Conners lands in top 10 after two days at The Open to lead Canadians into weekend
Published
Corey Conners used a five-birdie day to vault himself into the top 10 at The Open Championship after two rounds; he and Mackenzie Hughes will make the cut representing Canada at Royal Troon.
It was an up-and-down day for Conners in the second round at Royal Troon. An encouraging start on the par-4 first hole, which he birdied, gave way to a pair of bogeys on three and six.
Birdies on eight, nine and 13 buoyed his score for the round to 2-under, but he traded bogeys and birdies down the stretch to finish his day at 1-under.
Conners will make the cut as his tournament score of 1-under has him in the top 10. Five birdies will provide some momentum after he tallied only two in his first round, but there is some cleaning up to after he bogeyed four holes - all of which he was able to hit par or better in the opening round.
"I'm happy to be under par for the round," Conners said after his second round was completed. "Could have been a little bit better again, a few shots that I'd like over ... Made some nice putts today but definitely left a few out there as well."
Hughes entered day two as the top Canadian after a strong 2-under in his opening round - highlighted by birdies on holes two, four and six. He started steady with five straight pars, but ran into a lot of trouble at the end of his front nine.
Hughes suffered three straight bogeys on holes six, seven and eight - a par-5, par-4 and par-3, respectively. The Canadian stabilized afterwards with six straight pars, but shot another bogey on 15 to put him at 4-over for the day.
A birdie on the par-5 16 provided some late momentum, and Hughes will make the cut as he finishes day two at 1-over.
Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin had the later tee times of the Canadians, and both struggled in the second round. Taylor had a dreadful start, with bogeys in four straight holes from two to five, and another on seven. He finished his day with a four-over 75, and will miss the tournament cut after hitting eight-over through the first two rounds.
Hadwin stayed steady through his first five holes on day two after finishing the first round four-over. His first hiccup came on the par-5 sixth, when he bogeyed, but he followed with a birdie on eight to stay even through the front nine.
The 36-year-old ran into a ton of trouble on the back nine though, with double bogeys on par-4 11 and par-4 18 to finish the day. He shot a 6-over 77 and will miss the cut at 10-over after two days.
Ireland's Shane Lowry finished strong in his second round, and is the leader at 7-under.