Corey Conners goes low at The Open, golfer uniquely celebrated in hometown

National Post

2 days ago

PORTRUSH, Nothern Ireland — Corey Conners' regular group at his Listowel, Ont. coffee spot likely hadn't even sat down for their morning cup when their pal was rolling in one last birdie at Royal Portrush on Saturday.
More on the golfer's morning hang later.
On Saturday, Conners gave Canadian golf fans a nice surprise to wake up to at Royal Portrush, catapulting up the leaderboard at the Open Championship by shooting a five-under 66.
'I felt like there were a few more scoring opportunities and I could be a little bit more aggressive with my approach shots,' Conners told the Toronto Sun after his round.
After making the one-over cut on the number Friday night at 8:30 p.m., Conners and Germany's Matthias Schmid were back at it again first out of the gate on Saturday morning.
The Canadian didn't waste any time, birdieing the first hole for one of six birdies on the day and leaving the course after a speedy 3-hour-and-50-minute round in a tie for 10th position, at least temporarily.
'I really hit a lot of quality shots today. I think there were a few more opportunities where the wind was helping you get it close to the pin locations,' he said.
Conners also birdied his last hole of the day, rolling in a 42-footer after a rare mis-hit iron shot. Worried he might have too much club, and trying to take a little off his shot, Conners flared his approach to the right but caught a break as it banked back onto the putting surface.
How good was he hitting it on Saturday? It was the only mis-hit Conners could remember.
'I was pretty solid the last couple of days,' he said. 'I can't really think of too many.'
After some struggling with his putter over the first two days, Conners decided the answer was to lean even more heavily on his exquisite ball-striking and try to hit the ball a little closer to the hole. That might not sound like rocket science, but around Portrush's dangerous links caution is usually the best policy.
But after discussions with his caddy Danny Sahl and swing coach Derek Ingram, and considering that even Conners is finding his iron play mightily impressive this week, the 33-year-old opted to get slightly more aggressive with his approach shots on Saturday. It paid off.
'It's a nice strength ot have for sure,' Conners said of his ball-striking.
Conners has one more day of Open Championship golf ahead, then he will head back home to Listowel, two hours north-west of Toronto, where the global golf star spends his summers with wife Malory and the couple's two young children.
'It's a nice place. It's just home,' Conners said. 'It's where Mal and I grew up and we can live pretty simply. We built a nice house there and I enjoy reconnecting with family and friends that we are away from so many weeks a year.'
This is the third summer the family has spent back in Ontario after living full time in Florida earlier in Conners' career. At last count, Listowel had a population of just under 10,000.
Ten-thousand people and one famous golfer.
'Yeah, everybody knows me but I'm just a normal guy,' he said. 'And I really feel like a normal person there. A lot of the people in town and around the golf course have known me since I was growing up. I know they are really proud of me but they know me as just a simple person.'
Conners says he spends most of his time at Listowel Golf Club, the course he grew up on, and at home where his children Reis and Tate have plenty of room to play.
One day a few years ago, the golf club was short-staffed so the 24th ranked golfer in the world jumped behind the counter. Because, why not?
'I came out of retirement from the pro shop and hopped behind the desk and checked people in,' he recalled.
Back to his golf game for minute.
With a swing that has been the envy of many of his peers for years, but a putter that has at times held him back, I asked Conners if he has ever wanted to trade and be a lights-out putter rather than a great ball-striker.
Conners cut the question off mid-sentence.
'I'd pick being in control of my ball from tee to green for sure,' he said. 'It keeps things as simple as possible out there when you're hitting a lot of fairways and a lot of greens. Not a ton of stress. It's nice to always be able to fall back on that.'
According to the golfer, he has seen plenty of positives with his putter this season and he pointed to the first two rounds at the Masters in April. For two days at Augusta National, Conners says he wasn't striking the ball anywhere near his standards but stayed in the mix on the strength of his putter, even on some of the toughest greens he faced all year.
His comments are backed up by statistics. For the season on the PGA Tour, Conners ranks 47th in strokes-gained-putting, picking up 0.223 strokes against the field on the greens. If he can keep it up, 2025 will mark the first season of his career where he finishes the year positive in that important category.
'I've seen a lot of bright spots with the putter this year,' he said. 'And that's happened more and more. It's frustrating to have some off days, but I've had plenty of good days that have given me relief.'
Conners arrived at Portrush ranked 14th in the season-long FedEx standings. In previous majors this year, Conners has tied for 8th at the Masters and tied 19th at the PGA Championship, before being forced to withdraw from the U.S. Open with a wrist injury suffered in an Oakmont bunker.
Away from the PGA tour, home in Listowel he's just a regular guy. Although that changed slightly a few weeks ago.
'I've got a statue of myself at the golf course now,' he said. 'It wasn't my idea for sure, but it's pretty cool.'