Corey Conners is home again.
Conners, who turned 30 this year, now lives in Florida but he knew exactly where to go when earlier this week he arrived in Toronto to play the RBC Canadian Open
“The first stop right from the airport,” explained Conners, “(was) to Tim Hortons and hooked myself up with a coffee and a donut. That reminds me of home.”
The Listowel golfer is playing the national championship for the first time in three years after it was cancelled the past two seasons due to pandemic restrictions.
Conners will go off in one of the marquee groups early on Thursday morning at St. George’s Golf and Country Club in Toronto’s west end. He is paired with reigning PGA winner Justin Thomas and defending champion Rory McIlroy. Tournament organizers have formatted it that way so Friday afternoon television numbers will be spiked with a star-laden group.
That alone is a sign of how far Conners’ star has risen in the 36-month gap since the Canadian Open last took place. Back then, Conners had just won on the PGA Tour, taking the Texas Open earlier that season after Monday qualifying.
There was a certain fairy-tale element to that victory but Conners is the real deal now. He is considered one of the best pure ball strikers in the world. Those skills have twice put him in contention at the Masters and at the Players Championship, the biggest non-major on the PGA Tour schedule. Earlier this season, Conners finished third at the World Match Play, defeating the reigning Masters champion Dustin Johnson in the process.
If there is an area in his game that needs some work to continue to climb the rarefied air of golf’s top run, it’s on the greens.
St. George’s intricate putting surfaces will challenge everyone this week but their small size is a clear advantage to Conners if he’s dialed in with his irons, as he has been for so much of his career.
“Three of my days I hit my irons well and that’s going to be something that is important here,” said Conners, of his play last week at Jack Nicklaus’s Memorial Tournament, where he tied for 13th.
As Canada’s top player, demands on his time have increased exponentially, it is always a busy week for all the country’s PGA Tour regulars, but it will be especially so for Conners.
“I feel like I’m better suited to handle those distractions now,” said the Perth County native, in reference to his missed cut at the Canadian Open at Hamilton Golf and Country Club in 2019.
Conners repeated that refrain a few times during his media availability on Wednesday, the importance of keeping focus, a difficult task for a Canadian playing the lone home stop on the PGA Tour schedule.
It can be difficult for a casual golf fan to understand tuning in on television but the circus atmosphere that takes hold around the big names must be seen to be believed. St. George’s is packed to the gills with corporate hospitality tents and bleachers, and thousands of spectators will make up the moving gallery that typically follows the top groups.
With the pent up demand brought on by two cancellations, the atmosphere is expected to be particularly raucous this week – Golf Canada said that the tournament is the biggest operational undertaking it has staged in its history.
Mackenzie Hughes, Conners’ friend and college teammate who grew up in Dundas, put it more succinctly:
“You can’t say yes to everything…you need to be (ready to play) Thursday morning,” said Hughes.
Conners is now part of a select group of athletes trying to break one of the most vexing droughts in the golf world, if not the wider sporting universe: trying to become the first Canadian since 1954 to win the Canadian Open.
To that end, the best comment came from the reigning champion, McIlroy, who said he is acutely aware of what Canadians are up against.
“(It has been) 68 years, Corey Conners gets told every five minutes,” said McIlroy, when asked if he sympathizes with the Herculean task that faces those with the Maple Leaf on their golf bag.
“…I appreciate what (Canadians) go through.”
If you go
To access St. George’s, take Highway 401, as you approach the airport, follow the signs for spectator parking (Renforth or Islington exits). Shuttles run continuously to drop you at the course. All player and relevant event info, including available tickets and concerts that take place at the close of play on Friday and Saturday, can be accessed by downloading Golf Canada’s new app onto your remote device. Saturday tickets are sold out but some remain for the other three days.
