Corey Conners makes Masters history with lowest round by Canadian at 65

1 month ago 2
Golf·Updated

Corey Conners makes Masters history with lowest round by Canadian at 65

Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., shot the lowest round by a Canadian at the Masters, seven-under 65 in Round 2 on Saturday. The previous best was 68, shared by five golfers. World No. 1 Dustin Johnson made the turn at 5-under 31 to push three shots clear of the field.

Round 3 leader Dustin Johnson narrowly misses matching scoring record for front 9

Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., shot the lowest round ever by a Canadian at the Masters, a seven-under 65 on Saturday morning. (Charlie Riedel/Associated Press)
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Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., shot the lowest round by a Canadian at the Masters, a seven-under 65 in Round 2 on Saturday at Augusta National.

The lowest previous round was 68, according to Augusta National officials, shared by Mike Weir, Stephen Ames, Dave Barr, Al Balding and Stan Leonard.

Conners' round, the lowest by anyone at this week's tourney at the time, moved the 28-year-old into a tie for 17th place at 5-under, four shots back of a leading pack of five that included Jon Rahm and Dustin Johnson.

Weir, the 2003 Masters champion, also completed his second round Saturday morning after play was suspended Friday at 5:30 p.m. ET due to darkness in Georgia. The native of Brights Grove, Ont., sits at 1-under and made the cut along with Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., who is even for the tourney.

WATCH | Corey Conners shoots Canadian record 65 at Masters:

Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., shot the lowest round by a Canadian at The Masters, while fellow countrymen Mike Weir and Nick Taylor also made the cut. 2:51

Adam Hadwin, also from Abbotsford, was 1-over through two rounds and missed the cut.

The top 50 plus ties were to make the cut this year, when the rule was eliminated that allowed anyone within 10 strokes of the lead to play the weekend.

Top-ranked Johnson leads by 3 at the turn

Dustin Johnson is threatening to pull away at the Masters.

Looking to capture his second major title, Johnson made the turn at 5-under 31 to push three shots clear of the field. He missed birdie attempts at the eighth and ninth holes, missing a chance to match the Augusta National scoring record for the front nine.

Johnson, who began the day in a four-way tie for the top spot, pushed ahead of Abraham Ancer and Justin Thomas, both at 11 under. Sungjae Im was another shot back, the only other player within five shots of the lead.

Johnson got on a roll with an eagle at the second hole, where his 222-yard approach stopped three feet from the flag for a virtual gimme. He followed with birdies at the next two holes, rolling in a 40-foot putt at the par-3 fourth.

Johnson kept up his onslaught with another brilliant approach at No. 7, the ball spinning back for toward the cup for a 2-foot tap-in.

Johnson won the U.S. Open in 2016. He has been a runner-up in the other three majors, including a tie for second behind Tiger Woods at the 2019 Masters.

Ailing DeChambeau barely makes cut

After struggling just to make the cut at the Masters, Bryson DeChambeau said he's not feeling well and even got tested for COVID-19 again to ensure it wasn't anything serious.

DeChambeau, who was the betting favourite to win the Masters after a dominating triumph at the U.S. Open, closed out his second round Saturday morning with a 2-over 74.

That left him at even-par 144 through 36 holes, right on the cut line and a whopping nine shots off the lead.

"Not good, to say the least," DeChambeau said before heading back out for the third round. "As I kept going through the round, I started getting a little dizzy. I don't know what was going on, a little something weird."

DeChambeau played 12 holes in the second round Friday before play was halted by darkness. He then got tested to make sure he didn't have the illness caused by the coronavirus.

It was negative.

"I had to do the right thing and make sure there was nothing more serious than that," he said. "I don't know what it is or what happened, but these past couple days, I've felt really, really odd and just not 100 per cent."

World No. 1 Dustin Johnson is among four players to have grabbed a share of the lead at nine under par before play was suspended.

WATCH | 4 golfers tied for lead heading into Saturday:

Corey Conners is sitting at 3-under with 2 more holes to play in the 2nd round. Fellow Canadians Nick Taylor is at par after 2 rounds, Mike Weir is 1-over halfway through the 2nd round and Adam Hadwin is sitting 2-over with 5 holes remaining in the 2nd round. 1:10

Singh sick, pulls out of tourney

Fiji's Vijay Singh has withdrawn from the Masters due to illness, organizers said on Saturday.

The three-time major winner, who shot a first-round 75, was eight-over par 10 holes through his second round before pulling out.

"Due to illness, Vijay Singh has officially withdrawn from Masters Tournament competition after completion of 10 holes in his second round," organizers said in a statement on Twitter.

With files from Reuters & Associated Press

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