Cam Davis is en route back home for this week’s Emirates Australian Open with two brand new additions after his US PGA Tour debut in Mexico.
Davis, just two events into his fledgling professional career, is packing a cheque for $US98,000 for his T15th finish at the OHL Classic in Mayakoba.
But more importantly, he’s toting a confidence that his game already belongs on the world’s top tour.
Davis, playing in Mayakoba courtesy of his domination of the World Amateur Teams Championship at the same venue in September, pushed all the way in his quest for a top-10 berth and another start on the PGA tour this week.
A birdie on the last hole to keep his six-round sub-par scoring streak on the El Cameleon course wasn’t quite enough to push within nine strokes of winner Pat Perez.
But it left him full of belief for his national championship and beyond.
“I’m looking forward to being home – it’s nice in Sydney,” the Monash member said before heading off to sign autographs for some new-found fans.
“I know Royal Sydney well (and) this week should put me in pretty good stead for next week.
“I’ll just treat it as a brand new tournament, go back to the range and make sure everything is in shape and start at even par again.
“There’s going to be a lot of good players out there as well, so it should be fun.
“It’s just awesome to have these opportunities so early in my pro career, being able to have a couple of big events in a row and try to get some momentum.”
Davis said he “tried not to think about” his cheque.
“After I holed that putt on the last, I was thinking I might have saved myself a bit of money,” he joked.
“But to be honest I wasn’t thinking about the money or the top 10, just to go out there and have a round of golf. I think I did a pretty good job of that and wasn’t too nervous – just did my job.”
It’s been a crazy ride for Davis since his Eishenhower Trophy heroics with stops in Korea for the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, his call to turn pro and then his debut at The Brisbane Golf Club in the Queensland Open before returning to Mexico.
“It’s all gone by pretty quickly once you get to the end of it all,” he reflected.
“It was so much fun out there, playing with some top-class golfers as well, trying to learn as much as I could but at the same time just enjoy myself.
“The only thing that held me back for the majority of the round today was maybe one bad drive and a lot of close calls with the putter … (but) I felt like I played really solid all week.
“Just being out here and seeing the other guys play, I feel like I can hold my own out here.
“It was nice to see them get the ball around – nice to see the consistency the guys play with. They don’t go for too much, just keep the ball in good positions all around the golf course.
“You need to be a really good ball-striker to be able to do that and everyone is out here. It’s nice to see how easy they make it and how stress-free their rounds are.
“The course has obviously been torn up (scoring-wise) and the standard of golf has been really high, but to see the way they pick apart this golf course is really cool and to see their patience as well.”
Capping another solid week for the Aussie contingent on tour, Marc Leishman closed with a 69 to finish one stroke behind Davis at -11, while Cam Smith closed with a 72 to finish T42 at -8.