MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 12, 2025

Corey Conners

Quick Quotes

Q. Corey, how does it feel to stay on your game when your playing partner is off to such a nice start?

COREY CONNERS: Yeah, it was a pretty amazing start Rory had today. But just stuck to my game plan. I felt like I did a good job of just doing my thing. I knew I'd get my opportunities and try and capitalize when I did give myself opportunities.

Was able to make a few towards the middle of the round. Just couldn't quite get them to fall at the end. But it was a solid day.

Q. How would you describe that environment today?

COREY CONNERS: Yeah, it's a lot of fun. Rory is a world-class player and a lot of people cheering him on. Certainly a lot of people were cheering me on, as well. Felt great to be in that type of atmosphere. It's fun, great place to be, and it was a fun day.

Q. You were paired with him in the final round at THE PLAYERS. What impresses you the most about his game?

COREY CONNERS: Yeah, he can hit some shots, and he took advantage of some of the par-5s today. His length is pretty impressive.

Yeah, his firepower and his ability to kind of hit the right shot at the right time, kind of get himself on a run, was impressive at THE PLAYERS and again today. He'll definitely be tough to try and hunt down.

I think just standing on 15, yeah, just hit that iron -- I don't know what he hit, 7- or 8-iron in there possibly, to knock that in close and make the putt, that was I'd say an important moment in the round.

I wasn't able to make a birdie there, and he was able to kind of springboard and get ahead a little bit.

Q. Where is your relief level going into tomorrow?

COREY CONNERS: Yeah, that putt on 18 was nice to make. I've got a lot of faith in my game. What the other guys do is kind of out of my control, but I'm going to have to go and play a really good round of golf tomorrow.

Q. You went from four back of Rory to one back of Rory to four back of Rory. How did you turn your game around after that bogey?

COREY CONNERS: Yeah, I really just stayed patient. Got in some tricky spots, a little bit sloppy on a couple of the par-3s on the first nine.

But it was nice to knock it close on 9.

Birdied 8, knocked it close on 9, knocked it close on 10. Gave myself some looks there. Really nice save on 11 and 12.

Just disappointed I wasn't able to get the par-5s. Two 5s on 13 and 15. Gave myself some chances but couldn't get it to go.

Q. ...do you think a lot of that is attributed to the golf course?

COREY CONNERS: Yeah, definitely. There's opportunities where you can make a string of birdies or an eagle but you can also go the other way pretty quickly, too.

Q. You talked about the par-5s on the back. How important is scoring on the par-5s to your game plan?

COREY CONNERS: Yeah, it's important. If you hit good shots on other holes you can certainly give yourself looks, but the par-5s are really the best opportunities that you have to make birdies.

Just some poor tee shots on both those holes for me and just wasn't able to take advantage.

Q. Is it hard not to let doubt creep into your mind when a guy is on a heater like that and you're having the struggles that you're talking about on the par-3s?

COREY CONNERS: Yeah, to be fair, I did hit a couple pretty good shots. I'm kind of beating myself up. Hit a really good shot on 6. Just went a little bit long. It's not really where you want to be. Wasn't able to get that down in two.

But yeah, just stuck to my game plan. Felt like I did a great job of that and was expecting there to be some emotions playing with Rory. He's a popular player. But did a good job of just staying within myself.

Q. Do you feel like you're flying under the radar a little bit, and is that an advantage?

COREY CONNERS: I guess so. It's a cool position to be in, in the mix in a major championship. But yeah, just doing my thing, and we'll see what happens tomorrow.