Corey Conners of Listowel, Ontario had a sizzling Thursday at the 2021 Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, Florida. Conners shot a score of five-under-par 66 in the first round, and was tied for the lead with Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, the four-time major champion. McIlroy won the 2011 U.S. Open, the 2012 PGA Championship, the 2014 British Open, and the 2014 PGA Championship.
On Thursday, Conners had one eagle, six birdies, and two bogeys. He eagled the par-five 16th hole, birdied the third, sixth, 10th, 11th, 12th, and 15th holes, and bogeyed the ninth and 18th holes.
However, there was a rough start for Conners on Friday morning. That is because he bogeyed the par-four second hole, and finds himself one stroke back of McIlroy.
Bryson DeChambeau of Modesto, California, the 2020 U.S. Open champion, is tied with Conners, and Viktor Hovland of Norway at -5. There are seven golfers two strokes back of McIlroy at -4. They are Paul Casey and Matthew Fitzpatrick of England, Sungjae Im of South Korea, Viktor Hovland of Norway, Americans Jason Kokrak, Max Homa, and Richy Werenski, along with 2015 PGA Championship winner Jason Day of Australia. Five more golfers are three strokes back at -3. They are England’s Lee Westwood, Victor Perez of France, Martin Laird of Scotland, Lanto Griffin of the United States, and Sebastian Munoz of Colombia.
