Cam Davis – file photo Australian Golf Media
Four birdies in his last five holes on day one of the Sony Open have given Australia’s Cam Davis the early lead at the Waialae Country Club in Honolulu, the 28-year-old two ahead of American Taylor Montgomerie.
Davis who played last week’s Sentry event on Maui where he finished 52nd in the 59 man field, made gradual progress through the opening 12 holes today before unleashing a burst of birdies to grab the lead.
A final round of 65 on Sunday suggested he was playing his way back into form after playing Australian events in November and December and he suggested as much after his round today.
“Honestly I felt like I was just a little rusty. Just didn’t have much — well, didn’t put many rounds of golf together before last week and it kind of showed early in the week,” said Davis.
“As it progressed I started figuring out what wasn’t working, what was working and, yeah, Sunday last week I started to put some consistent shots together. I thought, well, as long as I can build off that round and continue that on to this week and next week, that is the sort of momentum I was looking for. It was very cool to back it up with a really good round.”
Davis played superb golf in the latter half of 2023 producing several top tens to play his way into the top 50 on the FedEx Cup standings.
“Honestly the practice that I did prior The Open Championship that I ended up not getting into. I was first reserve all week and ended up missing out.
“I found a few things, yeah, that week that went on from there. There was a little bit of frustration that I didn’t get to go that week, and I think some of that drive kind of fueled a little bit of a stretch of good golf.
“I put a lot of really good, consistent rounds together and taking it one step at a time rather than trying to look too far ahead, and I think that turned into the results I got.”
Play was suspended late in the day but is unlikely to impact on Davis’ lead heading into round two.
Aaron Baddeley was to be the only other Australian in the field but withdrew ahead of the tournament.
