Corey Conners leapfrogs Adam Hadwin to earn Olympic spot at U.S. Open

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PINEHURST, N.C. — It was close, really close, but Corey Conners will represent Canada this summer at the Parid Olympics alongside Nick Taylor after finishing tied for ninth at the U.S. Open.

“Really amazing,” Conners said after his final round. “I’ve been working really hard. It’s been a tight race for a long time. It’s very satisfying.”

With Olympic qualifying closed at the end of play Sunday, Conners will wake up Monday morning as the 38th ranked player in the world, one spot better than Hadwin at 39th.

Conners, on the strength of his finish in Pinehurst, will have 2.4851 average world ranking points compared to 2.4477 for Hadwin who missed the cut.

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Conners needed solo 11th or better to earn the spot and finished in a three-way tie for ninth.

Taylor Pendrith also had a shot to pass Hadwin but would have needed to finish in a two-way tie for third or better at the U.S. Open. He finished tied for 16th.

Nick Taylor also missed the cut this week but retains his spot on the team. Taylor has won twice in the past 13 months including the 2023 RBC Canadian Open.

Conners represented Canada with Mackenzie Hughes at the 2020 Games in Tokyo, finishing in 13th place and two strokes behind bronze medal winner C.T Pan.

American Xander Schauffele won gold in Tokyo, one shot ahead of Rory Sabbatini who represented Slovakia.

Golf at the 2024 Paris Games will be held at Le Golf National, which was site of the 2018 Ryder Cup. The men’s event will run Aug. 1-4, while the women’s is a week later Aug. 7-10.

Brooke Henderson will represent Canada on the women’s side, and at the moment would be joined by Alena Sharp, although women’s qualifying doesn’t close until next Sunday.

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