‘It could be a really special round.’ Canadians Corey Conners and Mackenzie Hughes keep claret jug within reach at Open

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This article was published 17/07/2021 (1860 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There were about 32,000 fans at the Open Championship on Saturday, and the Canadians — the loudest, according to Corey Conners — had a lot to cheer about.

Conners of Listowel, Ont., and Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont. are in solid positions heading into the final round of the last men’s major golf championship of the year.

“They were the loudest of the bunch, and it was cool to have a few smiles out there when they were yelling words of encouragement,” Conners said of the crowds following him as he shot a 4-under 66 at Royal St. George’s in Sandwich, England.

Conners finished the day 8-under through three rounds and tied for fourth, while Hughes shot 2-under 68 and was 7-under for the championship, tied for sixth.

The duo, who will represent Canada at the Tokyo Olympics, is within shouting distance of the lead held by Louis Oosthuizen at 12-under. The South African is looking to become the first golfer since Rory McIlroy in 2014 to win the Open wire-to-wire.

Oosthuizen has been a model of consistency this year and is hoping to improve on back-to-back runner-up results at majors.

“You know, finishing second isn’t great,” said Oosthuizen, the 2010 Open winner. “So I will play my heart out tomorrow and see if I can lift the claret jug again.”

Conners will be in the penultimate pairing along with 2017 Open winner Jordan Spieth, while Hughes will be with Dylan Frittelli, his playing partner for the first two rounds.

Conners had a clean scorecard Saturday with no bogeys and rolled in three birdies in a row on holes 12 through 14. He said he’s stuck to a solid game plan all week, and his world-class ball striking was on display Saturday. He missed just one fairway and two greens.

“I like the strategy I have in place,” said Conners. “I could have had a stretch of making a few birdies kind of anywhere throughout the round if I would have got some more putts to fall. I felt like I really struck the ball well today.”

This is the third major of the year in which Conners has been the near the top of the leaderboard. He finished tied for 10th at the Masters and tied for 17th at the PGA Championship after holding the opening-round lead.

Canada’s top-ranked male golfer has a degree in actuary mathematics and says he likes his chances of winning one of golf’s biggest events sooner rather than later. Each of the last 31 major winners were within four shots of the lead through 54 holes.

“In mathematical terms, I feel like it’s likely,” Conners said with a smile. “I feel ready.”

Hughes, meanwhile, drained a 45-footer on the par-4 18th for the third birdie in his final five holes to get in the house in red figures. He was 1-under through 10 holes, but bogeyed 11 and 13.

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“I think that it would have been easy after those bogeys to get down, and certainly because I’ve been playing pretty well and had some good chances, so to drop those shots was disappointing,” said Hughes. “But I had a couple of holes coming in where I could get (a birdie) and it was a matter of staying patient and trying to get a putt to drop, and I got a couple at the end.”

Royal St. George’s doesn’t necessarily present many opportunities to attack as Conners and Hughes head into the final round hoping to make up ground on the leaders, but both Canadians are confident in their approach — and hoping to make some Canadian history.

The best Open finish by a Canadian was Stephen Ames’ tie for seventh in 2008, after becoming a citizen in 2003. He also finished tied for fifth in 1997 while representing Trinidad and Tobago. The best finish by a Canadian-born golfer was Mike Weir’s tie for eighth in 2007.

“I feel like I’m driving it great and ironing really well, so hopefully I can keep doing that,” said Conners. “I know I’ll give myself a ton of chances (and if) I get a few more putts to drop in, it could be a really special round.”

Adam Stanley is an Ottawa-based contributor to the Star’s Sports section and the host of golf podcast Next Round’s On Me. Follow him on Twitter: @adam_stanley