Bolstered his strong Presidents Cup debut, Cam Davis has launched a blistering back-nine charge up the leaderboard at the PGA Tour’s Shriners Children’s Open in Las Vegas.
The 27-year-old Australian owned the stretch from the 13th hole at TPC Summerlin for a second-straight day as he carded birdie, birdie, eagle, birdie, birdie in succession to shoot a five-under 66 on Friday.
The burst took Davis into a tie for sixth, three shots behind the leader, Presidents Cup teammate Mito Pereira of Chile, who carded a 63 to be 12 under, one shot clear of American Robby Shelton (63).
The Sydneysider had made hay on that stretch from the 13th with four straight birdies in the opening round and he’s looking to capitalise there again over the weekend.
“I’ve got a lot of holes there that suit my eye pretty well right now,” Davis said.
“Pretty much my whole score has been built on that little four, five-hole stretch there, but if that’s what needs to be done in order to shoot whatever I am, nine under…that’s doing well.
“More of the same over the weekend with a couple more birdies scattered here and there. Should be pretty good.”
The International team campaign at the Presidents Cup two weeks ago may have ended in another defeat to the stacked US side but it certainly hasn’t hurt the form of its players.
Two stars of that side, South Koreans Si Woo Kim (68) and Tom Kim (67), are tied third with American Maverick McNealy, two shots behind Pereira.
Davis only got into the Presidents Cup team as an inspired captain’s pick by Trevor Immelman after LIV Golf defections ruled out several stars.
But he picked up two wins and impressed observers with his game and composure under the extreme pressure of the event at Quail Hollow.
He believes he gained a lot from that week.
“Everything at Quail Hollow is a positive experience for me,” he said.
“I mean, it was so much fun being in that environment, but to actually have a few stretches there where I played some awesome golf. It’s one thing to tell yourself you can do it, but nothing to experience it.
“It’s just a few more memories in the back of my mind whenever I’m trying to hit an important shot that I can do this.”
Pereira did not enjoy the same success at the Presidents Cup but he still felt the experience was helping him now.
“I think Trevor (immelman) did a really good job with us, encouraging us how good we are, how good we play golf,” Pereira said.
“So I think we carry that over here. Right now we’re just playing really good.”
Discussion about this post