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TSN Senior Reporter

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The difference between a good round and a great one for Corey Conners is often determined by one club – the putter.

On Friday, that club was red-hot as the Canadian rolled his way to an eight-under 63 in the second round of the RBC Heritage.

Conners made eight birdies, using his putter to capitalize on some of his usual marksmanship.

“I felt great about my game,” he said after his bogey-free round. “Rolled in a bunch of birdie putts to pay off with good shots. Really happy with the round.”

The score vaulted him up the leaderboard and within two shots of top spot, held by Webb Simpson.

Conners eight birdies all came with putts inside 14 feet with the shortest being a gimmee from 18 inches on the 11th hole.

Always known as a tremendous ball-striker, the Listowel, Ont., product is ranked third in greens in regulation. But his game on the greens always lags behind. He sits 199th in Strokes Gained: Putting.

On Friday he hit 16 of 18 greens and averaged 1.5 putts on each of those.

It’s the second consecutive tournament in which Conners has posted low numbers. Last week, he started the Charles Schwab Challenge with rounds of 66, 67 and 67. He started Sunday just three back of the lead but faded to a 71, admitting to playing too aggressively in the early going.

“I was trying to force things a little bit at the start of the final round on Sunday,” he said. “I was in a really nice position, wanted to get myself up near the top. Made a few mistakes early. So just being patient, take your opportunities when they present themselves. Fortunately, I've kind of had that mindset, and I've capitalized on a lot of nice opportunities I've given myself.”

The great start this week comes on a course that Conners enjoys but on which he’s had little success. He’s played the RBC Heritage three times and missed the cut on all three occasions, breaking par on Harbour Town Golf Links only once.

“I haven't had a lot of success at this course before,” he admitted. “It will be my first time playing the weekend. I think my experience over the last few years helped me. I'm definitely comfortable out here, and I like the golf course a lot.”

Conners wasn’t the only Canadian to make a move on Friday. Mackenzie Hughes had an adventurous three-under 68 that was comprised of six birdies, a double and a bogey.

“I felt like 68 was probably the highest I could have shot today,” stated Hughes. “[This year] has been a bit of a struggle for me so far. I've had a great result and a lot of other mixed results. So today was a nice round. Yeah, pretty low stress and nice spot for the weekend.”

Hughes’ year includes 10 missed cuts in 13 starts. But the last event he completed, the Honda Classic, was a runner-up finish. He was hoping to build on that but the shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic stopped any momentum.

Hughes played lots of golf during the break and worked on his swing. He has confidence in where his game is headed.

“One of the things I've been working on this week in my golf swing is just the rhythm,” he said. “That will be something I just keep going back to all weekend. If I do that well, I'll keep playing well. Game feels very good.

“So, excited to be kind of somewhat in the mix. Hopefully, it will only be three, four back, and, yeah, shoot a low one tomorrow and try to get into it.”

Not to be outdone by his fellow Canadians, Adam Hadwin shot a round of six-under 65 and also moved on to the weekend.