Photo is courtesy of www.PGATour.com
A new chapter in Corey Conners' professional golf career begins at the 2019 Open Championship at Royal Portrush. He hits his opening tee shot at 4:47 a.m. ET alongside former winners David Duval and Zach Johnson.
The 27-year-old from Listowel has been revved up his first Open Championship for weeks. His rapid climb in the world golf rankings, from 677th at the beginning of 2018 to 85th after his win at the Texas Open in San Antonio three months ago, put Conners in the field. There is little doubt many golf nuts in the area, particularly at the Listowel Golf Club, will keep a watchful eye on Conners over the next four days.
The 2010 Ontario Amateur champion has enjoyed quite the golf journey to arrive in Northern Island. He turned pro after the 2015 Masters after he earned a spot in Augusta thanks to his runner-up finish at the United States Amateur the previous summer. Conners learned lessons of contending at the 2018 Valspar Championship and seven months later at Sanderson Farms Championship.
At the Valspar, Conners entered the final round one stroke in front of Tigers Woods, Justin Rose and Brandt Snedeker, but Conners closed 77 to finish in a tie for 16th. Six months later, it was a different story. Conners fired successive rounds of 66 to finish two shots ahead of veteran Charley Hoffman.
Conners and his wife Malory landed in Ireland last week for a visit with Corey's sister Nicole in Cork, where she is in medical school. He took time to have the following e-mail exchange with 519 Sports Online:
You recently returned to the area to play 18 holes at Westmount. What did you hope to gain from the visit?
I enjoyed being home and the opportunity to play at Westmount. I played with the hope of enjoying a relaxing round of golf on an excellent golf course. It had been a while since I had played there and was really impressed with the conditioning of the course and all of the facilities. It's a special place.
Listowel, Elmira, K-W, Guelph and Cambridge have a tremendous golf scene. You probably meet people from the area on tour. What does the support mean to you?
I get a lot of support from Canadians while on tour but especially people from the Listowel/K-W area. It feels pretty amazing to be connected to so many people in the local area and know that everyone is cheering me on. The support has been awesome and definitely helps keep me motivated to perform well.
How has life changed for you and Malory since the win in San Antonio?
Life hasn't really changed much for Malory and I. We are still the same people and have been enjoying the tour life, the freedom to pick my schedule and not having to fight for my job has definitely taken some pressure off but I am still trying my best to continue the good play. We haven't really had a lot of off time to sit back and appreciate what the win means but it has definitely been nice to have her by my side each step of the way. We have gotten recognized while out for dinner or in public a little bit more, her just as much as me.
Golfers always say on a near-miss in a bid to win a tournament as you did in Florida 15 months ago and again Mississippi last fall are part of the learning curve. But what did you take away from those two experiences?
I took a lot away from my close calls in Tampa last season and in Mississippi this past fall. I have always known I am able to compete with the best players in the world, but to have put myself in that position a few times before gave me added confidence. I learned from watching other players win to see what it takes in those situations. I have found that I am able to be much more relaxed, comfortable and just play my game — breathing, taking things slow and not getting ahead of myself are lessons I learned from my other close calls.
Take us through your preparations for your first Open Championship.
This is going to be my first of hopefully many Open Championships. I am very excited about the new experience as I have never played true links golf before. Malory and I left for Ireland last Wednesday to visit my twin sister Nicole who is in med school over here in Cork. We spent a few days sightseeing and I have a few games of golf organized at some different courses, including Old Head. We arrived in Portrush on Saturday evening. I got in a good practice round on Sunday before too many people are around. I will spend extra time on the course and try to get a feel for how the course is playing and piece together my plan of attack for the tournament. I have played nine holes and practiced Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Going over early has helped us get used to the time change and feel more comfortable to get ready to play the tournament. I have tapped Golf Canada women's coach Tristan for some local knowledge. He used to work at Portrush. I was hoping to play a round with [locals] G-Mac [Graeme McDowell] and/or Darren Clarke, who both have lots of knowledge of the course. But as you can imagine, they had too many requests. Overall, I am really excited to play and think that my solid ball striking is going to serve me well on the links course.
