It wasn't even 8 a.m. before Corey Conners sent a jolt through the crowd at the RBC Canadian Open. The Listowel, Ont., native's first approach shot of the day (he began on the 10th hole) landed on the fringe to the right of the flag.
Slowly, the ball trickled toward the hole, and for a moment it was like each member of the crowd had just taken a shot of espresso in unison.
The ball stopped a couple of feet short. If you'd hit that shot, your putter would have stayed in your bag. Conners, the 31-year-old two-time PGA Tour winner, calmly walked up to the elevated green and tapped the ball in.
It was the first of five birdies for Conners on Thursday at Toronto's Oakdale Golf and Country Club, where he shot a 5-under 67 to put himself in the mix to become the first Canadian to win the men's national open since Pat Fletcher in 1954.