Listowel's Corey Conners opened up the 2021 Arnold Palmer Invitational with a spectacular opening round, tying for the clubhouse lead after Thursday with a 6-under.
That opening salvo was good enough to place Conners in a dead heat with Rory McIlroy after day 1. American tee smasher Bryson DeChambeau was alone in second at 5-under, followed by a three-way tie for 4th between American Jason Kokrak, An Byeong-hun of South Korea and Sebastian Munoz of Columbia, all at 4-under.
Conners is by far the highest ranking Canadian after the opening round at Bay Hill Golf Course, with Nick Taylor way back in a tie for 56th at 1-over. Fellow Canadian Adam Hadwin put up a lowly 7-over in his opening round. The winners purse at this year's Arnold Palmer Invitational is set at a cool 9.3 million dollars.