2023 RBC Canadian Open: Top 10 Power Rankings at Oakdale

I’d like to think Corey Conners was just caught looking ahead to his national open. He didn’t put forth his best effort last week at the Memorial Tournament, missing the cut at Muirfield Village by five shots.

It was a bit of a surprise considering his recent form.

Conners won in April at the Valero Texas Open for the second time in his career. He added a T-8th at the Wells Fargo Championship and T-12th at the PGA Championship.

He is an Ontario native who grew up about 80 miles from Toronto. Conners is the highest-ranked Canadian in the field and will be one of several players looking to break Canada’s championship drought at this event dating back to Pat Fletcher in 1954.

Conners played well at last year’s Canadian Open at St. George’s, carding a Sunday 62 to finish in solo sixth.

The Kent State alum ranks top-25 on the PGA Tour this season in strokes gained per round total, tee-to-green, off-the-tee, and approach-the-green.

Conners is also 11th in greens in regulation (68.91%) and 18th in approach proximity from 125-150 yards (20’11”).

Conners and fellow Canadian Mackenzie Hughes got a look at Oakdale a couple weeks ago in a practice round.

This course is one that can have a fair amount of non-level lies from the fairway or rough, so getting a sneak peek at some of the nuances could pay dividends.

Not to mention, Conners will be no stranger to the bent grass and poa annua that predominates Oakdale.