on the PGA Tour this season.

“Couldn't find the fairway and the fairways that I missed cost me bogeys,” Rahm, the world No.1, said.

Scheffler, the world No. 2, put together a complete first-round effort. He shot a 3-under 67 and was tied for third with Conners and Dustin Johnson at day’s end.

Scheffler’s tee-to-green game was solid, and his putting was much improved versus his season average. He was 26th in strokes gained: putting on Thursday against a season-long number of 102nd in that same category.

“Getting around with no bogeys was really good. I mean, that’s pretty much how I shot 3-under,” Scheffler said. “There’s not really many birdie opportunities out there. So, if you can limit the mistakes good things will happen.”