AUGUSTA, Ga. – It was a weekend of struggles for the Canadian contingent at the Masters, but if there was one thing that made Corey Conners smile, it was a prediction about his favourite hockey team likely coming true.
“Oh, I hope so. The fellas are going to be feeding him,” Conners said when asked about Auston Matthews’ pursuit of 70 goals. “That would be pretty sweet.”
Matthews scored No. 69 Saturday night, a score that Conners would have loved to have at some point this week at the Masters.
The big-time Maple Leafs fan ended up at 7 over for the week after a 1-over 73 on Sunday. He said while there were plenty of positives, the mistakes he did make were costly. He struggled finding fairways over the weekend, hitting only 17 in his final two rounds.
“The good shots are really good. Just had some errors that were costly, and I think need to tighten up the misses, just to gain a little bit of consistency to be where I want,” Conners said.
Conners opened strong, with a 2-under 70, and was inside the top 10 on the leaderboard through the mid-point of Friday. But a stretch of bogey-double-double after making the turn in his second round essentially spelled the end of his attempt at winning a Green Jacket.
Conners went 76-76 on Friday and Saturday and just couldn’t quite find a groove this week.
“Obviously you see the leaderboard, and I’m near the bottom. It’s not where I want to be. So that’s certainly frustrating,” Conners said. “I think when I digest the week, I’ll be able to pick out some decent positives that I can use going forward.”
He was grouped with Brooks Koepka for Sunday’s finale, which, given Koepka’s body of work at major championships of late, would have been welcomed. It wasn’t Koepka’s week either, but ironically, in Koepka’s Tuesday press conference, he admitted people don’t really ask him about his approach to major championships – despite winning five of them in the last seven years.
Conners, who had three straight top-10 finishes at Augusta National from 2020-22 and was a sneaky pick for another good result this week, said there were certainly things he could pull from Koepka for the majors moving forward.
“I feel like he’s got a fearless attitude out there,” Conners told Sportsnet. “He’s not afraid of making mistakes. He knows he’s going to hit good shots when he needs to. He’s a great competitor.”
Adam Hadwin fared much better Sunday than he did Saturday firing a 2-under 70 in the final round after a 10-over 82 in the third round.
He finished at 12 over for the week.
“I mean, shot under par, so it’s certainly a lot better than shooting 82,” Hadwin, who had a run of three straight birdies on the second nine, said with a smile. “I did some good things this week. I think I let yesterday’s conditions get to me a little bit. Kind of got worn out from grinding through those first two days.
“We’ll rest up, and I think that I’m probably a little better off than maybe I think I am in my head.”
All of Hadwin, Conners, and Nick Taylor (who missed the cut) will head over to Hilton Head Island, S.C. for next week’s RBC Heritage – a Signature Event on the PGA Tour.
Hadwin and Taylor, who finished second a year ago, will also tee it up at the team event in two weeks the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Conners will play alongside childhood friend and fellow Canadian Taylor Pendrith.
The next major on the schedule is the PGA Championship at Valhalla in Louisville, Ky. Taylor and Conners are the Canadians confirmed in the field for now.
