Corey Conners has been one of the most consistent Canadians on the PGA TOUR over the past couple of years. It’s that consistency that has earned him a spot on the Canadian Olympic team heading to the upcoming summer Olympics.
Golf Canada recently announced the two spots reserved for the men’s team will go to Conners and 2023 RBC Canadian Open champion, Nick Taylor. On the women’s side, Brooke Henderson and Alena Sharp will be representing Canada at the upcoming summer Olympics in Paris, France.
When the decision on the men’s team was announced on June 17th, Taylor was 35th and Conners was 37th on the official World Golf rankings – they were the top two ranked Canadians.
After winning the RBC Canadian Open last June, Taylor carried that momentum towards another victory earlier this year at the TPC Scottsdale in February.
“The opportunity to represent my country at the Olympics has been a huge goal of mine for many years,” Taylor pointed out after the official announcement on June 17th.
“To see the news become official is quite humbling and surreal. I’m excited to get to Paris to compete, proudly wear the Maple Leaf, and soak in what I know will be an incredible experience.”
Joining Taylor at the Paris Olympics on the men’s golf team is Conners – who has been posting some strong results recently also. At the RBC Canadian Open in early June, he finished as the top Canadian in sixth spot.
“Definitely something to be proud of,” said Conners at the Hamilton Golf and Country Club about earning the distinction as the top Canadian. “Obviously disappointing not to win the big trophy but yeah it’s a cool honour (to be top Canadian in the field).”
Conners was again the top Canadian on the leaderboard at the U.S. Open – where he finished in a tie for 9th spot.
“It was a solid week overall. I was certainly motivated to improve on my record at the U.S. Open. I feel like the challenging golf courses set up well for me, and I was comfortable with the course, and I felt good about my game,” said the long-time Canadian National Team member from Listowel, Ont.
“It would have been nice to get a little higher up the leaderboard, but it was a really solid week.”
While his last PGA TOUR victory came back in April of 2023 at the Valero Texas Open, consistency has been a key factor to Conners’ success since then. An example of this remarkable consistency is the fact that he has not missed a cut in over a year – the last time Conners missed a cut was at the 2023 U.S. Open in Los Angeles.
Conners’ consistency combined with his recent top 10 results at the U.S. Open and the Canadian Open allowed him to edge out Adam Hadwin, who was ranked one spot behind at 38th in the world golf rankings when the Olympic team announcement was made.
“Huge honor to represent Canada at the Olympics again. It was a big goal of mine, since playing in Tokyo three years ago, that I really wanted to represent Canada again. I feel for Adam Hadwin, he was playing some really good golf as well and I was able to just sneak by him,” said the 32-year-old Conners at the recent Travellers Championship.
“Really happy and excited to get to go to Paris and it will be a lot of fun playing alongside Nick.
This marks the second time Conners will be representing Canada at the summer Olympics. The long-time Canadian National Team member from Listowel, Ont., will look to build on his strong performance at the Toyko Olympics in 2020 where he finished in 13th spot.
It is interesting to note that the last Canadian to win a medal in golf at the Olympics is George Lyon, who captured a gold medal way back in 1904.
Conners and Taylor – along with Henderson and Sharp – will look put their names into the history books later this summer in Paris, France. The men’s Olympic golf tournament will take place from August 1st to August 4th at Le Golf National. The women’s golf tournament will take place at the same venue from August 7th to August 10th.