Canadian Conners off to fast start at BMW
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Corey Conners has never been one to take the easy road into the Tour Championship. The pride of Listowel, Ont., has made it to the final stop on the FedEx Cup playoffs the last three years and each one of those was a tightrope walk to get to the top 30 on the FedEx Cup standings.
It’s going to be the same thing if he wants to make it this time. Conners got a good start on a fourth trip to East Lake Golf Club, site of the PGA Tour’s season-ending tournament, by posting a four-under 68 in the opening round of the BMW Championship. He came into this week sitting in 33rd spot in the standings, but after his first 18, he was projected to move to 20th
Of course, projected and actual are two different things and the Canadian will need three more solid rounds to stay inside the top 30.
“It’s just business as usual,” he laughed after signing his card. “I've been in a similar position the last few years needing to have a good week here. Yeah, just having fun playing golf and happy to have gotten off to a good start today.”
After a week in Memphis, Tenn., where he missed an unusual number of fairways and greens – usually his bread and butter – Conners was back to his strengths of keeping the ball on the short grass and hitting the putting surfaces. He hit all 14 fairways and missed just two greens, making five birdies against just one bogey.
His fairways and greens numbers are even more impressive considering Castle Pines Golf Club is at 6,400 feet of elevation. That makes the ball travel farther and players and caddies had to do a lot of math to ensure they had the right clubs for the proper distance.
“Felt like my distance control was pretty good, hitting a lot of greens and giving myself a lot of birdie putts,” he stated. “But getting the ball in the fairway, some of the tee shots play considerably downhill or uphill, so picking the right club. I didn't hit a ton of drivers today but felt like I put myself in the best position I could on a lot of holes.”
The other two Canadians weren’t as successful in the first round. Taylor Pendrith, who started the week in 27th spot, recorded and even-par 72. Adam Hadwin began at 42nd and shot a four-over 76. He’ll need three very good rounds to play next week.
Making it into this week’s events means that Conners, Pendrith and Hadwin are exempt into all eight Signature events on next year’s PGA Tour. The top 30 at next week’s Tour Championship get even more rewards, traditionally earning spots in the fields of the Masters, U.S. Open and Open Championship, as well as getting a large share of the $100 million FedEx Cup bonus pool.
The other goodie up for grab this week is a spot on Mike Weir’s International Team. The top six in the standings after this week’s tournament will earn automatic picks while Weir will add six more on Sept. 3. Conners is in seventh spot and a solid finish might push him into the top six. Hadwin and Pendrith are 12th and 13th respectively.