FedExCup leader Lanto Griffin excited about his future

They were early in their careers. The pressure of trying to win a trophy meant there was less conversation than at your local library. The 12-13 age division of a provincial competition hardly compares to the tournaments that Corey Conners and Mackenzie Hughes play now, but try explaining that to them back in 2004. “It was pretty much impossible to get a word out of him,” Hughes recalled recently. Conners’ stone-faced approach worked, as he beat the older Hughes that day. RELATED: Five things about Olympics’ golf course | Look back at 2016 Olympics Seventeen years later, they still remember that day. They’re still competing against each other but the years spent together on Golf Canada’s national team, at Kent State University and now the PGA TOUR have forged a strong friendship. And now, the two kids who grew up about 90 miles apart in Ontario are representing Canada in the Olympics. Conners, 29, is still the quiet type, but his ball-striking speaks for itself. There are only three players who rank inside the top 10 of both Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee and Approach-the-Green on the PGA TOUR this season. They are Conners, World No. 1 Jon Rahm and four-time major winner Brooks Koepka. Conners is the only player to rank in the top 15 of both statistics in each of the past three seasons. “His rhythm doesn’t change from the first swing Thursday to the last one on Sunday,” Hughes said. Hughes, on the other hand, shows a bit more emotion and his short game is his specialty, just as it was when he first met Conners. “He seemed like a fierce competitor, really a grinder,” Conners said about their first meeting. “I’d still give him those grades.” Hughes, 30, was the only player to rank inside the top 10 in both Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green and Putting last season. He’s so confident in his prowess on the greens that he’s used the same putter for almost his entire pro career. Conners and Hughes would seemingly make a perfect team for alternate shot. “If Corey hit it and Mackenzie chipped and putted, they’d never lose,” said their college coach, Herb Page. That is a conversation that can be tabled until next year’s Presidents Cup in Hughes’ adopted hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina, however. Having both cracked the top 50 in the world ranking this year and contended in major championships, they’re strong candidates to represent the International Team for the first time in 2022. This week, they’re playing for their country. There is no team format in the Olympics but there are still benefits to having a friend at Kasumigaseki Country Club; it provides some comfort to a week where COVID protocols limit social interaction, especially outside of competition. “We’re both pretty structured and pretty disciplined,” Hughes said. “Our approach to how we get better, and doing the little stuff right, there’s a lot of similarities between us and I think that has helped us in getting along.” Conners comes from the small town of Listowel, Ontario, with a population of approximately 7,500 people. He started playing golf at the Listowel Golf Club, where he worked in the cart barn and pro shop. Hughes grew up in the Toronto suburb of Hamilton and took up the game at age 7, after his parents decided to give it a try. He used to spend hours on a par-3 course, which may explain the short-game skills. Hughes was the first to Kent State. Conners followed two years later. Both players saw dramatic improvement in their four years at the Ohio school. Page, who’s also from Canada, lettered in golf, hockey and football for the Golden Flashes and became the school’s golf coach at just 26 years old. He held the job for four decades, and former Open Championship winner Ben Curtis also is among his former players. “Coach was great about taking the things you do well and refining them,” Hughes said. “And he’s very big on keeping you accountable off the golf course. His overall style of coaching just tends to make guys better.” It worked for both Hughes and Conners, who each had scoring averages over 75 in his freshman year. “They just got better and better every year,” Page said. Conners added length to his tee shots after barely carrying them 240 yards when he arrived on campus, Hughes recalled. Page didn’t mess with the bent left elbow on Conners’ backswing that is unconventional but contributes to his accuracy. Page convinced Hughes to be easier on himself on the course, an attitude change that paid big dividends. Hughes graduated in 2012 as a two-time Canadian Amateur champion. Conners earned his degree two years later after making the semifinals of the 2013 U.S. Amateur and finishing runner-up a year later. He also won the prestigious Jones Cup in 2014, an event also won by U.S. Olympians Justin Thomas and Patrick Reed. Both Hughes and Conners continued their progression as pros, working their way through PGA TOUR Latinoamerica, PGA TOUR Canada and the Korn Ferry Tour before earning their PGA TOUR card. Hughes won the 2016 RSM Classic in his fifth start of his first TOUR season, just months after he was playing Monday qualifiers for Korn Ferry Tour events. Conners had conditional TOUR status when he won the 2019 Valero Texas Open. He was the first Monday qualifier to win on TOUR in nine years. Now they’ve taken the next step in their career by contending in majors. Conners has finished in the top 10 at the past two Masters. Hughes played in the final group of this year’s U.S. Open, eventually finishing 15th. Hughes and Conners both started the final round of the last major, The Open, in the top six. Hughes went on to record his best finish in a major (T6) while Conners finished T15. “We have a lot in common, both humble beginnings, working hard at kind of a local golf course, developing our games, playing in junior tournaments and being on the national team together,” Conners said. “We’re very similar in our work ethic, in our preparation, our thinking about the game. We’ve just shared so many experiences together, have so much in common with our progress through the game.” This won’t be the first time they’ve represented Canada together in a foreign land. They led Canada to a sixth-place finish in the 2012 World Amateur Team Championship in Turkey. Hughes will be playing in Japan for the first time. Conners was medalist in the 2010 Toyota Junior Golf World Cup in Japan, a victory that he described as a “big momentum boost” for his career. Conners also helped Canada to a second-place finish in the 2014 World Amateur Team Championship in Japan. More recently, he was sixth in the PGA TOUR’S ZOZO Championship, where Tiger Woods won his record-tying 82nd PGA TOUR title. Now Conners and Hughes will make their Olympic debut. They’ve come a long way from their first meeting.

