Corey Conners has been officially named to Team Canada's men's golf squad for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Conners, a two-time PGA Tour winner from Listowel secured his spot following a strong performance at the US Open, where he finished tied for ninth, boosting his world ranking to 37th. Conners will be making his second Olympic appearance, having previously competed in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, where he finished 13th. This year, he has continued to play well on the PGA Tour with nine top-25 finishes, including a sixth-place finish at the 2024 RBC Canadian Open.
At a teleconference with media members on Monday, June 17, 2024, Conners reflected on the competitive nature of qualifying.
"It is going to be a huge honour to represent Canada alongside all the other athletes," he said. "It was a big goal of mine to make the team again this year and I can't wait to get to Paris. Certainly came down to the wire. Adam Hadwin's been playing great, so some highly competitive spots we were fighting for and thrilled to be on there alongside Nick [Taylor]. He's had some amazing results this year, and looking forward to teaming up with him and trying to get a couple of medals for Canada."
Joining Conners on the men's team is Nick Taylor from Abbotsford, British Columbia. Taylor, ranked 35th in the world, will make his Olympic debut in Paris.
Conners admits that he didn't know exactly where he needed to finish to qualify for the Olympic team, just that he needed a good result.
"I knew I was going to need to play well, but that's about it," he said. :I had no idea on what place I needed to finish. My strategy was just to get the ball in the hole in the least amount of strokes as possible and take care of business at the US Open."
Emily Phoenix, Golf Canada's Director of High-Performance, praised Conners and Taylor for their perseverance and commitment throughout the qualification process.
"Nick and Corey, along with all of the Canadian players, have shown a great deal of perseverance throughout the qualification period, which shows how much representing Canada at the Olympics means to the athletes," she said.
When asked about the final moments of the qualification at the US Open, Conners described his approach.
"I sent my tee shot a little bit, kinda on the bottom of the face. I left myself 20 feet for birdie. It was a pretty easy putt. Uphill, a little right to left, and just kind of left it on the edge. I certainly wasn't trying to cram it by the hole. I wanted to knock it in actually, I birdied the final hole in the first three rounds, so one more would put a cherry on top of a pretty good week. It also gave me under par for the tournament, which I thought was a pretty good accomplishment," he said.
Conners and Taylor aim to become the first Canadian golfers to win an Olympic medal since George Lyon's gold in 1904. The men's golf tournament at Paris 2024 will be held from August 1 to August 4.
The announcement of the women's golf athletes for Team Canada will follow on Sunday, June 23, rounding out the national roster for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.