Conners falls short at Canadian Open; hopes playoff run much better
Kitchener’s Gligic also fails to make cut with early bogeys
OAKVILLE — The FedEx Cup playoffs are just around the corner and Corey Conners wants to be a participant, not an observer.
To do so, he will have to improve on this week’s performance at the RBC Canadian Open, which ended Friday with an up-and-down second round at Glen Abbey Golf Club. The pride of the Listowel Golf Club signed for a 2-under par 70 and missed the 36-hole cut by two strokes, with a two-day total of 2-under 142.
Conners, along with playing partners Whee Kim and Dominic Bozzelli, started on the back nine Friday and made a strong push early. Connors posted an eagle and two birdies on his front nine and another birdie on his 12th hole to give his vocal supporters cause for optimism. But he bogeyed his 14th hole and closed with four straight pars. A pair of bogeys on his opening nine didn’t help his situation.
“Obviously not the score I’d like to put up, I wasn’t overly sharp. Things were close, but I just didn’t seem to get too many breaks and couldn’t get any momentum going. I tried to be aggressive on the front nine and the second nine we played today, and just couldn’t really seem to get things going,” said a gracious Conners in a post-round interview.
“It was playing tricky. The wind was picking up quite a lot. But, yeah, a little disappointed. I feel like my game is a lot better than the scores that I’ve shot the last two days, but yeah, that’s the way it goes.”
Kitchener resident Michael Gligic also failed to survive the cut, shooting a 5-over 77 Friday to close out the tournament at 2over 146. Gligic stumbled out of the gate in his second round with a double bogey and three bogeys on his first nine and wasn’t able to recover.
There FedEx Cup playoffs begin next month in New Jersey and the 26-year-old Conners said he’ll play in two of the next three tournaments with hopes of returning to a top-125 position that will earn him a spot in the postseason playdowns. He started Canadian Open week at No. 126, but is projected to fall to No. 130 after missing the cut for the second straight week.
He will return to action at next week’s Barracuda Championship in Reno, Nev., and two weeks after that will play the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, N.C.
After that, Conners will know whether he’s done enough to participate in the FedEx Cup playoffs, which start with the Aug. 23-26 Northern Trust in Paramus, N.J.
“Time is running low, you can’t really hide from it, I guess. I’m going to have to have a good week
one of the next few,” he said.
“I kind of expected myself — after the way I started the year and midway through the season — to be a little higher in the FedEx Cup standings. But, yeah, it is what it is, and hopefully I’ll battle hard the next few events and see what happens.”
Conners was making his fourth Canadian Open appearance and, as is always the case, had a supportive group of friends and family cheering him on.
He was one of 21 Canadians in the field and earlier this week joined former Kent State University teammate Mackenzie Hughes, of Dundas, on the stage for a pre-tournament media conference.
This was obviously not just another week on the PGA Tour.
“It was a lot of fun. I don’t usually feel as much support as I’ve had out here, so it feels awesome to have a bunch of people behind me and know everybody is cheering me on ...,” said Conners.
“Didn’t feel too much pressure, I guess. Just tried to have as much fun as possible, and yeah, unfortunately the way I was playing wasn’t overly fun, but yeah, it was a great experience.”
Conners has played in 26 tournaments during his rookie campaign on the PGA Tour, with his best finish coming in May when he tied for eighth at the Fort Worth Invitational. He has made 19 cuts on the season and has amassed $711,781 US.