Corey Conners Feels Confident Going into Third Round of RBC Canadian Open

For Corey Conners, that T12 finish at the PGA Championship in late May, including an opening round 67, went a long way in boosting his confidence heading into today’s third round of the RBC Canadian Open at Oakdale Golf & Country Club in Toronto.

Conners sits at 8-under 136. He tees off today at 3:15 p.m., with Toronto weather conditions set for sunny and warm. Carl Yuan from China who led after Friday's second round, tees off today at 3:25 p.m.

How do the golf betting sites view Conners' chances going into today's round?

Corey Conners Says Course Sets Up Well For Him

Conners, the 31-year-old native of Listowel, Ont., acknowledges this particular golf course dictates how you play, taking away options, and the way Conners is playing now, that might be a little easier for him.

“Yeah, possibly. Yeah, I would say I'm not really questioning what I'm going to hit on most tees,” he says. “Maybe if the wind switches there might be some adjustments. But for the most part I think a lot of guys in the field are probably using the same, hitting driver on most of the same holes and laying back on the same holes as well. So I would say you can't really overpower the golf course too much. Not a super long hitter, so kind of plays into my strengths.”

Keeping it out of the rough here continues to be the big key, he added, with more of a premium on hitting the fairways at Oakdale. But Conners talks about being in a good head space. Ball striking has been really solid, he says, and his score reflects that.

“So I'm feeling good about my game and able to play with freedom and confidence,” he says. “So just having a lot of fun.”

Other Canadians in the Mix for the RBC Canadian Open 

Other Canadians in the mix heading into Saturday are Moose Jaw, Sask.’s Adam Hadwin, tied for 17th at five under (2 p.m. tee off), Calgary native Roger Sloan, 36, also at five under (1:40 p.m. tee off), and Edmonton’s Will Bateman, tied for 23 at four under. Taylor Pendrith from Richmond, Ont., is at three under, sits at T32, and tees off at 12:15 p.m.

Yuan says he’s having fun heading into Saturday.

“Not a result goal, just like being in the present, hitting shot by shot and, yeah, being out here trying to have the most fun,” he says.

Crowd favourite and two-time champion Rory McIlroy put himself back into contention with a 67 yesterday, and is three shots back of Yuan, with a tee off time today at 2:10 p.m.

“Yeah, three back going into the weekend, that's, I'm pretty pleased with that,” he says. “I sort of like it (having to learn a golf course on the fly). I like reacting to what I'm seeing out there and targets. And I'm not a great player at playing a course by memory. And like I, there's certain venues on Tour that I go back to and I play well, but it's not really because I remember how putts are breaking or where to miss it. It's just I feel comfortable at that venue. So I'm not saying I'm better at playing a course blind, but I'm, sometimes it's nice not to know where the trouble is. You just sort of react to your targets out there and you really get into your shots. So sometimes I don't feel like it's that much of a disadvantage.”