Conners jumps Hadwin for Canada’s final Olympic spot with top-10 finish at U.S. Open

17/06/2024

PINEHURST, N.C. — Corey Conners holds a degree in actuary mathematics and at one point Sunday he probably could have used it to determine if he had done enough to earn his spot on the Olympic golf team for Canada.

Despite some complicated calculations, the result is simple to say — he did it.

Conners finished tied for ninth at the U.S. Open and will jump Adam Hadwin for the second spot for Team Canada in Paris when the world golf rankings are made official on Monday.

“I’ve been working very hard. It’s been a tight race for a long time,” Conners said. “It’s very satisfying and I’m really happy.”

Nick Taylor will be the other to represent Canada and will be a first-time Olympian at age 36.

Conners teed it up with Mackenzie Hughes at the Tokyo games and finished two shots out of a playoff for a bronze medal.

Conners had a tough start at Pinehurst No. 2 going 2 over for his first four holes. But he bounced back going 3 under for his next six holes. He finished with an even-par 70 and was even par for the week.

Bryson DeChambeau won his second U.S. Open after finishing at 6 under.

Conners top-10 at Pinehurst No. 2 was his first at a major since the 2022 U.S. Open. He is the sixth Canadian in tournament history to notch a top-10 finish at this major championship.

“Sticking to my game plan I did a great job with this week. Just taking things one shot at a time, not getting ahead of myself, not worrying about any upcoming holes or shots. I stayed in the moment really well,” Conners said.

This week also marked Conners’ first made-cut in six attempts at the U.S. Open.

“It was a solid week overall. I was certainly motivated to improve on my record at the U.S. Open because I feel like challenging golf courses are set up well for me,” Conners told Sportsnet. “I was comfortable with the course and felt good about my game. Would have been nice to get a little higher up the leaderboard. But it was a really solid week, and I was happy with everything.”

Taylor Pendrith also notched his best result at a U.S. Open — and best result at a major championship — after finishing tied for 16th.

Pendrith shot a 2-over 72 after bogeying his final hole of the week. With six bogeys and four birdies, he admitted Sunday was a “roller coaster” but he felt he did a great job all week in staying patient on one of the game’s biggest stages.

“I hit some really solid shots under pressure and some shots I’ve been uncomfortable with in the past, so it feels good,” Pendrith said. “My irons, even at the beginning of the week, weren’t great. But it was a huge confidence boost for me moving forward that these are some of the hardest greens to hit and hold and I hit some beautiful iron shots right where I was looking and with the exact ball flight I was picturing.

“We worked hard on it this week and it was nice to see that this week and hopefully that helps me moving forward.”

Adam Svensson, the other Canadian to make the cut, shot a 5-over 75 to finish at 12 over for the week.

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