Canadians Conners, Taylor avoid going over par in first round of TOUR Championship
Published
Canada's only two representatives in the 2023 TOUR Championship, Corey Conners and Nick Taylor, avoided going over par in the first round to stay in the hunt at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta on Thursday.
Conners, who fired a first-round 70, started his round off by bogeying the 461-yard, par-4 first hole.
The 31-year-old from Listowel, Ont., got back to even-par two holes later when he sank a 10-foot birdie putt.
Conners remained even-par until the dog-leg right, 529-yard, par-five sixth as his six strokes resulted in a bogey.
Following three straight pars, Conners started the back nine with a birdie to get back to even.
Conners got under par for the first time during his tour around East Lake on Hole 13 with a birdie.
Three consecutive bogeys on Holes 15-17 found Conners in a hole which was mitigated by an eagle on 18.
Winnipeg's Taylor started his first round by bogeying the first two of five holes on the front nine, teeing up on hole 6 at 2-over. A birdie on that hole provided some relief before a bogey on 8 sandwiched between pars on 7 and 9 saw him sitting at 2-over.
The 35-year-old kicked off the back nine with a birdie and played par-golf through the remaining eight holes to get to his final of 71 and 1-over.
Conners currently sits tied for 22nd place while Taylor is tied for 28th.