[PHOTO: Raj Mehta]
Cameron Davis was in trouble. Receiving a terrible break when his second shot found the green of the par-5 14th, only to then roll back in the water, a birdie opportunity suddenly turned into a potentially crushing bogey, dropping him behind Akshay Bhatia.
Davis, however, birdied the par-5 17th while Bhatia did not. Then a nervy up-and-down from right of the 18th green left it up to Bhatia to end things with a birdie at the last. Instead, Bhatia ended it by bogeying 18 with his first three-putt of the week, handing Davis his second PGA Tour victory – and second at this tournament.
“I wouldn’t wish what happened to Akshay on anyone,” Davis said afterwards.
The Sydneysider, who recently started working with a hypnotherapist, relied on accuracy off the tee and a strong short game to win at Detroit Golf Club for a second time. Davis hit more than three-quarters of the fairways with his 9-degree Titleist TSR3 driver with a Fujikura Ventus Blue TR 7x shaft.
Davis’ sporty short game at the last was not an aberration, as he ranked ninth in strokes gained/around the green with his Titleist Vokey wedges, including a 60-degrees WedgeWorks model with an L grind and a True Temper Dynamic Golf S400 shaft.
Davis’ familiarity with the course helped as well. “It does help being comfortable here,” he said. “Obviously having [a] game plan that does work around here, so that’s a mystery that I don’t have to deal with that you have to at most other events… It’s been a lot of hard work to get myself back to a space where I can let the good golf come again.”
And a trophy to go with it.
The clubs Cameron Davis used to win the 2024 Rocket Mortgage Classic:
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
Driver: Titleist TSR3 (Fujikura Ventus Blue TR 7x), 10 degrees
3-wood: Titleist TSR3, 15 degrees
Irons (3): Titleist T100; (4-PW): Titleist 620 CB
Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM10 (52, 56 degrees); Titleist Vokey WedgeWorks (60 degrees)
Putter: Scotty Cameron by Titleist TourType Special Select Masterful prototype
