Canadian Corey Conners leads amateur field in Masters

The Crow’s Nest in the clubhouse could have seven residents this Masters Week, and the highest-rated amateur among them is the only guy who didn’t win a tournament to qualify.

Corey Conners of Canada is the 21st-ranked amateur in the world, but he lost the U.S. Amateur championship to then-No. 776 Gunn Yang at Atlanta Athletic Club. Con­ners, however, comes to Augusta National Golf Club with the best pedigree and arguably the most likely chance to make the cut and claim the silver medal for low amateur.

Conners, who graduated last year from Kent State, has been traveling the world trying to get ready.

“I’ve been playing in a lot of tournaments in the last number of months,” said Con­ners, who missed the cut by two shots in the PGA Tour’s Puerto Rico Open in March. “I’ve been in Japan, Argen­tina and Australia, playing in amateur events. So it’s been great to get the opportunity to travel and keep playing in lots of tournaments. And that was pretty much the game plan, just keep playing in preparation for the Masters.”

He lost in the quarterfinals of the Argentine and Australian Amateurs, while the highlight of his preparations was a dominant four-shot victory in the Lake Macqua­rie International Cham­­pion­ship in Australia with rounds of 67-68-68-68.

Conners postponed his plans to turn pro last summer after getting to the U.S. Amateur finals a year after getting ousted in the semifinals and missing out on the 2014 Masters. But he’ll start playing for money as soon as his Masters debut ends.

“I think I’ve had quite a bit of success in amateur golf. Playing pro is definitely a goal and hopefully become a member of the PGA Tour as soon as possible,” he said.

Conners is the second-highest ranked Canadian amateur behind Arkansas signee Austin Connelly. He was inspired 12 years ago by the victory of countryman Mike Weir at the 2003 Mas­ters and hopes Weir is healthy enough to play a practice round with him at Augusta.

While Tiger Woods’ 1997 Masters victory is the one Conners has watched “hundreds of times” on VHS, it is Weir’s playoff win that is most seared into his memory. At least what he saw of it as a nervous 11-year-old in Listowel, Ontario.

“I remember watching TV at home and he had a 6‑foot putt to win, or get into the playoff on 18,” Conners said. “I had to leave the room. I was so nervous I just couldn’t watch. And I was sitting on the stairwell and heard my dad clapping, and I knew that he made the putt. I might have been more nervous than he was, but that was pretty cool and was huge for Canadian golf. So that’s probably my favorite.”

The seven amateurs in this year’s Masters field are the most since 12 played in 1988, when invitations were more readily available to amateurs who competed in the Walker Cup.

Bradley Neil, the reigning British Amateur champion from Scotland, is ranked 26th. He missed the cut at last year’s British Open and finished tied for 63rd in the Euro­­pean Tour’s Alfred Dun­hill Championship in December.

Scott Harvey, a real estate property manager from Greensboro, N.C., is ranked 55th in the world. He’s won four times since last summer, including the U.S. Mid-Amateur championship to finally reach Augusta.

Byron Meth, the last U.S. Public Links champion to get into the field with the tournament being retired by the USGA, is 59th in the World Amateur Rankings.

Australia’s Antonio Mur­daca won the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship at Royal Melbourne. He’s ranked 108th in the world.

Matias Dominguez, a Tex­as Tech senior from Chile, won the inaugural Latin Amer­ica Amateur Cham­pion­ship in Argentina. He’s moved up to 163rd in the world from 421st before his win in January.

Yang became the lowest-ranked player in the world (No. 776) to win the U.S. Ama­teur. Now ranked 111th, he took a leave of absence this season from San Die­go State to accept invitations to play around the world, mostly in pro events. He finished fourth in the New South Wales Open on the Australian Tour and missed PGA Tour cuts at Tor­rey Pines and Bay Hill this season.

Conners, who missed the cut in the Canadian Open the past two years, believes he’s ready to face the challenges the Masters will present.

“I think I’ve learned a lot and learned how to deal with pressure of big events through my amateur career,” he said. “Obviously this is a little bit bigger, but I think I’ll be able to handle it really well. I haven’t lost any sleep yet.”