The PGA Tour is finally heading towards its eighth and last signature event in a calendar year. The 2025 Travelers Championship, starting June 19, will host several big guns, including Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler, and Ludvig Aberg, among others. However, there’s one name that won’t be playing at the TPC River Highlands event: Corey Conners. And that’s largely due to the USGA’s alleged neglect, which also cost Conners a chance at the 2025 U.S. Open.

During the 2025 U.S. Open, Conners injured his right wrist from a bunker shot in the opening round on Thursday and aggravated it on Saturday. He shot a 3-under 32 on the front nine of the third round, putting him on the leaderboard, but re-injured his wrist while hitting a bunker shot for a plugged lie on the 11th hole. According to the Toronto Sun, doctors examined him for about 15 minutes before the two-time Tour winner ultimately withdrew from the major. Now, the same injury has again forced him out of an important event.

The wrist injury is clearly still affecting him, as the PGA Tour announced early Tuesday that Conners has withdrawn from the $20M 2025 Travelers Championship. Venezuela’s Jhonattan Vegas will replace him in the tournament. However, given how amazing Corey Conners’s 2025 season has been so far, this is rather abrupt and disappointing news.

Conners has been one of the most consistently strong players on Tour this season. Although he hasn’t secured a win, he has achieved five top-10 finishes, including a tie for eighth at the Masters and a solo third at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Corey Conners also ranks as the highest Canadian player in the world at No. 24. Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time a freak accident during the U.S. Open has hurt a Tour pro.

In 2020, J.T. Poston played with blurred vision due to a “freak accident” at the U.S. Open

During the second round of the 2020 U.S. Open at Winged Foot, J.T. Poston faced an extraordinary challenge after a freak accident impaired his vision. Following a solid opening round of one-over 71, Poston practiced on the range when a mishap occurred. While hitting a 9-iron, he struck something beneath the ball—possibly a rock or a piece of sand—that caused the ball to ricochet and hit him directly in the left eye.

The immediate aftermath was alarming; his eyes watered, and his vision became blurry. “Hit a shot. I don’t know if there was a rock, or a piece of sand, something underneath the ball. I don’t know what it was, but I guess I hit it just right, and it shot up pretty fast and hit me in the left eye. Right in the middle of the eye,” he recounted following the round.

After seeking medical attention, doctors diagnosed Poston with a scratched cornea, which, while fortunate in that it could have been worse, left him with significant visual impairment. During his round on Friday, he could barely see more than two feet out of his left eye, leading to a frustrating experience on the course. He shot a 13-over 83, acknowledging that while he wouldn’t blame his score solely on the injury, the lack of depth perception severely affected his game. “The depth perception was really off,” he explained. Poston eventually missed the cut.

Reflecting on the incident, he simply stated, “Just a freak accident.” Well, that’s something that even Corey Conners can relate to. Just a “freak accident” during the U.S. Open!