AUGUSTA, Ga. – Augusta National was honey-dipped in sunshine on Sunday. There was a buzzy feel at the golf course as youngsters competed in the annual Drive, Chip, and Putt final, while plenty of the world’s best made early arrivals to the club. Tiger Woods was there. Striped shirt. Smiling. The green plastic bags filled with $1.50 sandwiches were out, while early-week anticipation was hitting a level reserved only for the Masters.
Corey Conners missed all of that because he was too busy winning the Valero Texas Open.
The native of Listowel, Ont. rolled in a nervy par-saver on the 72nd hole to defeat Sam Stevens by one after a 4-under 68 Sunday at TPC San Antonio. It was Conners’ second career PGA Tour title – both coming at this event (the first time in 2019). That year, Conners earned the final spot in the Masters in a win-and-get-in scenario. This year Conners will head to the first major of the year as a not-so-sneaky contender, having posted three top-10 results in a row at Augusta National — one of only two players to do just that.
“Regardless of the outcome today, I was going to go into next week with a lot of confidence. I’ve been working hard and … everything’s rounding to where I want it to be,” said Conners.
Conners’ win at the Texas Open was a microcosm of how the 31-year-old gets it done. He put on a ball-striking clinic for the week, finishing first in strokes gained: approach to green and strokes gained: tee to green. He was also 41st in strokes gained: putting. For a guy who is sitting 151st in that same category for the season, it was a special week for him on the greens. His coach, Derek Ingram, told Sportsnet that Conners just recently went back to the cross-handed putting style, something that’s worked for the Canadian in the past, along with re-adding an old putter the duo loved after Conners admitted he was “mishitting” some putts lately.
“I felt like I was more consistent with (the cross-handed) technique and that putter I had been using a couple years’ prior,” he said.
Conners’ second career PGA Tour title now puts him in rare company. He’s just the eighth Canadian with multiple PGA Tour wins and joins long-time friend and fellow Canadian 30-something Mackenzie Hughes in the two-trophy club (“About time!” Hughes joked when asked about Conners catching up to him). Hughes just won for the second time last fall. Add in Adam Svensson’s maiden victory from November into the mix, and the country has got three golfers holding trophies on Tour in one season for the first time ever.
“We’ve all been playing great,” Conners said. The Canadian foursome (Mike Weir is the other) at the Masters will play a practice round together on Tuesday.
Although Conners has two wins at TPC San Antonio, neither came easy. In 2019, Conners had to Monday qualify for the event first, which he did thanks to nailing a slippery 30-foot birdie on the 18th hole of the qualifier and then won a 6-for-1 playoff. That Sunday, with the tournament on the line, Conners was 4 under through five holes before making four straight bogeys on Nos. 6-9. He would, however, make six birdies on his back nine to shoot a 6-under 66.
This year, Conners was being chased by both Sam Ryder and Sam Stevens, who fired 66s of their own on Sundays. Stevens made two eagles in his round, including driving the green on the penultimate hole and rolling in a nine-footer. He missed an eight-foot birdie try on the 18th hole, however, that would have tied him with Conners at 15 under.
The Canadian roasted his drive on the par-5 18th 361 yards and despite putting his approach in the bunker, he two-putted from just under 30 feet for the win.
“I wasn’t sure until that moment where (Stevens) was at to be honest, I was just trying to focus on my game and just do what I can do,” said Conners of Stevens’ final-hole misstep. “(I) hit a great drive down there and I saw the crowd reaction when he missed and obviously gave me a bit of a cushion.”
Conners and his wife Malory and daughter Reis will Texas two-step out of San Antonio Sunday night on a private jet. Reis, born 16 months ago, ran out to join her dad on the 18th green – a moment she’ll certainly never remember but Conners will never forget. He got a brown pair of cowboy boots for his second win at Valero versus the black pair he got in 2019. Georgia will be on his mind, with, perhaps, a nice glass of celebratory wine in hand. His mom, Janet, was driving to Augusta and stopped at a sports bar in West Virginia to watch the end of the final round. No one knew who she was until she started jumping up and down in celebration.
“It’s beyond my wildest dreams really to be a two-time winner on the PGA Tour,” Conners said. “Small town in Ontario and I know there’s going to be some happy people back in Listowel tonight.”
What a start to the week. And maybe brown boots will end up pairing nicely with a Green Jacket.
