Corey Conners opens in contention at The Players Championship
corey conners turned in an opening-round 3-under 69 on Thursday at The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass, leaving him two shots behind the early lead heading into Friday. The round put him in the mix quickly, while also underlining a familiar split in his game: elite ball striking paired with putting that still hasn’t fully followed.
Corey Conners and a 3-under 69
corey conners began on the par-4 10th and immediately made a birdie, even after his afternoon tee time was delayed by 30 minutes. He later gave a shot back with a bogey on the island-green par-3 17th, then answered with birdies on Nos. 1, 2, and 7 to post 69. The figures placed him just two back of the early lead, a meaningful position in a tournament where the difference between chasing and controlling often comes down to a single swing.
Four players set the pace earlier in the day with 5-under 67s: Maverick McNealy, Lee Hodges, Sepp Straka, and Sahith Theegala. Yet the leaderboard remained unsettled because the first round was suspended at 7: 37 p. m. ET with four players still finishing their openers, including co-leader Austin Smotherman. The pattern suggests that Thursday’s scoring snapshot did not fully settle the competitive picture, and that Friday morning’s completion will tighten the benchmarks for anyone trying to move up early.
TPC Sawgrass delays reshape Friday
Play management became part of the story. A passing storm created a 21-minute delay on Thursday after conditions made the course unplayable, and the day ultimately ended with the 7: 37 p. m. ET suspension. For Corey Conners, the immediate effect arrived before he hit a shot, with his afternoon start pushed back by 30 minutes. Still, his opening birdie on the 10th suggested he adjusted quickly, even as the broader field dealt with a stop-start rhythm.
Friday now carries an added layer: some players will be finishing a first round while others are already trying to post a second-round number. Sudarshan Yellamaraju, making his debut at The Players, had one hole left to complete Friday morning and stood at 1 over, described as the second-best Canadian on the leaderboard at that point. A. J. Ewart, also making his Players debut and grouped with Yellamaraju, sat 5 over through 17 holes. The figures point to a Canadian contingent split by both scoring and scheduling, with the tail end of Thursday bleeding directly into the start of Friday’s positioning.
Canadian scores: Hughes, Pendrith, Taylor
Canada’s group in the field included Mackenzie Hughes, Taylor Pendrith, Nick Taylor, Corey Conners, Sudarshan Yellamaraju and A. J. Ewart. After Thursday, Conners led the Canadians on the board, while three others landed on the same number: Hughes, Pendrith, and Taylor each shot 2-over 74.
Hughes’ round swung early. He bogeyed his opening hole, then made an eagle on the par-5 11th before later bogeys on 14 and 18 helped leave him 1-over after his first nine. A birdie on Hole 1 brought him back to even, but bogeys on Holes 3 and 4 ended his day at 2-over. Pendrith also flashed early scoring, opening with a birdie and adding another on the 12th to reach 2-under before a triple-bogey on 15 derailed the card. Two more bogeys to close the front nine dropped him to 3-over, and after a bogey on Hole 4 he returned to 2-over with birdies on Holes 6 and 7 following a brief weather delay.
Taylor started his Thursday afternoon at 2: 00 p. m. ET and ran into immediate trouble with a double-bogey on his opening hole. He responded with a birdie on Hole 11, but mixed in a bogey on 14 and later a birdie on 16 before double-bogeying 18 to sit 3-over through nine. A birdie to begin the back nine steadied him enough to finish at 2-over. The pattern suggests that for the Canadian group behind Conners, the challenge wasn’t a lack of birdies so much as the severity of the mistakes, with doubles and a triple outweighing the recovery shots.
The most immediate next step arrives Friday, when the first round will be completed for those left on the course after the 7: 37 p. m. ET suspension, including Austin Smotherman. For Corey Conners, the context sets a clear open question as he begins his second round: whether his putting improves after losing almost a shot-and-a-half to the field on Thursday, despite ranking third in strokes gained: tee to green and sixth in strokes gained: approach to green. If that balance shifts even slightly, the data suggests his position near the lead could strengthen quickly.
