RBC CANADIAN OPEN

June 9, 2023

Corey Conners

Oakdale Golf & Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Another solid round. How does it feel being the low Canadian on back-to-back days to start the National Open?

COREY CONNERS: Yeah, really happy with the start. It's been a lot of fun out here this week. Fun playing in front of the Canadian fans. Just enjoying the walk out there. I have felt really good about my game. Ball striking's been very, very solid. Yeah, hopefully can keep hitting it well and get some more putts to fall in over the weekend.

Q. I was going to ask, never heard the crowd do the "ole" chant for Corey before. It's new to me. Was it new to you and what did you think of it?

COREY CONNERS: Yeah, I think so. There was some, yeah, lots of chants out there. But definitely that one was new. I'm really embracing the Canadian support.

Q. Conditions? What were they like? Seemed to kind of go all over the place.

COREY CONNERS: Conditions have been great. The golf course is in exceptional shape. There's maybe a little bit softer today. The ball was kind of sitting down in some of the fairways or landing softly in some of the fairways, which made some of them easier to hit possibly. I think the rain last night or this morning, fortunately didn't get wet out there this afternoon, which was great. The conditions are nice. The greens are rolling really nice and the course is holding up really well.

Q. What did you use on 18 there?

COREY CONNERS: 4-iron into the green.

Q. Being in the mix at a major championship a couple weeks ago do you take anything mentally from that into this weekend?

COREY CONNERS: Yeah, I think so. I would say this week I've been a lot more relaxed than even I was there and I felt like I was quite relaxed at the PGA Championship. So I'm feeling good about my game and able to play with freedom and confidence. So just having a lot of fun.

Q. Any comparables, golf course strategy-wise from Oak Hill to Oakdale here?

COREY CONNERS: Yeah, I mean, there's a premium on hitting the fairways and being solid off the tee. Saying that, hitting good approach shots is pretty key as well. There's some really undulating greens here like there was at Oak Hill. Yeah, keeping it out of the rough is a big key as well.

Q. Does this golf course almost take options away from you and sort of dictates how you play and what you use off certain tees and in a sense does that almost make it a little bit easier?

COREY CONNERS: Yeah, possibly. Yeah, I would say I'm not really questioning what I'm going to hit on most tees. Maybe if the wind switches there might be some adjustments. But for the most part I think a lot of guys in the field are probably using the same, hitting driver on most of the same holes and laying back on the same holes as well. So I would say you can't really overpower the golf course too much. Not a super long hitter, so kind of plays into my strengths.

Q. Are you at all surprised that 9-under, only 9-under is leading after seeing it in a practice round a couple weeks ago?

COREY CONNERS: Yeah, I feel like the golf course and the greens have sped up and the rough has continued to grow and become thicker from when I saw it a few weeks ago. Yeah, also just tournament conditions, it's playing a little trickier. But there's definitely some opportunities. If the weather stays nice I think that you can shoot some good numbers this weekend.