This time last year, Davis Riley was just getting his professional career started. The Hattiesburg, Mississippi native left the University of Alabama early to start his pro journey. How his path has changed in a year.
Riley managed to hold on for his first Korn Ferry Tour victory on Sunday at the Panama Championship. It was a fairly uneventful day at Club de Golf de Panamá in Panama City until he reached the par-5 12th hole. When Riley jarred a 70-footer for eagle there, he knew he could close out a win if he just kept it together coming in.
He did, and he did.
Riley had a final-round 69 that left him at 10 under, one shot ahead of Roberto Diaz.
Playing on the developmental tour can offer many lessons for a young professional like Riley. Among the latest ones was how to close.
“I actually took a big learning lesson from last week. I three-putted my last three holes to miss the cut by one,” he told Korn Ferry Tour media. “I told myself to just keep hitting good shots and good putts and that’s all I could do. I hit a bunch of good shots coming in and hit some good putts and it was enough to get it done.”
In 2019, Riley had no status on the Korn Ferry Tour. He was relying on Monday qualifying for playing opportunities. He was able to secure status in June and set up a year that has some level of consistency and routine.
This is Riley’s third Korn Ferry start this year. He opened the season with a top-10 at the Bahamas Great Exuma Classic two weeks ago.
Last season, Riley made the cut in all but five of his 18 Korn Ferry starts, but only logged one top-10 finish. Interestingly, he missed the cut at the Panama Championship.
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