No longer under the radar, Corey Conners appears primed to win The Masters
Corey Conners keeps playing well and keeps hitting the ball as well as anyone on the planet. And so, as Sportsnet’s Adam Stanley writes, the Canadian seems primed for a big week at The Masters.
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Why not, right?
Corey Conners is no longer a sneaky pick to win the Masters because he keeps playing well and keeps hitting the ball about as well as anyone on the planet. And get this — since the tournament’s inception, the average number of starts it takes to win a green jacket for the first time is 6.3.
This year marks Conners’ seventh start as a pro.
It’s time.
“I do feel like being in the situations I’ve been in the past year and so far this year,” Conners, of Listowel, Ont., said Tuesday, “makes me feel a little bit more comfortable and ready to get it done.”
That is a little dance compared to Xander Schauffele’s reply to a similar question a day prior. Schauffele has won two of the last three majors. He was hurt earlier this year but was asked directly if he believed he could win this week given the status of his comeback.
“I don’t think I’d be here if I didn’t,” Schauffele said.
Alas, we’ll take what we can get from Canada’s top-ranked golfer who, once again, is coming into the Masters with plenty of momentum and the kind of game that sets up well for Augusta National’s tricks.
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Conners has four top-10s this season already — matching his total from all of 2024 — and three in a row through the Florida swing, all at courses, like Augusta National, that demand precise shot-making. He’s 19th on the PGA Tour in strokes gained: off the tee, 23rd in strokes gained: total and 21st in the Official World Golf Ranking — his highest such spot.
Conners had three top-10s in a row at the Masters from 2020-22 but missed the cut in 2023 (after his win the Sunday prior at the Valero Texas Open) and placed a pedestrian T38 last year when he admitted to enduring an uncharacteristically poor ball-striking week.
But between his good experiences from years’ past plus plenty of lessons learned from 2003 champion Mike Weir (Weir, Conners, Nick Taylor and Taylor Pendrith played a practice round Tuesday) he’s ready to go, again, in 2025.
“I think there is an added comfort level knowing you had some good rounds out here, knowing what it takes to play well. I think that’s definitely huge here compared to some of the weeks,” Conners said. “Obviously, it’s the biggest golf tournament in the world.
“I feel like I’ve been playing some good golf lately and just looking forward to putting it to the test this week. It’s a new challenge. I can certainly remember some of the things that worked well for me in the past and try and do more of that.”
More of that is just fine when you look at Wikipedia and see a career’s worth of top-10 yellow boxes at this particular major championship. But 22 years after Weir’s Masters title, he’s ready to have some Canadian company in the Champions’ Locker Room — and even though Conners maybe won’t admit it directly, he’s got the juice to do exactly that.
“I’m certainly excited with the way I’ve been playing,” Conners said. “Feel like there is a win around the corner.”
Like Sunday, perhaps.
