MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 8, 2022

Corey Conners

Quick Quotes

Q. Hey, Corey. Maybe not the finish you wanted, but how would you assess the round overall?

COREY CONNERS: Overall pretty solid again. I battled hard. A few nice up-and-downs. Not quite the way I wanted to finish, dropping a couple of shots late, but overall it was a really solid day. Struck the ball pretty solidly, and, yeah, it was a fun challenge.

Q. When did the wind really start to pick up during your round?

COREY CONNERS: It was pretty calm in the first couple of holes, and it was playing a factor, and it's started to blow a little harder right now. Feeling good to be finished.

It was still tricky out there the whole way. Basically the back nine it got quite a bit windier.

Q. What was the hardest part with the wind for you personally?

COREY CONNERS: I don't know. Just trying to trust that it was going to affect the ball. It was blowing hard enough that you really had to play for it. The 12th hole was certainly playing difficult, and I got away and hit a pretty good shot. Got away with one there and escaped with a 2, which was quite nice. I had a little chip-in.

Q. On 15 and 16 how much was it the wind? How much was it the shot?

COREY CONNERS: Think 15 I was trying to hit to the right part of the green. I was sort of between 4-iron and hybrid there. I went with the 4-iron. I hit a really solid shot. The wind kind of pushed it over to the right.

Kind of same thing off 16. The flag was blowing right to left when I was standing behind the ball getting ready to visualize my shot, and it made me a little uneasy, so I moved my target over to the right, and I hit it solid, and the wind pushed it right as it was supposed to.

Q. Could you describe your tee shot on 12 and the chip after that?

COREY CONNERS: I was trying to hit an 8-iron and flight it down a little bit, keep it out of the wind as much as possible. I hit it pretty good. It was on a pretty good target. I was trying to hit it over the middle of the bunker and landed over the right part of it on the front fringe and started trickling back. I.

Saw a couple of balls there yesterday. There's a little flat spot, which I was fortunate to stay on. It's very easy for that ball to roll back into the hazard and drop in for your third, which is not ideal, but I got fortunate that it stayed there and really had a straight-forward pitch that I was trying to make and felt pretty sweet to chip it in.

Q. It's a little strange maybe Corey Conners relying on his short game so much, but it must be feeling good to be playing well with it?

COREY CONNERS: With the conditions the way they are, you can't hit it good enough to not need your short game, and that part of my game has been good this week. Yeah, hopefully can keep hitting it well and not have to get myself in too many of those crazy spots, but short game does feel good.

Q. Have you ever played here when it's been like this condition-wise?

COREY CONNERS: This is certainly the windiest that I have played. Played in a little bit of wind in years past in some different directions, so I kind of know how the course -- or how each hoole is going to play before I get there with each wind direction. It's definitely up a lot more than I've ever experienced.

Q. Getting off when you did and how you did off the course, what's your attitude going into tomorrow? How do you feel about it?

COREY CONNERS: I feel good about the round. A lot of solid stuff out there. Yeah, fortunate to have got out early this morning and got off to a pretty good start. I knew that was going to be important today with the forecast, so I was happy making the turn under par and battled hard on the back nine. Happy with where I'm sitting.

Q. Saw a lot of friends and family following you. Is this the biggest group you've had at the Masters?

COREY CONNERS: They've missed the last few years due to the COVID restrictions and border restrictions, so lots of family down. It's fun to have them here, and they're certainly enjoying being here. Yeah, it's fun to have them.

Q. How often have you gotten back to Canada?

COREY CONNERS: Not a whole lot. We went back, my wife and I, in the fall. We had a little girl in November, and then we took her back for Christmas, so Christmas was the last time that we've been back.

Q. You were probably happy with an early tee time today, right?

COREY CONNERS: Certainly happy with an early tee time. It's something that's out of my control, but I think I got the better end of the draw there.

Q. So can you describe the challenge for a guy who was just on the cut line right now with the late tee time today?

COREY CONNERS: Yeah. You're going to have to get the ball up and down. There are certain holes where you can take advantage, but the par fives on the back nine are playing tricky. 15 is straight into the wind pretty much. 13, the wind off the left off the tee doesn't really promote a right-to-left ball flight that you need to sort of challenge the corner. Just got to strap it on and play some golf.

Q. What's the plan for the rest of the day? Any rest or working on something in particular?

COREY CONNERS: Just going to probably touch all the bases, hit a few putts, hit a few short game shots and swing a few after some lunch, and take it easy this afternoon.