Corey Conners studied actuarial maths in college at Kent State University, but he didn’t need that skill to understand why he won the Valero Texas Open for the second time. When you rank first in strokes gained/approach, strokes gained/tee to green and first in greens in regulation, third in driving accuracy, have the fewest bogeys and are T-1 in birdies, it doesn’t take a maths major to understand you have a good chance to win.
At TPC San Antonio’s Oaks course accuracy off the tee and precision into the greens is paramount as wayward shots are heavily punished. That was something Conners seemed well aware of after the third round.
“It’s very demanding with your irons into the greens,” he said. “There are some unique shaped greens, some skinny greens, big greens. You’ve really got to be in control of your ball and that’s something that I’ve always liked about this place.”
As such, Conners leaned on his reliable iron game (he came into the event ranked 28th in greens in regulation for the season). He picked up more than nine shots on the field on approach shots while hitting 56 of 72 greens (77.8 percent) using his Ping iBlade irons with Project X 6.0 shafts and Golf Pride MCC grips. The iBlade is the same model iron Conners used to win the Valero in 2019, his one other PGA Tour victory. In the final round, Conners put up a bogey-free 68, the last birdie an 18-footer on the 15th that stretched the lead to three and eventually proved to be the difference.
Of course, accuracy off the tee helped set up those approaches, and Conners was on the mark with his Ping G430 LST driver. The club has a 45.25-inch UST Elements Gold 6F5 shaft that is tipped one inch with the movable weight in the neutral position.
Conners also gets some good vibes from his Titleist Pro V1 ball. “I mark it with two red Ms, which are my wife’s initials,” he told Golf Digest last year. “I started doing that when we first started dating and it’s served me well.”
As for that actuarial maths, that probably served him well, too. “It does have application out on tour,” he told Golf Digest last year. “It helps with risk assessment and making good decisions is an attribute of that mindset and that translates to my golf game, and I think I’m good at that.”
At a course that demands good decisions he wasn’t just good at it. He was the best.
What Corey Conners had in the bag at the 2023 Valero Texas Open:
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
Driver: Ping G430 LST (UST Elements Gold 6F5), 9 degrees
3-wood: Ping G430 Max, 13.75 degrees
Hybrid: Ping G425, 19 degrees
Irons (4-PW): Ping iBlade
Wedges: Ping Glide 4.0 (50, 56 degrees); Titleist Vokey SM8 (60 degrees)
Putter: Ping PDL Prime Tyne H
