Buoyed by Masters contention, Corey Conners aims for major leap at PGA Championship

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Corey Conners now knows what it’s like to be in the big arena late at a major championship.  

Conners, who finished tied for eighth at the Masters, was in the penultimate pairing both Saturday and Sunday at Augusta National. The third round saw him alongside Rory McIlroy who, of course, would go on to win. It was the loudest fan-support situation Conners had ever found himself in, as McIlroy went 5-under for his first five holes.  

Sunday’s finale was tough for Conners, who shot a 3-over 75. But that Saturday he hung on tight, made three birdies in a row as he made the turn, and fired a 2-under 70 to set up his fourth top-10 in the last six years at Augusta National.  

Now, another major is upon us, and Conners’ game is fit for even more success on one of golf’s biggest stages after he took “a lot” of confidence from his effort at the Masters.  

“Another tough test here this week but I felt like I did of good things to get myself into position (at Augusta National),” Conners told Sportsnet. “Some things I would have liked to have done better over the weekend, probably, but if I do my thing and stick to the plan and play some good golf, I can give myself a chance into the weekend here.”  

Conners has five top-10 finishes already this season, the second most on the PGA Tour. He’s 25th on Tour in strokes gained: total and 17th in strokes gained: off the tee. He’s constantly chipping away at the same kind of things with his game, his long-time coach Derek Ingram has said previously. Xander Schauffele, the defending champion at the PGA, trotted out the same kind of line when he talked about his approach to golf last year — “a steady drip caves a stone,” he said.  

You can’t win a major unless you get into contention at a major, of course, and Conners has now had that opportunity a few times. He was tied for the lead at the PGA at Oak Hill Country Club in 2023 and was in the penultimate pairing Sunday before fading down the board.  

He’s also a two-time winner on the PGA Tour – so it’s not like he’s completely unaware of what it takes to drag a title across the finish line. Mike Weir has long talked about how his generation of Canadians just needs to keep giving itself opportunities at big tournaments.  

That’s what Conners has done, and what he’s likely to continue to do this week at a soft Quail Hollow Club, which has taken plenty of shots from the game’s best as a host venue this week.  

Justin Thomas, who won the PGA the last time Quail Hollow hosted it in 2017, said it “doesn’t necessarily require a lot of thought or strategy off the tee.” 

“It’s generally pulling out driver and just (needing) to hit this as far and straight as possible,” Thomas said.  

Conners is long enough, but he’s plenty straight. He’s also finished T13-T8 the last two years at the former Wells Fargo Championship (now the Truist Championship), the annual stop on the PGA Tour that’s played at the Charlotte club.  

“I thought it was going to feel different just because it was a major championship,” McIlroy said Wednesday, “and I got out on the golf course yesterday, and it felt no different than last year at the Wells Fargo.” 

The rest of the Canadian contingent has also had a fairly solid run at Quail Hollow over the last while, with all of Adam Hadwin (T16, 2016), Taylor Pendrith (T10, 2024) and Mackenzie Hughes (T6, 2024) notching top-20 finishes over the last decade. Nick Taylor, who won the Sony Open in Hawaii earlier this year, is the lone outlier amongst the group as the course doesn’t quite fit his skillset. That said, it’s not like he doesn’t have a good plan in place.  

“I need to hit it in the fairway and my iron game and short game take over. Over time, I know I’ve just got to use my experience to play my own game. I can’t overpower this golf course. Very few can. I’m just doing my own thing, hit as many fairways as I can and go from there and let my strengths take over,” Taylor told Sportsnet.  

Pendrith, meanwhile, seemingly has a game built for this place.  

He’s sixth in strokes gained: off the tee and 11th in greens in regulation so far this season. His putting remains disappointingly inconsistent from a year ago, however. He was fifth in strokes gained: putting last year but has dropped incredibly to 135th in the same stat for 2025.  

Pendrith is aiming to treat this major week as close to normal as possible, he told Sportsnet. In his Masters debut last month, he admitted he over-prepared and “was overwhelmed.” This golf course doesn’t demand much, however, and not only does Pendrith absolutely roast it off the tee, but he also hits it super high — which will be awfully beneficial on the wet fairways.  

“I’ve played quite a few competitive rounds here. I know the general lay of the land and don’t have to grind as much on certain shots into the greens and around the greens,” Pendrith said.  

“It’s nice to come back here. It’s great. It’s soft, it’s long, but very familiar and I like it.”  

On both Tuesday and Wednesday this week, the Canadian contingent had its usual practice games. But with five in the field, they had to split into two groups. Hughes and Hadwin played together Tuesday with Conners, Pendrith and Taylor in the other trio. Hadwin and Conners swapped spots for Wednesday.  

It’s a constant bunch who play the biggest events, and there’s been a noticeable evolution of success amongst them all.   

“The guys are playing great. (Taylor, Hughes, Conners, Pendrith) are in the top 50 (in the world),” Hadwin said. “It’s been incredible to see the growth of the game in Canada and the growth of the individual games of guys out here. It’s incredible.”  

If there’s a little wink to success for Conners specifically this week, however, it’s this. Since the PGA Championship moved back to May, seven of the last nine winners also had a top-10 finish at the Masters the same year.  

So, with some numbers on his side, consistency always a strength and even more major-championship experience under his belt, don’t be surprised if, come the weekend, Conners is the mix — again. 

Canadian PGA Championship tee times (R1/R2 – all times E.T.) 

Corey Conners: 8:11 a.m./1:36 p.m. 

Adam Hadwin: 12:25 p.m./7 a.m. 

Mackenzie Hughes: 12:41 p.m./7:16 a.m. 

Nick Taylor: 1:09 p.m./7:44 a.m. 

Taylor Pendrith: 1:31 p.m./8:06 a.m. 

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