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.
"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."
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.
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.
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.
"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."
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.)
"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."
It was a good major championship season for Conners as he continues his quest to join Mike Weir and collect one of golf's biggest crowns.
Lee Westwood of England and Corey Conners of Canada shake hands after finishing their round on the 18th green during day four of The 153rd Open Championship at Royal Portrush Golf Club on July 20, 2025 in Portrush, Northern Ireland.
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.
"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."
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.
"Not really, it was still a little bit uncomfortable," he said.
To avoid going into golf withdrawal, he got creative at home.
"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."
Next up for Canada's top-ranked golfer is a little rest back home in Canada, before ramping back up for the PGA Tour playoffs.
"I'm looking forward to getting back to Listowel in the next couple weeks," he said. |
