San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Conners’ good walk down memory lane
Defending champion relives improbable run to winning his first title on PGA Tour
Corey Conners got a lesson in the fickle nature of fame this week.
He might be the defending Valero Texas Open champion, but that didn’t help him when he checked into his hotel. No one recognized him, despite his image appearing on every room key.
The 29-year-old Canadian, who won the event in 2019 after making the field as a Monday qualifier, recalls the reaction from the woman at the front desk when she handed him the room key at check-in showing him holding the trophy from his victory.
She never flinched.
“Of course she had no idea who I was,” Conner said, “but I made a funny comment about it being embarrassing for the guy who’s got to look at himself on the room key every day for the whole week.
“I had my (face) mask on and a hat and I think a sweatshirt, so she probably didn’t put two and two together. But it’s pretty cool, a nice touch. Happy it’s me on there.”
Winning the event two years ago — last year’s Texas Open was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic — remains his only triumph on the PGA Tour. It also secured the last spot at that year’s Masters, where he would finish tied for 46th.
Conners became the first golfer to go from Monday qualifier to tour winner since 2010. The 2014 Kent State graduate had a better experience this week reminiscing about his win in 2019. He walked the course where it all happened in a satisfying trip down memory lane.
Conners won by two strokes over Charley Hoffman, the 2016 Texas Open champion. But it was how Conners won it that was so memorable.
He began the final round by birdieing four of his first five holes but gave them all back with bogeys on holes 6 through 9.
He bounced back with three birdies in a row on Nos. 10-12 and added three more on the back nine to close with a 6-under 66 to finish 20-under for the week.
Hoffman ended up at 18-under, while Ryan Moore finished three
strokes back after he tied for the low round of the week on Sunday with an 8-under 64.
Brian Stuard and Si Woo Kim, the first-round leader, finished at 15-under to round out the top five.
“It was an up-and-down day, for sure,” Conners recalled. “I got off to a great start, made four birdies in the first five holes and followed that up with four straight bogeys. Not as good of a memory, but battled back and made six
birdies on the back nine to cap off a good day. It was a lot of fun.
“I remember every shot really vividly. It was a pretty amazing final round, a round I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”
It all started with the Monday qualifier.
“Anytime you Monday qualify, you’ve played some remarkable golf,” Conners said. “Those events are not easy to get through, so I had a lot of confidence in my
game. I had an aggressive mindset playing the Monday qualifier, and I really focused on transferring that mindset into the tournament.”
No matter what happens at the Texas Open, Conners says he’s ready for the Masters.
He already secured a spot at Augusta National by virtue of his top-10 finish there in the fall.
“I feel like I have a great plan for the golf course and feel like my
game sets up pretty well,” Conners said. “Work he ball right to left off the tee. I think a lot of the holes fit my eye with he shot shape.
“I’m also typically a strong iron player, which is the important part of success there. And then putting. I became more comfortable on the greens.”