Canadian Corey Conners tied for second after solid start at Players Championship

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Canada’s Corey Conners is tied for second after the morning wave of the first round of the Players Championship.

Conners, from Listowel, Ont., shot a 4-under 68 today. He’s tied with England’s Matthew Fitzpatrick, three shots back of leader Sergio Garcia of Spain.

Conners holed out for eagle from 154 yards out on the par-4 14th (he started on No. 9) before making a 22-foot birdie putt on No. 15 to get to 3 under.

“It was an awesome shot, obviously,” Conners said of the eagle. “Had a really good number for a 9-iron, just a perfect solid shot with that club. Just right at it the whole way. I hit it really solid, I knew it was going to be pretty good and it’s always a bonus to see it go in.”

The Canadian’s lone bogey came at No. 1, with birdies following at Nos. 2 and 7.

Conners is coming off a third-place finish last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

“I took a lot of positives from last week,” he said. “I had a solid week, was playing well all four days and just tried to keep the same mindset, keep the same sort of game plan that I had last week and just picking my spots to be aggressive. Just playing with a lot of confidence.”

Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., shot a 2 under today.

Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford and Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., had afternoon tee times.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 11, 2021.

The Canadian Press