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TROON, Scotland — Despite Canadian chances of winning the Open Championship getting blown off the golf course during a calamitous Saturday at Royal Troon, both Mackenzie Hughes and Corey Conners left Scotland with something positive to take away.
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The final round brought matching three-under 68s for the two pals, and saw Maple Leaf flags moving up the leaderboard at the season’s final major.
“I can see myself winning an Open someday,” Hughes said Sunday, after licking his wounds from a tough bogey at the 72nd hole.
“I had a lot of fun over here and I think that of all the majors that I could win, this would be the most up my alley.”
It certainly looked that way for most of the week, with Hughes embracing links golf and showing off his short game prowess on the tricky seaside course.
Hughes was slowed by four bogeys on Sunday but made seven birdies, rolling one 50-foot putt and two others in the 20-foot range. While others struggled reading Royal Troon’s subtle breaks and handling the slower links golf green speeds, Hughes appeared in his element.
Monday Morning Golf
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“Almost every single day was a good round of golf, even Saturday, shooting four-over in that weather was nothing to be ashamed of,” he said. “It’s part of it, you come over here for The Open and you’re probably going to end up on the wrong side of it once or twice. All in all, I’m pleased with the week and saw some nice signs.”
Both Hughes and Conners played in the worst of the weather during an unforgettable Saturday at The Open, losing any chance to lift the Claret Jug.
Hughes’ Saturday round of 75 saw him fall from 13th position heading to the weekend to 40th position beginning Sunday. It was worse for Conners, who shot a Saturday 80, dropping from 7th to 62nd. Like Hughes, Conners also bounced back with a final round 68, and will head to the Olympics in Paris happy with his game.
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“It just re-instils the confidence I’ve had in my game for a while,” Conners said of Sunday. “I did a lot of things really well today, struck it great. I’d have liked to hole a few more putts. I gave myself a lot of looks, but very happy with the day.”
It was a quick turnaround between finishing Saturday evening’s nightmare round and beginning his final round just after 8 a.m. local time on Sunday.
“Certainly I would like the day over from yesterday. It was just brutal conditions and made a couple of costly errors,” he said. “I’m pretty good at putting it behind me, just chatted with the girls back home, had a good sleep and tried to get up and get after it this morning.”
The major championship season might be over, but there is still plenty to play for for both Canadians.
Next up for Conners, though, are the Olympics in Paris where his will represent Canada along with Nick Taylor, Brooke Henderson and Alena Sharp.
“It’s going to be a blast there,” Conners said of Paris. “The playoffs, the Presidents Cup. Going to be playing hard the next few months, and hopefully some good things will happen.”
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