Four years after becoming a winner on the PGA Tour, Corey Conners has added another Texas Open title to his résumé. Finishing the week at TPC San Antonio at 15 under, Conners utilized a stellar final round to usurp Patrick Rodgers and fend off a surging Sam Stevens and Sam Ryder. While the victory this season was far less of the Cinderella story of 2019 — Conners memorably Monday qualified through a six-man playoff en route to winning — it was nevertheless ideal with the first major championship of the season knocking on the door.
“I’ve drawn from some of the experience I had here and really happy with the way that I hit the ball and got myself in position,” said Conners. “Drove it great, hit a lot of really good iron shots. Yeah, just kept things simple, felt relaxed. It was certainly challenging and a battle out there, but just an amazing day and can’t believe it. It’s a relief that it’s over.”
Conners began his final round at TPC San Antonio one stroke off the pace of 54-hole leader Rodgers. With the Stanford product struggling to find his swing and bleeding strokes to the field, the Canadian went about his business in a methodical fashion. Carding three birdies on his opening nine and turning in 3 under, Conners flipped a slim deficit to a four-stroke lead by the time he made the way to the inward half.
Stevens persisted by playing Nos. 8-14 in 4 under before a booming eagle on the drivable par-4 17th cut Conners’ lead to as little as one. Still, Conners had space to operate. When a couple more birdies and zero blemishes found their way onto his scorecard — he was one of just two players to navigate TPC San Antonio in a bogey-free manner on Sunday — the victory was as good as his.
Conners secured his initial invitation as a professional to the Masters with his win in San Antonio in 2019 — the year Tiger Woods memorably won his 15th major championship — and has been a serious factor ever since. Heading into this year’s tournament with showings of T10, T8 and T6 in his last three appearances at Augusta National, Conners’ trajectory could be similar to that of this week.
While the Texas Open did not feature the world beaters that are Scottie Scheffler, Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy, it proved to Conners that despite a four-year hiatus from the winner’s circle, he still has the guts, gumption and skill to play his best when the stakes are the highest.
“I felt great about my game, but it’s so difficult to win on the PGA TOUR,” said Conners. “Feel like I’ve been working really hard and haven’t been able to get it done for the last four years, but it sure feels sweet and I definitely love Texas.” Grade: A+
Here is the breakdown of the rest of the notables on the leaderboard at the 2023 Texas Open.
T10. Chris Kirk (-8): The Honda Classic winner continues to fare well in these regular PGA Tour stops. Outside the designated events, Kirk has played four times garnering a victory, two podium finishes and now another top-10 effort. The Georgia Bulldog didn’t have his typically reliable iron play to lean on in San Antonio but was still able to golf his ball in an impressive fashion. Kirk is set to make his fourth Masters appearance next week and his first since 2016, where he should fare well given his statistical skillset and right-to-left ball flight. Grade: A-
T10. Rickie Fowler (-8): He didn’t win for the first time in four years to punch his ticket into the Masters like everyone was hoping, but this week was still another step in the right direction. Fowler put all the pieces of puzzle together on Sunday with a 6-under 66, when the five-time winner on the PGA Tour gained over two strokes on approach and putting. For the week, he ranked 10th in strokes gained tee to green and should only continue this upward trajectory having now notched top-20 finishes in six of his last seven starts. Grade: B+
T15. Hideki Matsuyama (-7): Matsuyama fans should feel encouraged. The 2021 Masters champion played all four rounds and discovered his ball striking in the process. The man from Japan ranked fourth in strokes gained off the tee, seventh in strokes gained tee to green and 22nd in strokes gained approach. He still has the innate ability to randomly contend on golf’s biggest stage as showcased by his fifth-place finish at the Players Championship and fourth-place at last year’s U.S. Open and could be live to do something similar at Augusta. Grade: B-
T39. Si Woo Kim (-3): Kim’s erratic nature was on full display at TPC San Antonio, striking the ball adequately enough only to be let down on and around the greens. His Texas Open aspirations were put to an end when he signed for a quadruple-bogey nine on Friday and was unable to recover from such a head-scratching blunder. Kim now sets his sights on Augusta National, where despite some theatrics — namely putting with his 3-wood the final three holes in 2021 — he has been the model of consistency over the last five years. Grade: C
MC. Tyrrell Hatton (–): For as kind as the Florida Swing was to the Englishman, the Texas Swing has been rude. Hatton opened with a 2-under 70, where he ranked 123rd in strokes gained putting but backed it up with a 3-over 75 where he lost nearly four strokes from tee to green and ultimately missed the cut by one. The world No. 17 now sets his sights on Augusta National — a golf course Hatton’s disdain for has grown in recent years. In six prior trips, he has just one top-20 finish and no other results inside the top 40. Grade: F