DETROIT – As the son of a PGA Tour tournament director, Davis Thompson was well-schooled in the art of writing for sponsor exemptions. His efforts earned him a spot in this week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic.
“I think this tournament was the first to reach out to me and to tell me that I had a spot, and that was back in I think late May. So, I knew I was coming here for a while,” he said. “I’m a young pro, so it’s great to have some starts out here.”
Thompson, a newly-minted pro out of the University of Georgia, will garner his fair share of sponsor invites thanks to a resume that includes being a former No. 1-ranked amateur, Walker Cupper and SEC Player of the Year. He took advantage of his opportunity on Thursday, making birdie on half his holes to shoot a bogey-free 9-under 63 at Detroit Golf Club, tying the tournament record and grabbing the lead during the rain-delayed first round.
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Thompson, 22, is making just his third Tour start as a pro. He has Korn Ferry Tour status after ranking second in the PGA Tour University standings, but has been cutting his teeth in the big leagues with a T-35 at the Palmetto Championship and missed the cut last week at the Travelers Championship.
“I just kind of knew that I was close to playing well,” he said.
But 63? “I usually don’t go low often,” said Thompson, who once shot a 59 at Sea Palms in St. Simons Island, Georgia. “I just feel like I’m a pretty solid player.”
Starting on the back nine, he made with birdies on his first two holes, sticking a 4-iron to a foot at No. 11 and was off to the races. He hit 17 greens and led the field in Strokes Gained: Approach the Green and drained a 32-foot birdie putt at No. 15.
“Safe to say the putter was hot today,” Thompson said.
It also doesn’t hurt that the fledgling pro has a veteran looper on the bag in Damon Green, who caddied for Zach Johnson when he won both of his majors. Green gave his distinctive chicken dance at the seventh hole to celebrate Thompson’s eighth birdie of the day.
“I caught it out of the corner of my eye,” he said. “It’s pretty funny.”
One hole later, Thompson considered laying back off the tee, but Green told him to stay aggressive and hit driver and it set up his final birdie of the day. It assured him of being two strokes better than Brandon Hagy and Tom Lewis. When asked how it sounded to be a PGA Tour leader, Thompson sounded like a Tour veteran. “Sounds good on Sunday. It’s only Thursday,” he said. “I know I’ve got a long way to go. I’m just going to try to do the same thing tomorrow.”
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