The unlikeliest player in the field is contending at the Masters
The unlikeliest player in the 83rd Masters field became the unlikeliest midday leader on Thursday’s first day at Augusta National Golf Club.
Corey Conners, a 27-year-old Canadian, eagled the par-5 15th hole to get to 3-under par and take the lead at 12:30 p.m. in his second Masters appearance. Conners, who played in the Masters as an amateur in 2015, earned his way into this year’s field by winning the Valero Texas Open the week before the Masters. He had to win a Monday qualifier just to make the field in that event.
“It’s been a crazy week for sure,” he said.
Conners’ wife Malory became something of a social media star during his playoff win at the Valero.
“She’s been my biggest fan for years and my biggest supporter. I’m really lucky to have her by my side. It’s pretty cool to see her in the spotlight a little bit. Her reactions were awesome,” Corey Conners said. “You can see how much she cares about what I’m doing, and it means a lot to me. It was pretty cool. She got a lot of messages and gained a lot of followers on social media, so she was pretty pumped about that.”
Malory and Conners’ manager helped with the whirlwind arrangements needed to get him to Augusta National on short notice.
“Valero flew us on their jet from San Antonio, which was very nice, and yeah, my clothing sponsor, Levelwear, sent some more clothes, because I had packed for a Monday qualifier and got in the field last week and now we’re here. So we actually went shopping last night, so I could get a couple t‑shirts and a pair of pants to go to dinner in (laughing),” he said. “Yeah, a bunch of my family is coming into town. Was able to find a couple houses that they are able to stay in.”
Conners eagle on No. 15 followed birdies on No. 13 and No. 14. He almost was the lone leader in the clubhouse but a bogey on No. 18 dropped him back to 2-under, which shared the early lead with four other players. Conners played in Thursday’s first group along with Adam Long, whose first victory in professional golf came in Columbia at Woodcreek Plantation in a Hooters Tour event.
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Today’s Masters Tee Times
8:30 a.m. -- Andrew Landry, Adam Long, Corey Conners
8:41 a.m. -- Ian Woosnam, Keith Mitchell, Kevin Tway
8:52 a.m. -- Mike Weir, Shane Lowry, Kevin O’Connell*
9:03 a.m. -- Angel Cabrera, Aaron Wise, Justin Harding
9:14 a.m. -- Danny Willett, Brandt Snedeker, Takumi Kanaya*
9:25 a.m. -- Fred Couples, Si Woo Kim, J.B. Holmes
9:36 a.m. -- Branden Grace, Emiliano Grillo, Lucas Bjerregaard
9:47 a.m. -- Charl Schwartzel, Charles Howell III, Eddie Pepperell
9:58 a.m. -- Sergio Garcia, Tony Finau, Henrik Stenson
10:09 a.m. -- Adam Scott, Hideki Matsuyamu, Kyle Stanley
10:31 a.m. -- Patrick Reed, Webb Simpson, Viktor Hovland*
10:42 a.m. -- Charley Hoffman, Louis Oosthuizen, Marc Leishman
10:53 a.m. -- Tommy Fleetwood, Xander Schauffele, Gary Woodland
11:04 a.m. -- Tiger Woods, Haoton Li, Jon Rahm
11:15 a.m. -- Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler, Cameron Smith
11:26 a.m. -- Sandy Lyle, Michael Kim, Patton Kizzire
11:37 a.m. -- Trevor Immelman, Martin Kaymer, Devon Bling*
11:48 a.m. -- Larry Mize, Jimmy Walker, Stewart Cink
11:59 a.m. -- Jose Maria Olazabal, Kevin Na, Thorbjorn Olesen
12:10 p.m. -- Bernhard Langer, Matt Wallace, Alvaro Ortiz*
12:32 p.m. -- Alex Noren, Keegan Bradley, Matthew Fitzpatrick
12:43 p.m. -- Vijay Singh, Billy Horschel, Jovan Rebula*
12:54 p.m. -- Kevin Kisner, Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Shugo Imahira
1:05 p.m. -- Zach Johnson, Ian Poulter, Matt Kuchar
1:16 p.m. -- Francesco Molinari, Rafael Cabrera Bello, Tyrrell Hatton
1:27 p.m. -- Bubba Watson, Patrick Cantlay, Satoshis Kodaira
1:38 p.m. -- Dustin Johnson, Bryan DeChambeau, Jason Day
1:49 p.m. -- Phil Mickelson, Justin Rose, Justin Thomas
2:00 p.m. -- Jordan Spieth, Paul Casey, Brooks Koepka
*amateur
This story was originally published April 11, 2019 at 12:44 PM.