It’s no secret that Corey Conners loves this tournament and, on Sunday, the Canadian proved just that, as he picked up his second PGA Tour title, with both coming at the Valero Texas Open.
Firing a final round 68, Conners managed to see off Sam Stevens by just one stroke, with the American looking to also secure a first PGA Tour title. However, despite missing out, he did claim his best finish in a PGA Tour event, as a final round 66 gave him outright second.
A win for the entire Conners family ❤️ pic.twitter.com/MFQiGy4CoiApril 2, 2023
Beginning the final day, it was Patrick Rodgers who led the way, with the American looking to wrap up a first PGA Tour title and a spot at next week’s Masters. However, throughout the final round, he struggled as a two-over-par front nine was backed up by a one-under back nine to finish four shots back.
With Rodgers unable to capitalise on his previous form, that opened the door for a number of players, with Conners the one to take advantage as he fired a three-under-par front nine which included three birdies.
Four strokes ahead with nine to go, the Canadian saw the gap go down to two with five holes remaining, as Stevens made back-to-back birdies at the 13th and 14th and Sam Ryder made a birdie at the 16th to both get to 12-under-par.
Stevens fired a six-under-par final round to claim a runner-up spot
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Conners, though, extended the lead back to three at the 15th, as an 18-foot birdie putt dropped as he got to 15-under-par. However, although it seemed he was cruising to the title, all was about to change as Stevens made an incredible eagle at the driveable par 4 17th. This moved him to just one shot behind the Canadian, with one hole left for Stevens.
What’s more, Conners couldn’t take advantage at the short par 4 17th as he held that slim advantage heading down the 72nd hole. There was some luck for the 31-year-old though as, at the par 5 last, Stevens could only par, this meant Conners could par in to win.
Striking his drive down the middle, he found the back of the green with his second. Hitting his chip to 25-feet, he lagged the birdie putt to just a few feet and tapped-in for a par and a one shot win that will give him some huge momentum going into The Masters, especially at a venue where he has three top-10s in his last three starts.
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