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National Post
2 days ago
- Sport
- National Post
Corey Conners finishes 66-66 at The Open, shares details of U.S. Open injury
PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland — The young man carrying the sign with Corey Conners' score on it Sunday had a very busy back nine at Royal Portrush. Rarely was a hole going by without the lad digging into his apron to find a new number as the Canadian made five birdies in six holes. Article content 'That's brilliant though, I love doing that,' the standard bearer said as he collected an autographed ball from Conners after the round. 'When it's red numbers, it's fine.' Article content Article content Article content Conners would agree, and it was plenty of red numbers for the Listowel, Ont. native over the past two days at the Open Championship as he began Saturday right on the one-over par cutline and finished it at nine-under par and inside the top 10. Article content In all his years and across all his rounds, Conners couldn't remember a stretch where he hit the ball any better than he did over the last two days at Royal Portrush. Article content And that's saying something. The Canadian golfer with a reputation as one of the world's finest ball-strikers could only recall two shots he didn't like over the final 36 holes at the season's last major, where he shot 66-66 to vault up the leaderboard. Article content 'I've went through stretches where I've struck the ball really well in my career, but…' he said before pausing slightly. 'This was good.' Article content The two shots in question were his approach shot on the 18th hole on Saturday. (Where he rolled in a 42-footer for birdie.) And his drive into a fairway bunker on the ninth hole on Sunday (Where he saved par with a chip and a putt.) Article content Article content 'The last couple days it felt like I was in great control of the ball, especially the back nine today,' he said. 'I was doing everything really well. It was a solid round I can draw on in the future.' Article content Article content In April, the 33-year-old notched his fourth top-10 at the Masters and finished T8. In May, he grabbed his third top-20 at the PGA Championship and finished T19. June wasn't great as Conners was forced to withdraw from the U.S. Open after injuring his wrist in one of Oakmont's gnarly bunkers. Article content 'I felt like my game was great at all the major championships, really,' he said. 'Disappointing at the U.S. Open having to pull out, and struggling with the wrist at the end of the day Saturday.' Article content It was a disappointing result, but it could have been much worse. The golfer escaped major injury, but revealed a few more details on Sunday. Conners said he didn't touch a golf club for more than two weeks, and couldn't even chip or putt. Article content 'Not really, it was still a little bit uncomfortable,' he said. Article content To avoid going into golf withdrawal, he got creative at home. Article content 'I had a club in my hand once in a while, was chipping around left-handed in the backyard,' he said. 'It was the longest I've not touched a club probably in my life, especially in the summertime. I'm happy that the game didn't leave me when I came back.' Article content
National Post
14-07-2025
- Sport
- National Post
Corey Conners over injured wrist and ready to go at The Open
PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland — Corey Conners is over his injured wrist and sharpening his game at Royal Portrush in preparation for the season's final major. Article content 'Everything was feeling all right,' Conners said at Portrush after playing in the Scottish Open last week. Article content Canada's top-ranked golfer tested the wrist in competition for the first time last week. The injury occurred hitting two bunker shots last month at the U.S. Open in Oakmont and also caused him to withdraw from the elevated Traveler's Championship a week later. He spent the past few weeks recovering. Article content Article content 'I was able to chip and putt and get in some practice before coming over, so it felt pretty good,' he said. 'It's nice to be back out here.' Article content As for his game, Conners is one of the sport's finest ball-strikers and is confident the time off won't slow him down too much. Article content 'I always feel pretty good. It certainly didn't feel far away if I was questioning anything,' he said of his game. Article content If anything, the biggest adjustment will be the firm links turf, which he has mentioned in years past as a facet of links golf that has puzzled him at times with his normally stellar iron game. Article content 'With the firmness of the turf, I wouldn't say I struck my irons particularly well,' he said. 'I've got to be a little bit more aggressive off the firm turf. Otherwise there were some bright spots. I had a few good putting days and a few good driving days. Looking forward to being back here and looking forward to the test.'
National Post
12-06-2025
- Sport
- National Post
Taylor Pendrith looking for sleep after 'exhausting' 72 at U.S. Open in Oakmont
OAKMONT, Pa. — Taylor Pendrith said the thing he was going to work on most before playing his second round of the U.S. Open at Oakmont was sleep. Article content 'Very exhausting,' the Canadian said when asked to describe his five-and-a-half hour opening round of two-over 72. 'There's no easy shots. There's no time during the round where you're like, 'OK, I can breathe easy now.' Article content Article content 'Most courses have a tee ball that really suits your eye and maybe a fairway that is really wide, and you can just relax a little bit. But not here.' Article content Despite finishing a couple strokes over par, the big-hitting Canadian will find himself in a good position heading into Friday. With its mixture of tight fairways, punishing bunkers and terrifying greens, Oakmont is the perfect U.S. Open course for a championship meant to provide the sternest test in golf. Article content 'It's really mentally straining and I'm happy to be done,' he said. Article content The course played as benignly as possible on a calm Thursday morning, with moisture from weeks of rain keeping the greens from reaching anywhere near their terrifying peak speeds. Article content 'Out here you're just grinding on everything,' he said. 'Even the three footers are really difficult with how fast the greens are and how slopey they are. I played a couple five-footers today two to three cups outside the hole, and you literally just had to get them moving because they were so fast.' Article content Article content The 34-year-old Pendrith has the power game and large frame to succeed at Oakmont, where past champions include golf strongmen Dustin Johnson, Angel Cabrera and Ernie Els. Article content Article content Although on Thursday, after beginning on the back nine, the most important club in Pendrith's bag was his putter as he capped off his round with a 21-foot par-saving putt at the nearly 300-yard par 3 eight hole, and then rolled in another par-saver to end his day at the ninth. Article content 'It feels really good to finish with those putts. I felt like I've been rolling it nice and my speed has been good,' he said. 'To see the long one go in at the long par-three was a really nice save and to finish on the last hole with a 10-footer felt great. Article content
