RBC CANADIAN OPEN

June 10, 2026

Corey Conners

TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley (North Course)

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We would like to welcome RBC ambassador Corey Conners to the interview room here at the RBC Canadian Open. Corey, making your 11th start here at the tournament. I know this event's always circled only your calendar, what are we looking forward to in playing in your National Open?

COREY CONNERS: Yeah, it's always great to be back home at the RBC Canadian Open. Playing in front of the Canadian fans, get a lot of Canadian support week-in and week-out on the PGA TOUR, but the fans really show up to this event and support the Canadian players. It's a special feeling out there that I'm looking forward to again this week. Hopefully, it propels into some good golf. But always a blast to play here. Having played in a number now, I feel a lot more comfortable. I'm not feeling any kind of pressure to perform, I can trust in my game and just kind of do my thing and hopefully that and the support leads to me up near the top of the leaderboard.

THE MODERATOR: Our second year playing here at TPC Toronto and you've just got done playing 18 holes. What are we seeing from the course?

COREY CONNERS: Yeah, the course is great. It's in good shape. The greens are a little bit soft at the moment. So I think it's been a fairly wet spring here. Hopefully, don't get too much rain throughout the week where things can firm up. I feel like the course shines when it plays a little bit faster, but the greens are fairly receptive. That also poses a bit of a challenge too in having to manage your spin, so we'll see. But the course is looking great and from what I saw today I feel like going to have to be pretty aggressive and try and make a good amount of birdies.

THE MODERATOR: With that, 14th start this season, how is your game feeling entering this week?

COREY CONNERS: Yeah, my game's been unusually inconsistent, I would say, this year. I've had some good stretches, some not so good stretches. Some weeks have found it for a couple of the days and then lost it for the others. Just trying to focus on playing pretty free, not trying to overthink things. I feel like I've reacted a little more to some mistakes and it hasn't quite been the answer this season so far. So a little disappointing results for me, but looking forward to trying to get things on a good track here this week and for the rest of the summer.

THE MODERATOR: With that we'll open it up for questions.

Q. This is the second year in a row as mentioned that TPC Toronto has hosted this event and it's going to come back next year. It's been about a decade since the RBC Canadian Open was kind of settled at one course. How does that impact you as a player to get to play the same course year after year for a National Open?

COREY CONNERS: Yeah, I do think this is an amazing facility. We've gotten to play some great golf courses in the RBC Canadian Open, but I think this is feeling like home for the event now. I'm excited about that. It's what typically we're used to week-in and week-out on the PGA TOUR and they have done a wonderful job. This is a really impressive facility. It's got everything that we want. The golf course provides a good test as well. So I think for fans becoming more familiar with the course as well will enhance their experience watching us try and win this event.

Q. There's 21 Canadians this year in the event. Now you're one of the veterans having played in 14. What advice would you have for some of the young amateurs that are playing, some of the, you know, sort of like low pros that are trying to make their way and have this opportunity to play at the PGA TOUR?

COREY CONNERS: Yeah, I think it can be an intimidating feeling playing in your National Open, playing in a PGA TOUR event for the young guys. Certainly I was there many years ago. I think my advice to them is really trust their game. They're here for a reason. Don't try and overdo things, just try and be free and trust what got them here and enjoy the experience, have fun. The fans are going to be cheering them on, it will be a great experience for them regardless of how they play. But just enjoying it I think is going to really enhance, and I'll be trying to follow that advice as well, I think.

Q. I wanted to ask about one of those guys have you made with Sudarshan Yellamaraju and what do you make of his game?

COREY CONNERS: Yeah, I've gotten, I played a few practice holes and been paired with Sudarshan and he's really impressive. I love how he goes about his business. He's really focused in on each shot. He hits the ball far, hits it straight, a great putter. There's really no holes in his game, and I think you've seen that. He's made some great climbs up the leaderboard on the weekend and I'm really proud of him for that. He's an impressive player and always cheering him on.

Q. Obviously Presidents Cup year, how much is that on your mind and how much will it be on your mind going forward as we get closer and closer?

COREY CONNERS: Yeah, getting certainly gaining on it, coming up in September. I've been able to interact with a number of the other International players throughout this year and I think everybody's excited about it. I'm pretty good at focusing on the task at hand, it's certainly in the back of my mind and I would love to be on that team again. But, yeah, just focusing on each week and try and play well and that will take care of itself.

Q. You've been such a consistent player with your swing over the years, when you go through some inconsistency like this is it almost harder to look for what's wrong when you know that you've been so consistent over the years and have you found anything technical that could possibly be to blame?

COREY CONNERS: Yeah, it's definitely challenging. I feel like my ball striking has been really solid. So it's tough when it gets a little bit off to know the cause. I think maybe I have some ideas technically, but trying to work through those technical things halls been difficult for me. I went out there this morning in the pro-am and didn't really have a single swing thought, I was just aiming, shooting, and feel like I struck it really well. So I think for me just keeping it simple, not over thinking things, and trusting the rhythm and the feel that I have and just making sure those are solid and I'm pretty confident I'll strike it solid.

Q. One bit of a bigger picture question, the TOUR's made public its plan to maybe have a two-track system in the future. It hasn't gotten as far as deciding which tournaments would be on which track. But at every event there's players that have a relationship with the community, or the country in this case, or a relationship with a sponsor where the player would want to play regardless. And this event in particular, if it was on Track 1 it couldn't really be an Open, and if it were on Track 2 you have a lot of Track 1 players that want to play here. Has that come up in any discussions you've had with anybody and how would a top player like you navigate it and do you think it could hurt some events?

COREY CONNERS: Yeah, there's a lot there. First of all, I think there's really been nothing decided on what events are going to be Track 1, Track 2. I would say I'm really passionate about this event. I care a lot about this event. The Open factor, you know, it's always been nice to have 21 Canadians, give some young Canadian players an opportunity to play at such an elite event. So definitely I think there's going to be some changes. Like I said, nothing's been quite decided, but I'm optimistic that the Canadian Open's going to continue to thrive and hopefully it can continue to be a big part of the PGA TOUR and I can continue trying to chase down the trophy. But it's obviously a special event to me and I would love to see it as a Track 1 event and continue playing well on the PGA TOUR and continue playing in front of the hometown fans.