TULSA, Oklahoma (Reuters) – Corey Conners has been in the hunt at nearly every major over the last year and the Canadian said on Wednesday ahead of this week’s PGA Championship that getting more comfortable when in contention will help him take the next step.
For world number 32 Conners, who is the highest Canadian in the rankings, finding a greater level of consistency when he is in the mix is what he feels stands between him and a maiden major championship.
“There’s definitely a big mental component to it. I’m getting a lot more comfortable being in positions near the top of the leaderboard, but it’s certainly very challenging to win,” said Conners.
“In each of the major championships and PGA Tour events where I’ve been close, there has just been a nine-hole stretch or even a round where I’ve left some shots out there, and you’re not able to do that to win.”
Conners finished inside the top-10 at each of the last three Masters, was inside the top-20 at last year’s PGA Championship, where he held a two-stroke lead after the first round, and British Open but missed the cut at the U.S. Open.
The 30-year-old Canadian, whose sole PGA Tour victory came at the 2019 Texas Open, is a solid ball striker with mix of distance and accuracy that should prove critical this week at Southern Hills.
“You don’t have to be perfect, but can’t sort of have the lull for nine holes or 18 holes that pulls you back a little bit,” said Conners.
“I think mentally just keeping your foot on the gas as much as possible, can’t get too greedy necessarily and force things, especially on a difficult golf course like this.”
Conners said this week’s layout at Southern Hills will prove very demanding both off the tee and into the greens but that he loves the course and feels it fits well with his playing style so long as he can maintain the right mindset.
“Don’t want to get too rattled or too mad when things aren’t going well, but I also want to have fire when things are going great to keep my foot on the pedal and keep going out there,” he said.
“Try and find a good balance. But I think being a little fiery out there is definitely something that I like.”
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto)
