MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 11, 2024

Corey Conners

Quick Quotes

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Q. How did you feel out there?

COREY CONNERS: I felt good. It was nice to get the Masters tournament underway today. Felt like my game was quite solid. The conditions were tricky. Some blustery winds. The golf course was in fantastic shape.

It played great. Not any faster than the last few days, I guess, but to be expected with a little bit of rain overnight and then the windy conditions. But yeah, it was good, and felt like my game was solid.

Q. Did the wind change throughout the day or was it more a matter of where you were on the course?

COREY CONNERS: The wind was swirling around a little bit. I think for the most part, it was fairly steady. It started to switch a little bit our last four holes, and I think now switching a little bit.

Played 1 pretty much downwind. It's off the left now. Kind of has shifted slightly. We tried to adjust.

Q. Very slippery putt on 18. Was a wind a factor on that putt?

COREY CONNERS: I just tried to put a good stroke on it and hope for the best. I knew the read. I maybe didn't play any extra break. The wind was kind of opposing the break there. But yeah, caught the hole.

Q. The tee ball on 6 and the tee ball on 16 seemed to come at good times during your round. Would you say that that's accurate?

COREY CONNERS: Yeah, that's definitely accurate. Hit a bunch of greens early but didn't really give myself any looks.

Three-putt on the first hole wasn't the best way to start the day, I guess. But really close one into 6, definitely got some positive mojo going. Was happy to make a 2 there.

I think 16, as well, was a great time.

Wasn't able to save par on 14.

Wasn't able to get up-and-down from the back of the green on 15.

So nice to get one at 16. Hit a really good 9-iron in there.

Q. 14, you were short there. Was that a wind gust and then 15 was a gust the other way?

COREY CONNERS: Pretty much, yeah. Thought it might have had a little bit of helping wind on 14. Didn't get help. Came up way short. Wasn't sure we had much help on 15. It was feeling like it was starting to help there.

But it was kind of the first hole that it switched a little bit. It was a little bit hard to trust because it had been fairly consistent for most of the day. Yeah, long of that green is a little better than the other side, so it was okay.

Q. When you're trying to make decisions about the wind, how do you go about it?

COREY CONNERS: I think myself and my caddie, Danny, we're good at talking things through. First step is kind of looking in the yardage book and seeing the compass and where the wind should be as the forecast would say, see if we feel something similar to that.

If we do, easy to trust that. If we don't, maybe we'll talk about it a little bit or if we don't, maybe give it another second to see if it settles in a little bit.

Q. What is it about this place that brings out the best in your game?

COREY CONNERS: Yeah, I was happy with how I drove the ball and hit my irons today. If you do that solid around here, you can make things easier. Yeah, I've been able to do that. I try and normalize the week as much as possible, as special of a week as it is. Just try and go through my routine, stick to the plan. But it felt good to get off to a solid start and hit a number of quality shots.

Q. With your good finishes here, what is there now with your game or yourself that makes you think this time you could maybe put it through?

COREY CONNERS: Yeah, it's certainly a long way to go. I feel like I've put myself in situations before and learned some lessons. I feel like I've got a lot of belief in my game. Out of my control what the other guys do. I've got a good plan to try and do my best.

Q. Are you happy to have just had today's round done and not have to flow into tomorrow?

COREY CONNERS: Yeah, I think so. It's always nicer. I'm not anticipating too much of a delay tomorrow, as well, so it'll be nice to get back out here at lunchtime and try and keep climbing up the board.