Corey Conners gets by Abraham Ancer to reach final four at Match Play

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This article was published 26/03/2022 (1625 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Listowel, Ont.’s Corey Conners, who went winless in his WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play Championship debut last year, has flipped the script this week.

With a 2-up victory over Mexico’s Abraham Ancer Saturday afternoon, Conners booked his spot in the semifinals Sunday where he will take on 2019 champion Kevin Kisner.

Conners went 3-0-0 in group play (including a win by default over an ailing Paul Casey), and first beat Japan’s Takumi Kanaya Saturday in the quarterfinals. He controlled that match, taking a 2-up lead with birdies on the second and third holes, and relinquished only one hole while cruising to a comfortable 5 and 3 victory.

His afternoon duel against Ancer was tougher, although Conners never trailed in that contest either. He took a 2-up lead with birdies on the fourth and fifth holes, saw Ancer climb back to level by the 11th, and went up by two again through 16. Ancer managed to extend the match to the 18th hole when Conners bogeyed 17, but Ancer’s poor greenside chip at the last handed the Canadian the win.

“I feel like I’ve got great control of my ball tee to green and rolling in putts when I need to, capitalizing on opportunities,” said Conners of his play this week.

Conners, whose only PGA Tour victory came in San Antonio at the Valero Texas Open, is among a formidable final four. The other semifinal will pit 2017 champion Dustin Johnson against Scottie Scheffler, scorching hot at present with two wins in his last four starts. Scheffler was the runner-up at Austin Country Club last year, falling in the final to Billy Horschel.

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While Kisner has proven himself an extremely tough out in match play — he came from 3-down with four holes to play to beat Adam Scott in the quarterfinals — Conners is no slouch either. Long before his difficult debut in Austin in 2021, Conners advanced to the U.S. Amateur semifinal and final in consecutive years in 2013 and 2014. Among the players he vanquished during those runs were Scheffler, Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm and Patrick Rodgers, the latter an 11-time tournament winner at Stanford, a record he shares with Tiger Woods.

Both Conners and Kisner are among the PGA Tour’s steadiest players. Kisner, a runner-up in 2018 to go along with his victory the following year, has said he likes to annoy his match-play opponents by hitting fairways and greens consistently, something at which Conners is equally proficient. Statistically and historically, Kisner has an edge with the putter, which has helped him to four PGA Tour wins, although Conners has putted beautifully this week as well.

“I know his record at this event is very, very good, so he’s obviously playing well to be here, as well. It’ll be a hard-fought match,” said Conners of Kisner. “I think we both have really solid games tee to green, good on the greens. It’ll be a fun battle.”

The two will square off at 10:20 a.m. ET Sunday morning. The final of the $12-million (U.S.) championship take places in the afternoon.

Jason Logan is the editor of SCOREGolf Magazine and is based in Toronto. He is a contributor to the Star’s Sports section. Follow him on Twitter: @jasonSCOREGolf