Canada’s Conners ahead of the pack
Rookie alternate leads PGA event at Innisbrook
Canadian rookie Corey Conners didn’t seem too bothered by the tough, swirling wind Thursday at Innisbrook.
The Listowel, Ont., native, who got into the Valspar Championship field as an alternate not long after he failed to get through Monday qualifying, didn’t make a bogey until his final hole at No. 9 and shot a 4-under 67.
That gave him a one-shot lead over Nick Watney, Whee Kim and Kelly Kraft. Only three other players, including 2016 PGA Championship winner Jimmy Walker, broke 70. Innisbrook produced the highest average score for the opening round — 72.86 — of the 23 courses used this season. But Conners managed just fine, taking advantage of a tournament he wasn’t sure he would be playing. He went through Monday qualifying and shot 71, but moments after walking off the course, he was told he got in as an alternate. “Kind of had a mindset of trying to take advantage of a good break, I guess,” he said.
Tiger Woods smacked his hands into an oak as he let loose of the club during a bold escape from the trees, came within inches of an ace on the next hole and most importantly was among 27 players — less than 20 per cent of the field — to break par. Woods made five birdies to counter his mistakes in his round of 70, the first time he broke par in the opening round of a PGA Tour event since his 64 in the Wyndham Championship in August 2015. This was his first time playing the Valspar Championship and it got his attention.
“I enjoy when par is a good score. It’s a reward,” Woods said. “There are some tournaments when about four holes you don’t make a birdie, you feel like you’re behind. Today, made a couple of birdies, all of a sudden puts me fourth, fifth, right away. That’s how hard it is.”
It was like that for everybody, especially Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy.
Spieth, who won at Innisbrook in a playoff in 2015, didn’t make a birdie after the par-5 opening hole and shot a 76. Only six other players had a higher score. Rory McIlroy, who like Woods was making his debut in this event, played in the morning and shot 74. Henrik Stenson, who played with Spieth and Woods, also shot 74.
Watney holed a bunker shot on the par-four 16th, made the turn and had an eagle on the first hole. “Maybe I need to steal a few shots here and there and get some good things going,” said Watney, winless since August 2012. Walker (69) and past Innisbrook champion Luke Donald (70) managed to go bogey free, a rarity on a day like this. Other notables at 70 were Justin Rose, Masters champion Sergio Garcia, Adam Scott and Steve Stricker, who won last week on the PGA Tour Champions.
Last year’s champion, Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., shot a 71. Mackenzie Hughes of Hamilton and Abbotsford’s Nick Taylor shot 73s and Ben Silverman of Thornhill, Ont., had a 75.