Conners, Rank make it to the weekend
Both happy with play at Canadian Open
OAKVILLE — Corey Conners might have been boiling inside or perhaps he wasn’t. It was difficult to tell. The personable Listowel native simply went about his business, answering reporters’ questions after what appeared to be a disastrous finish to his second round at the RBC Canadian Open.
Conners recorded a doublebogey six on his final hole Friday at Glen Abbey Golf Club to post a round of 1-under 71 and a two-day total of 2-over 146.
It was a good five hours later before he discovered his final-hole misadventure wouldn’t be enough to stop him from playing the weekend.
Players struggled with the firm, fast and windy conditions in the afternoon wave and the cut line moved to where Conners was sitting.
“Yeah, that’s great. I probably didn’t think it was going to be good enough at the time but I’m obviously glad that it turned out to be,” said Conners as he walked to dinner on Friday evening.
“I’ll try to make the most of the opportunity and move up the leader board this weekend.”
Elmira amateur Garrett Rank will also be around for the weekend after shooting a 3-over 75 in his second round Friday to finish at even-par 144 after two days.
The National Hockey League referee is in a tie for 36th place and was clearly delighted to achieve his pre-tournament goal of making the cut.
“Pleased with my effort. It was tough out there today, it got really firm. I thought I was hitting good shots and they were bouncing through the greens,” he said.
“I could have shot better than 75 but it was a grind for 75 and I’ll take a 75. Probably the happiest I’ve ever been after shooting 75, I’ll tell you that much.”
Conners looked to be in fine shape after hitting his second shot over the green on the par-4 ninth hole — his 18th of the day — but he chunked a chip for his third shot, putted more than seven feet past the hole with his fourth shot and was just wide on his bogey attempt.
“I had been playing the flop shots really well all day and for some reason decided to go for the bump-and-run and the grass kind of caught the club a little bit.
“Didn’t do a lot of bumping or running,” he said with a slight smile.
Nerves might have also played a role, he admitted.
“Yeah, maybe a little bit nervous I guess. I was pretty confident in the shot.
“If I threw another ball down, I think I could pull it off, but just didn’t happen.”
Conners, who is currently in a tie for 62nd place, started his second round on the 10th hole and recorded three birdies in his first nine holes.
He bogeyed his 12th hole, rebounded with birdie on his 13th, and recorded four straight pars before walking to the 18th tee.
The Kent State University graduate is currently playing well on a pair of developmental circuits — the PGA Tour Latinoamérica Tour as well as the Mackenzie Tour — PGA Tour Canada.
His goal is to make it to the Web.Com Tour for the 2017 season and the PGA Tour after that.
Based on his play this year, including the first two days at Glen Abbey, he thinks he’s ready to make the jump now.
“Yeah, definitely. I’ve been playing really well all year, and having success at the lower levels.
“I definitely feel like I belong out here. Haven’t really played my best golf this week, but I keep learning,” he said.
“It’s a different feeling playing out here in front of all the fans and stuff, but yeah, I’ve definitely enjoyed myself, and I think I can compete out here for sure.”
Rank also started on the 10th hole Friday and put together a solid round in trying conditions.
He wound up with one birdie and four bogeys to guarantee he’d be around for the weekend.