🚨 ACE AT AUGUSTA 🚨@CoreConn cashes it in at the 6th.pic.twitter.com/VGeegLoRj0
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) April 10, 2021
A hole in one is sweet at any time, but that ace comes with an extra helping of sugar when it takes place in the third round of the Masters when the term “moving day” is living up to its name.
Since opening with a one over 73 on Thursday, Corey Conners has moved from a tie for 20th to T13 after finishing the second round with a score of 69.
After starting Saturday’s third round five shots off the lead, Conners finished the day with a 68 that left him sixth at six under through three rounds and five shots off the lead with one round to go.
Connors got off to a strong start with birdies on the second and third holes, but a bogey on five put him back to one under on the day before he became only the sixth player in the history of the Masters and the first since 2013 to strike for an ace on the 182 yard, par three sixth and move to within two shots of the lead at the time.
“It’s a pin that I’ve seen a lot of shots get close to, whether it goes past and feeds back. I hit an eight iron. It didn’t seem like the wind was helping as much as I had anticipated, but fortunately, it flew far enough,” said Conners.
“I was trying to fly it somewhere over the bunker and get it to go in, get it to go close to the hole. Yeah, it was a little draw, turning at the pin. I think I hit the pin with a little bit of steam, but it was right in the middle, so pretty special moment,” he said.
Conners, who tied for 10th at last year’s Masters, drained a 39 foot birdie putt on seven to make the turn at four under before a bogey at 10.
Conners had just taken his tee shot on 13 when he horn blew for a weather delay at 3:58 p.m. local time. When play resumed at 5:15 p.m., Conners parred 13, made a bogey on 14, but added two more birdies on 15 and 17.
“The wind kind of died down right when we first got back out there. The ball wasn’t quite traveling as far. I hit an extra club in my approach shot onto 13. I wasn’t anticipating it being further into the green than it ended up being, so I would say the ball maybe wasn’t quite traveling as far with it maybe cooling down slightly,” said Connrs.
“The greens softened up a little bit. The fairways were still rolling and the greens still had some heat to them,” he said.
Mackenzie Hughes finished with his third consecutive 72 and is tied for 21st at even par.
Hideki Matsuyama fired a bogey free 65 to take a four shot lead at 11 under. Tied for second at seven under are Xander Schuffele, Marc Leishman, Justin Rose and Will Zalatoris.
“I’m notoriously a great sleeper, so I don’t think that will be a problem. Just stick with the same routine that I’ve been doing the last few days. Yeah, just try and get ready to have some fun,” said Conners of Sunday’s finale.
“Just make sure I have the same game plan, make sure I’m patient out there, not trying to force things. Just hopefully can keep striking the irons really well and give myself some looks on the front nine to have a chance to make a run ,on the back nine,” he said.
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