A miraculous hole out from the sand for eagle on the 71st hole has propelled Sydney’s Cameron Davis to his maiden USPGA Tour victory at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit.
The hole-out saw Davis vault to 17 under before ensuring his place in a three-way playoff with a clutch birdie on the last to finish the tournament at 18-under par.
It then took an agonising five playoff holes before Davis made par on the par-three 15th to beat the United States Travis Merritt, after the third player, Chilean Presidents Cup star Joaquin Niemann, who hadn’t made a bogey all tournament, was eliminated when he dropped a shot on the first playoff hole.
Davis had chances to win the tournament on each of the first four playoff holes, but missed putts on all of them as Merritt scrambled to stay in the fight.
A reaction almost as good as the shot. pic.twitter.com/TFCxw2QCMb
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 4, 2021
Davis eventually claimed the crown when his rival missed a short par save, banking $1.79m for winning his first win on golf’s most lucrative tour.
“It’s been pretty hectic ever since the 17th hole for me,”
“I just tried to put as much out of my mind as I could and hit every shot for what it’s worth.
“It sounds simple, but it’s so hard to do when the pressure is on like that. I didn’t make any putts, but I kept on putting it in play and it worked out all right.” a relieved Davis told PGA Tour TV after his win.
The defining moment, however of Davis’ breakout win will always be the mini-miracle from the sand on the 71st hole.
“It’s the only reason I’m sitting here now,” Davis said when asked to describe the career-changing shot which hit the flag flush and dropped.
“To be honest, in my head there wasn’t a thought of trying to hole it, I was just trying to pick my spot and just hit another good bunker shot. I’ve hit a lot of good ones this week and that one just came off pretty nicely.”
When asked what finally winning on the PGA Tour would meant Davis said ‘it’s been what I’ve been working for my whole life.”
Davis becomes the fourth Aussie to win on the US Tour this season after Matt Jones, Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith. His win comes tops off a golden weekend for Australian golf with victories to St Michael’s Steph Kyriacou on the Ladies European Tour, and Victorian Lucas Herbert overnight in the Irish Open.