PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — On a day when ball-striking would be in high demand at TPC Sawgrass, it was no real surprise to see that one of the PGA Tour’s best hitters, Canadian Corey Conners, made an early zip up the leaderboard.
Conners, who teed off at 9:35 a.m. and was able to play through the calmest part of the day — as gusty winds began to wreak havoc on the field through the afternoon — fired a 6-under 66 at The Players Championship, tied for the low round of the day as the leaders just teed off in the third round.
It was as impressive a statistical effort as any so far this week at TPC Sawgrass, and Conners gained more than two shots on the field off the tee and almost 3.5 shots with the putter.
This is Conners’ seventh Players Championship and his 66 tied his lowest-career round at TPC Sawgrass. He shot that same score in the final round in 2021, en route to a T7 finish.
“I did a lot of things really well today,” Conners told Sportsnet. “I stayed patient throughout the round and was really committed to the shots that caddie Danny (Sahl) and I thought up. Just did a really good job staying in the moment and trusting what we felt the wind was going to do to the golf ball.”
Conners, who was tied with Danny Walker for the low round of Saturday, opened with birdies on three of his first six holes. He bogeyed the long par-3 8th after his tee shot left him short-sided in a greenside bunker and he couldn’t convert a 16-foot par saver.
The Canadian bounced back with a birdie on the next hole, after hitting a nifty running chip from behind the green to just four feet. He added three more birdies on the back nine, including a closing circle on the par-4 18th after a 341-yard drive and a wedge to just seven feet with the wind absolutely pumping.
“There’s a lot of weird feelings you get with the wind swirling around a bit, but having trust and commitment on a day like today is key,” Conners said.
Conners said he was able to take some inspiration from Justin Thomas through Saturday after Thomas, a past Players Champion, made an incredible 11 birdies on Friday en route to matching the course record at TPC Sawgrass — a 10-under 62. Thomas said he had a fairly basic gameplan Friday, with an overarching strategy of just trying to give himself chances to make birdies and then move on to the next hole and try again.
Conners ended up just three shots back of the lead when he finished his round, with 36-hole co-leaders Akshay Bhatia and Min Woo Lee walking to the first tee.
Conners said he hopes the conditions are tricky again Sunday — rain is expected to hit northeast Florida for the finale — where another good round would go a long way as he aims to win for the first time on the PGA Tour since 2023.
The challenging wind made for a mentally taxing day but Conners (who added a “Go Leafs Go” at the end of his conversation with Sportsnet for good measure) couldn’t help but feel chuffed with his third-round effort.
“A lot of positives from the round, but mentally it’s tough on a day like today because you can’t lose your focus for any shot out there,” Conners said. “It’s very demanding, but I was having fun which made it a little nicer.
“Just tried to keep my foot on the gas pedal.”
The other Canadian to make the cut, Taylor Pendrith, was paired with world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler for the third round and teed off at 1:10 p.m. ET.
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