Corey Conners’ steady play at Open Championship puts him in favourable position

Corey Conners teed off early Friday, put in a day’s work, and his under-par score through 36 holes at the Open Championship is looking better and better as the day goes on.

The Canadian, who shot a 1-under 70 in the second round, was the first golfer to get into the clubhouse in red numbers at Royal Troon. The first two days have been a microcosm of Conners’ game overall – steady, no mistakes (he hasn’t found a bunker yet this week), and constantly doing the right thing when needed.

The wind is set to gust to upwards of 50 km/h as the afternoon in Troon continues, so Conners looked at the calm conditions early as a massive opportunity. He teed off in the fourth group of the day.

“It wasn’t too bad teeing off first thing this morning. Lighter breeze. Wanted to try to take advantage,” Conners told reporters in Scotland. “I’m happy to be under par for that round. Could have been a little bit better again. A few shots I would like over. Made a few putts today but definitely left a few out there too.

“If you had told me at the start of the round, I certainly would have taken 1-under par.”

It was a bit of an up-and-down day on the scorecard for Conners, who opened with a birdie, and added two more before making the turn – including on the devilish par-3 8th Postage Stamp hole. He made two more bogeys on the back nine but also had birdies on Nos. 13 and 16.

Conners said the stretch, between Nos. 7 and 14, was the best of the week.

“I hit some great shots there (and) kind of recovered from some sloppy ones early and unfortunately wasn’t able to keep that mojo going but those holes I played them really well. Gave myself great looks,” Conners said.

Conners was his usual robotic self with his gameplan, hitting almost all of the same clubs off the tee again Friday. He also saw a much-improved effort on the greens, sitting 22nd in strokes gained: putting on Friday, a jump of more than 100 spots in that stat from Thursday.

He said there might be “some adjusting” on the weekend depending on the wind conditions but was chuffed to see that the plan he and caddie Danny Sahl worked on was working well.

With a smile he said he was disappointed to hit only four drivers on Friday, with that part of his game being such a strength. But while there are plenty of options available with the links layout, the key, Conners said, was just to stay committed to the choice.

“There’s a different strategy (available) on pretty much every hole,” Conners said. “There are definitely options, you just need to be committed to whatever you’re doing.”

Conners was six back of Shane Lowry, who held the clubhouse lead at the midpoint of the afternoon in Scotland. Conners came into the week after a tie for 10th at the Genesis Scottish Open last week and a top-10 result at the last major he played, the U.S. Open at Pinehurst, and said that momentum has indeed continued at Troon.

Midway through the afternoon, Conners was one of just 11 golfers under par.

“I’m feeling comfortable out there. I feel like my game is strong,” Conners said. “Just try to keep hitting good shots, get myself some looks, and see what we can do.”

The last time Lowry was in this position at a major, he won – the 2019 Open Championship at Royal Portrush. To his credit, he knows there is lots of golf left and isn’t trying to get too far ahead of himself. The hefty Irishman was asked if he made a good front-runner.

“I wouldn’t say I’m a good runner,” Lowry said with a big laugh. “I put myself there in a few big tournaments, and I’ve managed to knock them off. So, I’ve done it a few times. I don’t know. It’s hard to win tournaments. We’ll see. I’ll tell you Sunday evening.”

Tiger Woods was also one of the early finishers, and he shot a 6-over 77 to finish at 14 over for the week. Woods said he would absolutely tee it up at Royal Portrush in next year’s Open Championship, but we wouldn’t see him again until the Hero World Challenge and the PNC Championship alongside son Charlie later in the year. Woods said he was off to Detroit to watch Charlie at the U.S. Junior Amateur next week.

If there was any indication of how tricky Troon was playing on Friday, Justin Thomas – who shot an opening round 3-under 68 and was in third – shot a 9-over 45 for his first nine holes in the second round.