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32,377. That was Jimbest’s record-high total as the first-place entry in PGA TOUR Pick ‘Em Live for the PGA Championship. How you ask? Easy! Yeah, right. Jimbest had Justin Thomas at +30000 to win, and then let it ride. That was just before the turn of the final round when JT was shanking his way around Southern Hills Country Club. Hey, if that sounds harsh, even PointsBet was fine with being exposed at those odds on a Sunday of a major championship with a slew of PGA TOUR non-winners pushing each other around for control of the lead amidst the most pressure any ever had experienced. So perfectly timed was Jimbest’s maneuver that he was the only of over 6,500 entries to nab it. Three others snatched JT at +25000, but that’s a chasm of a difference, even at that space-scraping altitude on the leaderboard. It’s unlikely that we’ll see this kind of real-time fluidity on the extreme again, but we didn’t expect to see it the first time. The lesson is that it’s possible when the ultimate target is closer than it appears. All of Jimbest’s “not-others to win” permutations, uh, converted. What a story. JT’s, too. Up next is the Charles Schwab Challenge where the outcome figures to favor no worse than pars at the finish line. Rob and Glass have surveyed the solid field of 120 at Colonial Country Club. As usual, they’ve shared their opening bets below. Register for PGA TOUR Pick ‘Em Live here and monitor Rob’s and Glass’ progress as Influencers. For a broader explanation of the format and FAQs, click here. TOURNAMENT TO WIN Rob … Patton Kizzire (+10000) For six years now, I’ve chronicled how the winners of the Charles Schwab Challenge have obeyed a trend, at least well enough to warrant the continuation of my series. Refer to this week’s Power Rankings for that detail. Kizzire (No. 13 in the PR) slides into the hot seat this year. Because his first-round scores have been red in every start but one, I’ve used him (too) often as my pick to be the R1 leader, so this is a nice change of pace that should start strong. Glass … Lucas Glover (+12500) OK gang, you know the rules by now: Find a guy at big odds and let’s get lucky. Not quite Justin Thomas-+25000-after-eight-holes-on-Sunday lucky, but you get my point. I like chasing shadows down dark alleys, and this format is perfect in letting daydreams play out. Glover played his 15th event at Colonial last season and pocketed his first top 10. At Southern Hills, he opened with 75 but played his final three rounds 69-68-70 for a T23. Has he cracked the code??? His strength is his tee-to-green game (14th in fairways hit, 17th in GIR) and I’ll need just a little (a lot) of help from the putter, but let’s see if he continues the trend. TOP 10 Glass … Ryan Palmer (+650) The member at Colonial is an annual fixture at this event where he is making start No. 19. His caddie is a former club champion as well, so if I’m going to scrape off a bit past the chalk, this is a very safe-and-sound landing area. Home games can be distracting and his results here are uneven with three top-10 paydays from his last eight, but none since 2019. Time to bounce back and ride that T5 momentum from TPC Craig Ranch two weeks ago. Rob … Brendon Todd (+1100) Can’t help myself. The formula works. Besides, Glass beat me to the member. Todd is among my Sleepers and on the same short list (of six) as my outright, Patton Kizzire. It consists of guys nearest their 36th birthday and with at least some experience at Colonial. Todd hung up two top 10s in his six prior visits. TOP 20 Glass … Stewart Cink (+340) After a top 10 at a difficult TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm and a top 25 at a difficult Southern Hills, he’s dialed in and ready to add to his 16 paydays from 18 starts at CCC. His first visit since 2018 lets me know that he’s excited for the challenge as nobody makes these guys’ schedules for them! Keep stripin’ it, Stew! Rob … Russell Knox (+340) If nothing else, my emphasis on the trend will get the attention I’ve given it because the Scot also qualifies. The 36-year-old is in his seventh appearance at Colonial. In his first four (2014-2019), he went T21-T24-T20-T8. He also gets an endorsement in my Draws and Fades. Bottom line, and as Glass and I have shared over time, this market doesn’t always unlock during the tournament (at least when most Americans are awake), so I’m willing to