Which Canadians made the cut at the Players Championship?

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Six Canadians began the week at the Players Championship, and four of them will be around to see the weekend at TPC Sawgrass after the cut claimed two players from the Canuck field.

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Here’s how they finished after 36 holes:

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T4 Corey Conners -8 (69-67)

After some recent lacklustre results, Canada’s top-ranked golfer seems to have his ball-striking magic under near-perfect control this week. Through two rounds, Conners is among the top in the field in driving accuracy, having hit 22 of 28 fairways so far, and he has gained more than six strokes against the field with his approach shots. Perhaps more importantly, he says he feels great with his putter and enjoyed playing with Jason Day the past two days.

“I feel free out there with the putter this week. It’s always nice playing with Jason Day, who rolls it the best of anyone I’ve ever seen. I’ve been trying to take a little bit of what he does on the greens and throw it into my game,” Conners told Postmedia. “The ballstriking has been sharp but seeing some putts roll in is even better. I’m certainly happy with both.”

The tee-to-green challenge of TPC Sawgrass is right up Conners’ alley, and for that reason he says it’s one of his favourite courses on tour.

“You really have to step up and hit good shots here and it’s something that I really like,” he said.

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T35 Taylor Pendrith -1 (74-69)

The big hitter from Richmond Hill, Ont. credited his putter for turning his game around on Friday after he improved by five strokes to head to the weekend in red numbers at one-under par.

“I felt a lot better on the greens today,” he said. “I’ve been putting really nicely this year other than last week, and yesterday’s round kind of just rolled over from last week, but today was much better.”

Pendrith’s first round was sunk by a triple bogey after his attempt to hit a ball out of a bush at the par-4 15th hole didn’t go as planned. His second round went much smoother.

“I didn’t really put myself in too many tricky spots,” he said. “All in all I’m happy to be around for the weekend but still have to get a bit better with some things.”

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T42 Nick Taylor E (74-70)

The most prolific tournament winner in this generation of Canadian men fought back from a disappointing opening round to get back to even par and make the cut. After two double bogeys sunk his round on Thursday, Taylor made just a single bogey on Friday and more than offset it with three birdies for a very clean scorecard.

Taylor has five wins on the PGA Tour, three behind Mike Weir and George Knudson for most PGA Tour wins by a Canadian.

T51 Sudarshan Yellamaraju +1 (73-72)

One of two Canadian PGA Tour rookies in the field, Yellamaraju saved his best for last on Friday, making three birdies in his final five holes to make the cut at his first Players Championship.

“I kind of made a mess of hole three (his 12th hole of the day) and I knew from there I just had to play as best I as I could and make as many birdies as I could. I was trying to get as low as possible and birdie everything, but obviously that’s a lot easier said than done. But I’m pretty happy with the way I finished. I wouldn’t have been able to sleep well if I gave up.”

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Yellamaraju moved to Winnipeg from India with his family at age four and took up the game at six years old. He has never had a formal swing lesson.

CUT Mackenzie Hughes +7 (74-77)

Things did not go well for the two-time PGA Tour winner Hughes this week at TPC Sawgrass. His inability to find fairways from the tee proved too much to overcome for Canada’s best short game player.

“There is not a lot of forgiveness off the tee. Once you’re out of position you feel like you’re just really trying hard to just make par, and birdie feels out of the question,” he said. “That’s the nature of this golf course. If you’re a little bit off, it will show, and I definitely was.”

Hughes shared his thoughts with Postmedia this week on PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp’s plan for the future of the tour.

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CUT A.J. Ewart +9 (78-75)

The second PGA Tour rookie in the field didn’t have the week he had hoped for in his first Players Championship, but said Friday after his round that there is always something you can take away from a week, regardless of the result.

“I tried to keep my head held high and keep learning, it was hard sometimes. It’s my first time around this place and there is a lot to it,” Ewart said after his round. “The show goes on, I can’t dwell too much on this week, just have to get ready for next week.”

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