PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Canada’s Corey Conners is tied for second after the morning wave of the first round of the Players Championship.

Conners, from Listowel, Ont., shot a 4-under 68 today. He’s tied with England’s Matthew Fitzpatrick, three shots back of leader Sergio Garcia of Spain.

Conners holed out for eagle from 154 yards out on the par-4 14th (he started on No. 9) before making a 22-foot birdie putt on No. 15 to get to 3 under.

“It was an awesome shot, obviously,” Conners said of the eagle. “Had a really good number for a 9-iron, just a perfect solid shot with that club. Just right at it the whole way. I hit it really solid, I knew it was going to be pretty good and it’s always a bonus to see it go in.”

The Canadian’s lone bogey came at No. 1, with birdies following at Nos. 2 and 7.

Conners is coming off a third-place finish last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

“I took a lot of positives from last week,” he said. “I had a solid week, was playing well all four days and just tried to keep the same mindset, keep the same sort of game plan that I had last week and just picking my spots to be aggressive. Just playing with a lot of confidence.”

Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., shot a 2 under today.

Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford and Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., had afternoon tee times.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 11, 2021.