It wasn’t how Cam Davis would have drawn it up, but the resultant Canadian PGA Tour card makes the method irrelevant.
The 22-year-old Sydneysider has locked up his first professional playing rights with a fourth-place finish in the Canadian Q-School in California.
Davis, a Golf Australia rookie squad member, is now guaranteed at least the first eight starts on this year’s Mackenzie (Canadian) Tour, with a reassessment at the mid-year second reshuffle.
Not so lucky was Adelaide’s Brad Moules, who, at even par, lost a four-way playoff for 16th spot that would have earnt him a four-tournament exemption.
The former Royal Adelaide trainee professional must content himself with conditional status for the season ahead, which starts at the beautiful Point Grey in Vancouver in early June.
Perth’s Paul Bucan finished T73 at 16 over, while Coffs Harbour amateur Aden Louez improved through the week, but could only manage a T89 finish.
Davis, who made his pro debut in October’s Queensland Open and finished T15 on his US PGA Tour debut in Mexico’s Mayakoba Classic in November, began the final round with medallist honours in mind, in second place and just two behind eventual winner, American Jake Knapp.
But a triple-bogey on the par-three eighth and a bogey on the ninth effectively sealed Davis’ fate as Knapp fired a closing 68 at Soboba Springs.
Davis, normally a model of consistency, rode a three-birdie, three-bopgey rollercoaster on the back nine and eventually fell to fourth, nine shots behind Knapp, after a four-over-par 75 left him at seven under in total.
Moules looked set for a card, too, when he was two under on the front nine.
But a wobbly back nine cost him dearly with three bogeys and six pars en route to a closing 72 that left him in a four-way sudden-death shootout for the final four-event card, eventually won by Michigan’s Evan Bowser.