PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 18, 2023

Corey Conners

Oak Hill Country Club

Flash Quotes

THE MODERATOR: Corey Conners is joining us here at the 105th PGA Championship after a 3-under 67 today. Cory, is there a shot or maybe a hole that stands out to you from today's round?

COREY CONNERS: There were a lot of great shots today. I think the highlight of the day was 5-iron into No. 6. I was trying to be aggressive there and execute a really good shot, and I decided to tap in for birdie.

That kind of got the round jump-started. I felt like it was a pretty good moment of the round.

Q. I think you had a really good opening round as well at Kiawah. How would you compare this course in terms of difficulty to that one and then also broadly speaking where does this course rank, because the scoring is quite high for a Thursday compared to all the recent major venues.

COREY CONNERS: It's certainly a different type of golf course than Kiawah, but Kiawah was pretty demanding as well.

This place has length. I think the rough is a little more penalizing here, but driving is difficult and very important here as well.

Yeah, it's just a great test. I think it stacks up with some of the toughest major championship venues that I have ever played. It feels great to get off to a nice start.

Q. What's your favorite type of golf course, Corey, if you were building one that would suit your game the best? What would it look like?

COREY CONNERS: Really something like this. I've been excited to get here to Oak Hill for a while. It just has a little bit of a Canadian feel, like I'm playing back home. Familiar with the grass. Yeah, tight fairways, deep rough, small greens. That's what you've got here.

Q. Did you see six birdies out there in any of your practice rounds, and what was working with your game today, either strategy or with your play that allowed that to happen?

COREY CONNERS: Probably didn't see six birdies out there in the practice rounds. Playing some holes yesterday morning, the wind wasn't really blowing.

I knew it was possible to give yourself some opportunities. I would say the couple of things that worked really well, I hit a couple of couple great approach shots when I could be aggressive and hit a lot of smart shots and was able to roll in some putts. That certainly felt good to see some putts go in.

Q. One follow-up if I could, does getting that second win recently -- did it change any of your internal dialogue, and how much would could it help on Sunday if you get yourself in the mix?

COREY CONNERS: Yeah, it's certainly something that I can draw on. It was a confidence booster. I've been working really hard on my game, and it was nice to get the second win.

Yeah, I feel like if I play well, I can get myself in contention any week of the year, and I feel like I'm playing well, so hopefully I can keep playing free and be in the mix on Sunday.

Q. What did you make of the situation on No. 14 tee box, seam box as No. 1 and that drivable par-4? Obviously lots of groups coming together right there.

COREY CONNERS: Had to take a few extra practice swings. We sat around there for quite a while. The wind was up and down. There were certain times when the wind was down when I thought I might have been able to reach the green.

Yeah, it was a bit of a bottleneck on the course, which wasn't ideal. I enjoy when things keep flowing and can play a little quicker, but it is what it is. Everybody has got the same challenge there.

Q. To counteract that antsy feeling, you said it was downwind, so you wanted to hit now.

COREY CONNERS: I didn't really let it bother me too much. Just kind of, you know, stayed patient and was going to be ready to hit it when we were able.

Q. Growing up in Canada, how much do you enjoy playing in these colder conditions, and were you able to use that experience to produce a 3-under round?

COREY CONNERS: Yeah, I wouldn't say I enjoy playing in the cooler conditions more than anyone else. I still would like it to be warmer.

The temperature really did warm up quickly today, but I would say I've certainly got plenty of experience playing in cold weather, growing up in Canada. Played a lot of golf even at Kent State at university and some colder tournaments. I'm certainly not afraid of it, but my preference is for it to be warm and sunny.

Q. How would you classify your putting performance today?

COREY CONNERS: I feel like it was really solid. I felt like I was seeing the lines really well and hit a lot of really solid putts.

Q. Hear any Canadian cheers out there today?

COREY CONNERS: Lots of Canadian cheers. Being so close to the Canadian border, I think lots of fans came down from Canada. I felt pretty special to have a lot of support out there.