TROON, Scotland — Creativity is certainly a virtue when playing links golf, but when the wind kicks up at these rugged golf courses by the sea, perhaps nothing is more important than the quality of your ball-striking.
Canada has got just the man for that.
Corey Conners came out unscathed on a difficult Open Championship day at Royal Troon, shooting a level-par 71 to get off to a decent start at the season’s final major.
“When it gets windy like this, hitting it in the middle of the clubface is paramount off the tee and with your irons,” Conners said after his round. “It gives you the best chance to control the ball because any mishit just gets magnified and swallowed up by the wind.”
The Listowel, Ont., native made two birdies to offset his two bogeys and, like his fellow Canadians Nick Taylor (75) and Adam Hadwin (75), had some trouble reading the breaks on the greens.
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“It was a solid round, there were a few putts I certainly would have liked to have made today, it just felt like I was missing the line on a few,” Conners said. “The greens are kind of tricky, it’s tough to get the pace right and there’s not a lot of break, and then the wind is playing a factor as well. They’re just kind of subtle and I wasn’t able to see them go in.”
While he will be looking to make a few more putts through the week, Conners’ tee-to-green was sharp on Thursday as he played his front nine in the worst of the day’s wind.
“I was expecting that and I had faith in my ball striking,” he said. “I knew I could hit solid shots through that front nine and give myself some chances and moreso keep it out of trouble. Yeah, it was good, I felt like I struck the ball pretty good.”
Conners has one of the most reliable and elite swings in the game, and it’s never a surprise to see the 32-year-old in the hunt on demanding golf courses.
Hadwin found himself thinking of his friend Conners when explaining the difficulties of playing golf in the windy conditions found this week on Scotland’s Ayrshire Coast.
“I’m getting there and I’m working on it, but I don’t have Conners’ striking ability,” Hadwin said. “He hits it solid so often that it’s easier to predict how the wind is going to affect things.”
The stoic Conners is optimistic for the rest of the week and feels his calm nature is a good fit for the trials and tribulations of links golf.
“I think that patience and resilience when conditions are like they are — where the elements are playing a factor — makes it a different animal, and I think it sets up well to my attitude and my game.”