When he needed to deliver at the BMW Championship, Corey Conners found another gear with his golf game, making birdies on three of his final four holes to earn his place in the field at next week’s Tour Championship. Conners’ roller-coaster round ended in a two-under 69, leaving him in a tie for fifth. He will head into the season finale ranked 24th out of 30 participants. “It’s always a goal at the beginning of the year,” said Conners, who will be making his third Tour Championship appearance. “I feel like I had a good season. Still trying to get back into the winner’s circle, but really good game, giving myself some opportunities and really excited to get back to East Lake.” The Listowel, Ont., native got off to a rocky start, bogeying the first two holes of his round. He birdied the fourth and fifth holes before stumbling again at the 13th, when he missed the green on the par-3, and the 14th, when he three-putted the par-5. Those two bogeys had him in 30th on the moving list FedEx Cup points and risk missing the final event on the tour calendar. But he rallied with three birdies over the next four holes, drained a 14-foot putt at the 15th, then hit silky putts at 16 and 18 to within a foot. Being among the final 30 comes with some healthy rewards, not the least of which is a big payday. The winner gets $18 million, while finishing 30th is still worth $500,000. It also takes Conners to three of the four majors, World Golf Championship events and invitationals. There was another reward that came to Connors at the end of the game – a spot on the International Team for the Presidents’ Cup. The top eight players on the points list at the conclusion of the BMW Championship were named to the team. Another four will be selected next Monday by captain Trevor Immelman. Connors will become the fourth Canadian to play in the competition, joining Graham DeLaet, Adam Hadwin and Mike Weir, who will be assistant captain this year. “Again, another huge goal by me after missing last time,” said Connors, who was under consideration for the 2019 team. “Beyond excited. I think Trevor has been great in trying to rally the guys and he’s a great captain. Easy guy to get behind and really motivated.” Immelman strongly supported Conners and spoke with him regularly throughout the season. He is also counting on the Canadian to be present in the team room, even though it is his first time at the event. “I’m pretty quiet, I guess,” Conners admitted. “I’ll be a rookie, but I’ll try to be one of the leaders on the team, lead more by example and hopefully play good golf and let that take care of things.” The Presidents Cup will be held September 22-25 at Quail Hollow Golf Course in Charlotte, NC
