Conners rides hot putter to opening-round 68

Corey Conners has a reputation as one of the best ball-strikers on the PGA TOUR. However, a balky putter is often the reason why he's compiled a litany of top finishes but only two wins in his career.

That wasn't the case Thursday at the Masters, as the Canadian rode a hot putter that's only been in his bag a few weeks. Conners finished with an opening-round 68 to hold the clubhouse lead with the afternoon wave still on the course.

Conners, who added the putter at Bay Hill in early March, sits third in the entire field at 2.93 strokes gained: putting. He credited the new club for helping him at the iconic course.

"Yeah, it felt good. I felt like I was hitting my start lines well today," Conners said, according to ASAP Sports. "I like the speed of these greens. They're obviously very fast. You don't need to work too hard to get the ball to the hole. I feel like just the rhythm I have is good.

"I have confidence I'm getting started on line, and I was able to hole some nice ones today."

Conners entered the round gaining an average of just 0.05 strokes on the greens in his Augusta career, so the latest performance represents a massive improvement for the International Presidents Cup team member.

He admitted afterward he wasn't necessarily looking to switch to a center-shafted putter but was spurred on after talking to his father.

"He was all over me to try it out," Conners said. "I wasn't really looking to make a change, but it's been a good change."

Conners has an excellent record at the Masters throughout his career, including three straight top-10 finishes from 2020-22. If he continues to thrive with the new putter, Conners could be in serious contention Sunday to win Canada's second-ever green jacket.