Tag: Cam Davis

The British Open is out for Cam Davis, but he’s in contention at John Deere Classic despite fatigue issues

It’s been a wild few days for Rocket Mortgage Classic winner Cam Davis, but the momentum continues at the John Deere Classic.

A celebration on July 4 that ended in the wee hours and a nightmare travel day finally caught up with Cam Davis.

Just four days after winning the Rocket Mortgage Classic, his first PGA Tour title, in a five-hole playoff against Troy Merritt, the 26-year-old Aussie was dominating rain-softened TPC Deere Run in Thursday’s first round of the John Deere Classic in Silvis, Illinois. Racking up four birdies and an eagle through his first 11 holes, Davis led by two shots before his play turned a bit sour.

Which isn’t surprising since he stayed up until 2 a.m. Monday reveling in his Rocket Mortgage victory with Five Guys burgers and a shake and watching a re-run of the final round. He would have recovered from that but ran into a canceled plane the next day and was forced to drive more than 400 miles to get to the John Deere Classic. A couple of light days at the course on Tuesday and Wednesday recharged the batteries just a tad.

While others charged home – Chez Reavie and Camillo Villegas set the pace with bogey-free, 7-under-par 64s and 2016 John Deere champion Ryan Moore shot 65 – Davis made two sloppy bogeys in his last five holes to shoot 67.

“First 11 holes were pretty much just cruising around like I was last week,” Davis said. “It was a little scratchy toward the end, but the swing didn’t feel too much different, just hit the ball in a couple of rough spots.

“I’m definitely a little more fatigued than I was after the first round last week, so I’m just going to take it easy this afternoon. I’ve got a late tee time tomorrow, got plenty of time to relax, and hopefully by the time I get to tomorrow I’ll be back to 100 percent and ready to go again.”

Davis will get plenty of rest and relaxation next week. He was the first alternate for the British Open and would have gotten into golf’s oldest championship when Kevin Na withdrew but he can’t leave the country.

“I got married last year in September and decided to start the green card process to make traveling in and out of the country so much easier,” Davis said. “But unfortunately I’m not going to be able to leave the States while that’s getting processed. That means I’m not able to go next week, but I’m looking forward to seeing my family and celebrating back in Seattle and recharging a little bit because this week is already a bit of a grind to get through.

“I’m pretty tired. It’ll be nice to relax. I had no expectations for today really. I wasn’t sure if I was going to keep playing well or if there was going to be a bit of a lull after all that, but I’m very happy to keep it going.”

Reavie got going with a new putter.

“I lengthened it a little bit and took a degree of loft off of it and it looked quite a bit better to me on the ground,” said Reavie. “I think it had a little too much loft before, looked a little left to me, so once it started looking better, I really putted well.

“You’re going to have to shoot low for sure. You’re going to have to make birdies. The biggest thing is just to not make bogeys. It’s easy to make bogeys out there if you hit it in the rough, and so if you don’t make bogeys you have plenty of birdie opportunities.”

Villegas has good vibes at TPC Deere Run; he cashed his first PGA Tour paycheck here in 2004, winning $8,284.

“I remember parring the ninth hole to make the cut,” he said. “There’s great people around this town. They put a great show, they put a great tournament. I love this place. I love this place.

“Anytime you play you look back and you say, ‘Man I could have made this or that,’ but you also could have made bogey here or there. You’re never going to complain about a 7-under start, so again, I didn’t make any bogeys, I gave myself chances and made some putts here and there, and a solid start.”

[mm-video type=playlist id=01es6rjnsp3c84zkm6 player_id=none image=https://golfweek.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

[lawrence-related id=778114901,778114848]

Rocket Mortgage Classic: Troy Merritt comes up aces, shares 54-hole lead

The highlight of Troy Merritt’s Saturday at Detroit Golf Club? His hole-out at the par-3 11th.

DETROIT – The fireworks on 4th of July weekend began a day early for Troy Merritt.

The 35-year-old Boise State product picked a good time to make his first hole-in-one in 10 years on the PGA Tour. From 218 yards on the par-3, 11th hole at Detroit Golf Club, Merritt was stuck between a soft 4-iron and a hard 5-iron. He and his caddie, Wayne Birch, figured they had 210 yards to cover the front with the wind helping out of the right. So Merritt drew a 5-iron that hopped once and disappeared into the bottom of the cup.

“I was geeked,” said Birch, who answers to the nickname Wayne-o, Drain-o.

The ace propelled Merritt to a 5-under 67 and a share of the 54-hole lead at the Rocket Mortgage Classic with Chile’s Joaquin Niemann, who remains bogey-free for the tournament.

Rocket Mortgage Classic: Leaderboard | Tee times | Blog

By the time Merritt made his ace, he already had made birdie on four of his first seven holes, including a near ace at the fifth hole to break from the pack. Early in the third round, there was a pile-up near the top of the leaderboard with an eight-way tie for first and a dozen more players within one stroke of the lead. Merritt’s ace temporarily vaulted him three strokes in front, but after hitting 22 straight fairways – he ranks tied for second in driving accuracy this week – he missed three in a row, including to the right rough at No. 12, which led to his only bogey of the day.

Merritt, who finished T-8 here last year, will be seeking his third PGA Tour title on Sunday and first since the Barbasol Championship in 2018.

“There’s going to be quite a few birdies tomorrow and we’ve got to make them to keep pace and hopefully slightly ahead of everybody. The mindset will be find that fairway first, give ourselves as many looks as we can and keep all the squares off the card,” said Merritt, who leads the field in Strokes Gained: Putting. “Make a few birdies but don’t give any away, make them work to come and get us and hopefully it’s good enough in the end.”

Merritt will be paired in the final group with Niemann, ranked No. 30 in the world and at 22 one of the bright stars on the Tour. Niemann, the winner of the 2019 A Military Tribute at the Greenbrier, shot 68 to improve to 14-under 202 and is attempting to be the first winner to play 72 holes bogey-free since J.T. Poston at the 2019 Wyndham Championship. Niemann, who ranks a pedestrian 88th in scrambling for the season, is a perfect 13-of-13 this week.

“I always try to not make bogeys, but this week it’s working,” Niemann said.

Twenty-four players will start the final round within five strokes of the lead. Hank Lebioda and Cam Davis – both seeking their maiden Tour victory – trail by one stroke and are the closest pursuers. Lebioda’s 6-under 66 tied for the low round of the day, but he said he leaned heavily on his short game and his best shot of the day led to a tap-in par.

“It was the flop shot over the bunkers going towards the water on 14,” said the 27-year-old southpaw, who has continued his hot play after finishing T-5 last week at the Travelers Championship. “I thought I was the older lefty, the one who’s won a few more times, when I hit that. Yeah, it was a great shot.”

Davis, 26, made three birdies in a four-hole span on the front nine to join the fray en route to shooting 5-under 67. The Australian finished T-3 at the American Express and January and has his eye on the top prize this week.

“It’s been what I’ve been working for my whole life, so it would be pretty special,” he said.

Jason Kokrak shot one of nine bogey-free rounds, a 5-under 67, to climb within three strokes of the lead as he seeks his third win of the season.

“I think it’s going to be a putting contest,” Kokrak said. “Troy’s a great putter and it’s going to take everything I’ve got in the bag to catch him tomorrow if he continues the pace he’s on.”

Expect fireworks.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01es6rjnsp3c84zkm6 player_id=none image=https://golfweek.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

[lawrence-related id=778114111,778114087,778114061]