Canada’s Corey Conners plays through arm injury at U.S. Open

OAKMONT, Pa. — Corey Conners had an idyllic start to his third round at the U.S. Open before he hurt his right arm hacking out of the rough and required medical attention.

Conners, who shot a 2-over 72 Saturday at Oakmont Country Club, had a plugged lie with his approach on the par-4 11th hole. He managed to chunk it out to the left side of the green, away from the pin, and immediately grabbed his wrist.

Conners called a rules official as he asked for medical attention from Canadian sports chiropractor Dr. Stuart Love. He waited what appeared to be the maximum amount of time before another rules official arrived on the green to tell Conners he had to proceed, as Dr. Love had not yet arrived.

He two-putted for bogey from 38 feet.

When Conners arrived on the tee on No. 12, the second of two par-5s on the course and measuring over 600 yards, Dr. Love walked under the ropes with his medical kit, a small black Nike bag. He spent approximately three minutes working on Conners’ right forearm and wrist with a variety of stretches and shakes.

At one point, Conners said he “couldn’t” move his arm “at all.”

Conners managed to hit his drive on 12 over 339 yards and then his approach with a 3-wood over 300 yards.

He parred Nos. 12-13 before making a mess of No. 14, missing a 2-foot putt for bogey.

Conners added one more bogey on the par-4 18th after hitting his drive into the bunker and signed for a back-nine 5-over 40.

Conners understandably did not speak with media after his round as he immediately rushed into the clubhouse for more treatment.

Conners’ playing partner on Saturday, Michael Kim, took to X (formerly Twitter) to write about his round — as he has basically every round so far this season — and said, in part that Conners was “obviously in some pain as soon as he hit” and Kim “didn’t think he’d play more honestly.”

This was not the first time Conners had had an issue with his arm, as earlier in the week, he hit another approach shot with his club catching on a television cable.

The back-nine struggles came at a horrible time for the Canadian, who had come out of the gates faster than anyone on the course.

He was 3 under for his first five holes after hitting approach shots to two feet, four feet, three feet, and a foot on hole Nos. 2-5, respectively.

Despite his second-nine struggles, Conners was still first in strokes gained: approach come Saturday night.

Conners is listed as being in the field for next week’s PGA Tour event, the Travelers Championship.

Nick Taylor leads the Canadian contingent after a tidy even-par 70 on Saturday (“Boring is pretty good out here,” he told Sportsnet). Impressively, Taylor was 4 over through his first six holes of the championship, but he’s battled back to have the same score heading into Sunday’s finale.

Mackenzie Hughes shot a 4-over 74 while Taylor Pendrith struggled to an 8-over 78, with two double bogeys on the card.