ARNOLD PALMER INVITATIONAL

March 3, 2023

Corey Conners

Bay Hill Club and Lodge

Quick Quotes

Q. Just start off with some comments. Morning round, playing in the wind and heat today.

COREY CONNERS: Yeah, knew the forecast at the beginning of the week. Knew today was going to be a challenging day. Didn't disappoint, I guess. The wind was blowing from the get-go. I feel like we might have got a bit of a break on the first few holes. But it was very challenging day. Knew it was going very difficult. Took some positives from yesterday's round. I tried to play really smart today. Focus on one shot at a time, hit it solid. I was able to do that really well. Never got myself into too much trouble and was really happy with the way I struck it. I rolled in some nice putts.

Q. How good was that round today?

COREY CONNERS: Yeah, it was excellent. I played really, really solid. I did everything well. Drove it well, hit my irons and wedges well and made some putts. As difficult of a day as it was, I left myself in great spots. So it was a fairly stress-free round. Can never be stress-free out here. But I was really happy with the way I kept things really simple and just focused on each shot, hitting it really solid.

Q. How much of a mental grind was it out there with some of the shots and especially with all the penalty areas and stuff that come into play here?

COREY CONNERS: Yeah, definitely. Very mentally tough. I think me and my caddie Danny Sahl did a great job of judging the wind, feeling the shots, seeing the shots. Was able to execute a lot of good ones. So worked out well.

Q. Last night when you saw the weather forecast and what the changes they were doing to the preparation were you kind of salivating and thinking, This is going to work for me?

COREY CONNERS: Yeah, certainly playing in the morning I think is an advantage today. I got off to a really nice start. As challenging as it was, tried to keep my foot down and continue to be aggressive as much as possible. So, I mean, it was definitely nice to have a morning tee time. But even last week when I was at home looking at the forecast for this week I saw the wind forecast for today and I've been expecting it for awhile.

Q. (Question about the par-5s today.)

COREY CONNERS: Yeah, I just hit really good tee shots on all the par-5s. A couple of them were playing downwind. I guess 4 and No. 12. Was able to hit irons on to the green there. Which are two difficult greens to hit, regardless of what club you have. But just hits some solid shots.

And then got on the green on 6 into the wind a little bit.

Then 16, you know, it was within range, but happy with the lay up and wedge it in there close.

So, you got to take advantage of those holes, but keep it simple and try and hit it solid.

Q. What is it about this course that suits your eye so well?

COREY CONNERS: I think having success here in the past or playing well here in the past definitely adds some comfort. But it's a very demanding golf course. It's a very difficult golf course. But I feel like I've had a good strategy to tackle this test and just try and play my game, stick to what I do best and just try and focus on hitting it solid.

Q. Do you have a good Arnold Palmer story?

COREY CONNERS: I do not. I never got the honor of meeting Mr. Palmer. But it's an honor to be here at his event. I got to see his office a couple years ago upstairs. You can feel his presence around here. It's a very special place.