Tag: Cam Davis

This Aussie is thankful on July 4th — for American crowds, good golf, and the anniversary of his lone PGA Tour win

“It was the Fourth of July … it wasn’t like I felt like everyone was judgmental.”

The parallels between the Rocket Mortgage Classic’s growth and defending champion Cam Davis’ progression as a player are strong.

Despite the newly created LIV Golf’s winnowing of the PGA Tour crowd, 2022’s RMC field could still be Detroit’s best yet. Event officials have made a pivotal date change and added multiple new fan amenities, drawing on lessons from the first three years. They also believe interest the LIV tour cultivated has helped sell tickets.

Meanwhile, Davis visited the Detroit Golf Club last Monday as reigning RMC champ. The Australian learned a lot while climbing the leader board during the first three years of the tourney. He missed the cut in the RMC’s first two years, then weathered a five-hole playoff to finally win in Year 3 — his first career PGA Tour victory.

“Every year I was trying to try to come back — because I love this golf course —thinking, ‘Can I just do a little bit better?’ ” Davis recently told the Free Press. “And obviously, last time I did as well as you can do. The tournament had grown each time I’d played out here as well. I’d say it’s a pretty accurate statement. It’s growing as well as I am.”

Davis is a huge fan of golf course architect Donald Ross, which adds motivation for returning to Detroit annually. The DGC is one of fewer than 20 clubs in North America with two 18-hole Ross courses. Davis really loves the greens, which he described as equally “terrific” and “difficult.”

“It’s synonymous with a lot of the best golf courses around this country, and I feel like guys jump at the opportunity to play golf courses like this,” Davis said. “And it’s just cool to see a lot of big names coming out and giving it a crack, because it is a good test.”

Davis’ favorite stretch of the RMC course is known as “Area 313” — holes Nos. 15-17 — the site of his playoff with Troy Merritt and Joaquin Niemann last year. The way fans rallied around him there was further evidence of the RMC’s increasing legitimacy.

“In my experience here, they were really respectful but really enjoying the sport in general,” Davis said. “It was the Fourth of July, obviously it’s the American holiday, but me battling against an American (Merritt) coming down the stretch, it wasn’t like I felt like everyone was judgmental about where I was from, or supporting one person over the other. They were just here enjoying good golf, and we’re both playing really well and getting equally treated.

“And I feel like that’s a really cool environment to be in, because I could have very easily felt like the underdog out there. And I think the fans out here made me feel like I’m a competitor just like he is, and I think that’s a really unique trait for a crowd to be able to do that. It was a very fun, enjoyable afternoon.”

Cam Davis tees off on the 16th hole during the third hole of a sudden-death playoff at the Rocket Mortgage Classic at the Detroit Golf Club in Detroit, Sunday, July 4, 2021.

Davis isn’t the only RMC veteran enamored with the tournament. Rocket Mortgage ambassador Rickie Fowler is back for Year 4, as is Will Zalatoris, a rising star and the runner-up at the U.S Open and PGA Championship earlier this year.

Kevin Kisner is probably one of the field’s most committed golfers. The defending champion at the Wyndham Championship — which runs August 3-7, one weekend after the RMC’s new date, July 28-31 — was expected to skip Detroit in favor of defending his title in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Instead, Kisner will play back-to-back weekends at the RMC and Wyndham. That decision, and the recent commitments of 2021 FedEx Cup winner Patrick Cantlay and former World No. 1 Adam Scott, shows the RMC’s growing allure, Davis said.

CHANGES AT DETROIT GOLF CLUB: 2022 Rocket Mortgage Classic features new viewing areas, youth golf zone

“I just think people are catching on that it’s a great event,” he said. “I mean, you’re not gonna get guys coming along like that if they don’t feel like it’s gonna be a really good opportunity to prove themselves against other good players and play really good golf courses in tournament conditions in front of great fans and stuff.

“I think Detroit’s becoming known for being a good sports city with great fans and all that, and I feel like that’s gonna continue to raise the bar for this event.”

Raising the bar at the RMC is more crucial than ever amid the Saudi-backed LIV Golf’s emergence.

Phil Mickelson and Patrick Reed are former Rocket Mortgage Classic notables siphoned away by the tour offering extravagant purses. So is Bryson DeChambeau, the 2020 RMC champion and an ex-Rocket Mortgage ambassador. They’re just three of 48 golfers who’ve forsaken the PGA Tour for LIV. (Former MSU star and 2021 U.S. Amateur champ James Piot is another.)

“Obviously the competition right now is coming from LIV, and I think a lot of the PGA Tour guys agree that these tournaments are worth playing in, and that’s why they’re staying,” Davis said while discussing the RMC’s continued improvement. “I think continuing to build and improve is just gonna bring more and more big-name players and opportunities to do more and more for the community and all that, so I think it’s only gonna go onwards and upwards from here.”

Davis’ competition for a repeat will still be tough. World No. 16 Tony Finau and former World No. 1s Jason Day and Justin Rose will make their RMC debuts this year, attracted by the date change.

Davis, though, was coming to Detroit whenever the RMC was scheduled for. The date change was as much an afterthought for him as a potential post-victory celebration: Last year, he only had time for a burger and fries from a fast-food restaurant.

Davis’ real prize is the chance to continue growing his game while watching the RMC sprout up around him like a Donald Ross green.

Contact Mason Young: MEYoung@freepress.com Follow him on Twitter: @Mason_Young_0

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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.”

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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.

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