settle on a guy on whom I may need to rely for the entirety of four rounds. ROUND 1 LEADER Rob … Talor Gooch (+4000) Goes off No. 10 at 8:04 a.m. CT, so he checks the first box. Only Tom Hoge, who goes off No. 1 at 12:45 p.m., has more sub-70s (40) than Gooch’s 35 – all red numbers at Colonial are sub-70s – so he’s in my crosshairs among the late wavers. However, with winds forecast to kick up in the afternoon, it’ll be surprising if the FRL isn’t a dew sweeper. Gooch co-leads the PGA TOUR in eagles and par-3 scoring, but I just want a rocket out early. The odds are basically a bonus. Glass … Kevin Na (+6000) In a perfect world, he would be going off No. 10 but an early tee time will do! On courses he enjoys, he can get off to quick starts, like he did with 61 at Waialae early this year. He’s the last man to post 61 at Colonial (R4, 2018), and also owns a first-round 62, 63 and 64 here over the years. If he doesn’t fire, I have all day to adjust and chase. MAKE THE CUT Glass … Ryan Palmer (-205) He’s my Top 10 (above), so to achieve that, he’ll need this, at least that’s how Rob has told me this works. Palmer also is longest among the 40 options. Rob … Matthew NeSmith (-240) For this week’s 10 coins, which is the next-best possibility behind the dozen that Glass can bank, I’ll hold my breath for the guy who opened with 62 at nearby Royal Oaks en route to co-medalist honors at Monday’s Final Qualifying for the U.S. Open. He already was percolating since a T3 at Copperhead, so I’m surprised that his odds are as long as they are for this prop. 3-BALL Glass … Justin Rose (+184) over Will Zalatoris & Kevin Kisner The 2018 winner has added a T3 in 2020 and a T20 in 2021 to his bounty. A perfect 8-for-8 at CCC, he rolls in not having to deal with the stress of a gut-wrenching playoff loss at Southern Hills. Kisner, as has been pointed out for weeks, isn’t firing on all cylinders, even on courses which fit his eye. Plus, I should be getting a decent price as Zalatoris is the public’s dream. Rob … C.T. Pan (+131) over Adam Long & Kevin Tway I’ve turned to Pan quite a bit lately, including for the R1 3-ball, and he’s delivered regularly, so there’s no reason to quit him. He’s been that efficient. Once hoisted a T3 at Colonial, too; that was in 2019. Long is 2-for-3 with a pair of top 20s at Colonial. He hasn’t broken par in a first round in the tournament, but he poses the more serious threat to Pan because Tway arrives in an 0-for-9 slump. NOTE: While Glass and Rob typically stick with their selections as detailed in Pick ‘Em Preview, they are allowed the right to make changes at any time.

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The Honda Classic was an opportunity for Erik Compton to make an impact - both on the course at PGA National, and off it. Compton, 41, Monday-qualified into this week's PGA TOUR event with a 7-under 65, earning his first TOUR start since he got into The Honda Classic in the same fashion two years ago. To those who know the two-time heart transplant survivor, unsurprisingly, there was more to the story. On Friday, as part of tournament week, Compton and the Erik Compton Foundation announced a $12,500 donation to the First Tee - Miami. Compton, who got his start in golf with the chapter as a kid, said the funds will be used to facilitate after-school programs and clinics. "I'm there every day," Compton said of First Tee - Miami, where he's been teaching for the last four months. "With COVID, we've had a rush of kids coming in and wanting to learn to play golf. We have to do more clinics for kids." For Compton, First Tee - Miami is now a family matter. His daughter, Petra, is part of the program, which is based out of Miami International Links. "I've been involved since I was nine years old," Compton said. "My daughter's 12 now, so, it's really neat to see it full circle." Today, Compton has full status on the Korn Ferry Tour. Making his first PGA TOUR start in years, he wanted to ensure his foundation - and, of course, his home First Tee chapter - were part of that story, too. "We haven't really been able to run events at the foundation in the last year or so because of the pandemic," Compton said, "but I'm committed to playing golf, and it raising money for transplant research and awareness, and for junior golf. "It works hand and hand. It's two things in my life that are very important."

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