COREY CONNERS: Nice to finish with a birdie. Definitely a bright spot out there. Felt like I drove the ball really well just didn't give myself the opportunities for birdie that I would have liked with the irons. I was just a little bit off on some of those. So that's the strength of my game, I know I'm going to give myself lots of chances if I keep driving it the way I did today and looking forward to the rest of the week. So it's all good.
Q. How did you feel about the atmosphere, it's an Olympics, did it feel completely different to you, there's no fans, it's a bit strange.
COREY CONNERS: Yeah it's definitely a bit strange with no fans but you still feel the prestige of the event and how special it is. It was cool getting announced on the first tee and really proud and honored to represent Canada and heart was beating a little faster than normal on the first tee, but yeah, it's a cool experience. It would be a lot better if there was fans out here, but we have had to deal with that a little bit on the TOUR.
Q. There's not supposed to be any fans, but did you have a crowd following you.
COREY CONNERS: Yeah, I was very much expecting that. Obviously a lot of Japanese media playing with Hideki, you know, there was a few people out there, they kind of thinned out a little bit throughout the day as other players started to get their rounds going, but, yeah, it was cool.
Q. You felt -- so you said it was mostly the approach shots that were the part you would like to get a little better tomorrow?
COREY CONNERS: Just a few wedge shots didn't really get close to the hole. I missed the fairway with a hybrid off the tee on I think three holes out there and hit the fairway you got three good chances to attack with a wedge and from the rough hi to play a little bit of defense. Other than that I had a few wedges from the fairway that I didn't hit quite as close as I would have liked, but yeah, I felt like the driver was good. I did hit a number of shots that just kind of seemed to have between numbers a little bit and it was just challenging to get it close to the hole today.
Q. Do you find the conditions difficult? It's super hot but I guess you get some shade here and there?
COREY CONNERS: I'm used to the heat living in Florida now. It's definitely hot out there, probably sweatiest guy on the property right now, but yeah, the conditions were pretty benign. With no wind, that made it feel hotter, but if the wind blows out here I think the golf course plays a lot more difficult. So it was nice to not have the wind in that sense and hopefully we'll see what the rest of the week does.
Q. Seemed like the greens were kind of tough today for everyone, what were they showing you?
COREY CONNERS: Yeah, they were quite soft so controlling the spin on some of the shorter clubs was challenging. There's a lot of slopes on the greens, so if you land an approach shot into a slope it's going to come back and kind of repel away from the hole. As far as putting on the greens they were in immaculate condition but again with the amount of slope they're rolling a little quicker today and just didn't want to get too greedy out there and jam some putts by. So I had to be a little cautious on some putts, I'm sure everyone kind of found that for the most part. But the course is in amazing shape, it's a real treat to play.
Q. Looked like you were chatting with Marc a fair bit out there. Had you played with him before?
COREY CONNERS: We played together a number of times on TOUR. Got a lot of respect for his game, he's played really solid the last number of years and know him quite well just from playing on TOUR.
Q. Must be comfortable to have a bit of familiarity like that.
COREY CONNERS: Yeah, no doubt. I also played with Hideki a number of times too, so he's an unbelievable guy to play with, he's really, really nice and obviously a very talented golfer as well. So had a great group. I was thrilled with the pairing.
Q. Seemed like you guys had a bit of a team dinner last night with Canadian tuxedos and the whole works, what was that like?
COREY CONNERS: We did. We were able to score a private room in the hotel we're staying in, had a nice dinner together. We decided to throw the Canadian denim jackets on, just, I don't know, just to have some fun with it, I guess. We're not going to be able to stick around for the closing ceremonies and get to wear them there, so we figured we would try them on and see how they felt. It was pretty cool.
Q. Is the hotel close by here?
COREY CONNERS: It's not too far. It is a bit of a drive, we have a driver who's been taking us back and forth, it's not really that far but it's taken us awhile. We don't really go on the highway, so it's 45 minutes or so getting back to the hotel.
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