Cam Davis recovers from slow second round start at Sony Open

Cam Davis – file photo Australian Golf Media

First-round leader Cam Davis recovered from a slow start to his second round of the Sony Open to finish day two just one shot off the lead as the event heads into the weekend.

Davis bogeyed two of his first seven holes in his early start to day two but spectacularly ended the day with an eagle putt from 15 feet to finish the day one off the pace then held by Carl Yuan.

He would finish that way but Korean Ben An and American Austin Eckroat would also move into a share of the lead by day’s end but the Sydney golfer is nicely poised for the final 36 holes.

“I mean, I was struggling to hit two good shots in a row today,” said Davis after his round.

“I was trying to lean on all the things I feel like I’ve been doing well in order to get some consistency, and I felt like I would get two or three in a row and then it would disappear and then it would come back.

“My poor shots left me in some really tough spots today, so some good bogeys I made just to hang the round together. But to finish strong, I felt like I just hit three or four really nice shots in a row and capitalized with some nice putts. Yeah, feels good to turn that round around to an even par round and keep myself in it.

“Yeah, just woke up a little different and the tempo was a little different. Swing thoughts are good, but if you can’t quite put that swing on the ball, then you need to pick it apart and figure out what the part is that’s not working right and pull it back together.

“Fortunately, it wasn’t too far off. Still a lot of good shots out there today. Just the poor ones were in some rough spots. Yeah, keep riding off the good ones and bring back some of the form from yesterday, that would be perfect.”

“Yeah, still playing good golf. I feel like the longer I’m out here and the more chances I have the less you panic when things start going the wrong direction. You want to be the guy that starts off strong and keeps it going. Today was a little bit of a hiccup. We still finished with birdie and eagle on the last few holes and some good stuff in there. We’ll ride off that and bring it into tomorrow.”

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Campbell and Malixi claim Master of the Amateur titles

 

Phoenix Campbell and Rianne Malixi – AMOTA Champions – image Anthony Powter

The Australian Master of the Amateurs Men’s title has gone to Melbourne golfer, Phoenix Campbell, whose final two rounds of 65 and 67 swept him from a ten-shot deficit through 36 holes to a one-shot victory in the prestigious event and added to a stunning two months in which he has won an event on the PGA Tour of Australasia and now a leading amateur event.

The Yarra Yarra golfer who also came from well off the final day pace to win the Queensland PGA Championship in November, began the final round 35 minutes ahead of the final group today at the Southern Golf Club in Melbourne’s sandbelt and after a steady outward nine of 2 under 34 had him closing in on the lead he took control of the event with a final nine of 33 to complete his round one ahead of his fellow Victorian Siddharth Nadimpalli.

Nadimpalli, from the Spring Valley Golf Club, also closed quickly with a final round of 66 after beginning his final round 90 minutes ahead of the final group and actually had the lead before Campbell birdied the 17th to move one ahead and then par the last to lead in the clubhouse. A bogey at the last proved very costly for Nadimpalli.

Campbell, who also won the Riversdale Cup in Melbourne twelve months ago, has served notice that he is well on track for a successful professional career when the decision comes for him to turn to the paid ranks.

New Zealand’s Zackary Swannick shared the lead through 36 holes but was unable to make any real progress over the final 36 and finished in 3rd place and two shots from Campbell.

The women’s Master of the Amateurs title went to 16-year-old Rianne Mikhaela Malixi of the Philippines who won by a shot over India’s Avani Prashanth, Prashanth just missing a 15-footer from behind the final green to force a playoff.

Japan’s Nika Ito birdied six holes in a row during today’s final round before dropping four shots late in her round to finish two shots from the winner.

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Matt Griffin opens up five shot Heritage Classic lead

Matt Griffin – file photo Australian Golf Media

Victorian Matt Griffin has been a significant performer on the PGA Tour of Australasia and elsewhere in his professional career to date but in recent times his form has slumped and even top tens have been few and far between over the past two years.

Today, however, the Griffin added a second round of 65 to his opening 61 to lead the Heritage Classic at the Heritage Golf and Country Club by five shots over WA’s Josh Greer and South Australian Jak Carter into the weekend of the first event of the 2024 PGA Tour of Australasia golfing year.

Following a final nine of 28 in yesterday’s opening round of 61, Griffin birdied his opening two holes today but it was yet another finishing burst of four consecutive birdies to finish round two that established his substantial lead.

Griffin’s last win anywhere came when birdieing the final hole of the 2016 New Zealand Open to gazump Japan’s Hideto Tanihara at the Hills Golf Club near Queenstown so this week’s effort has proven to be a welcome return form for the likeable 40-year-old.

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Cam Davis grabs opening round lead at Sony Open

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.

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Davis and Baddeley play Sony Open


Aaron Baddeley has enjoyed good results at the Sony Open – image Australian Golf Media

The first full-field event of the 2024 PGA Tour season begins at the Waialae Country Club in Honolulu on Thursday with, perhaps surprisingly, only two Australians in the Sony Open field.

Following on from last week’s Sentry event at Kapalua, the Sony Open takes its traditional spot as the second tournament of the year but the first with a full field (144)

Cam Davis and Aaron Baddeley will tee it up in the US$8.3 million event, Baddeley for the 11th occasion and Davis for the 6th.

Baddeley first played this event in his very first tournament as a PGA Tour cardholder back in 2002 when he lost a playoff to Ernie Els and even last year he recorded consecutive rounds of 65 at the weekend to finish in a share of 7th place, his equal best finish of 2023.

Davis has one top ten in his previous starts in the event, that coming in 2020 when 9th.

Korea’s Si Woo Kim is the defending champion, the Korean winning by one shot over Hayden Buckley.

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Jason Day finishes 10th in season opener

 

Jason Day – photo Getty Images 

Jason Day has finished in a share of 10th place at the opening event of the 2024 PGA Tour season, a final round of 67 on the low-scoring Plantation Course layout at Kapalua, actually losing the 36-year-old ground.

Day began his quest to chase down the 54 leaders well when, after starting the day three off the pace, he moved within one of the lead after four birdies in his opening seven holes today before a wild tee shot at the par 3 8th cost him a double bogey.

Although he would birdie four holes in a five-hole stretch through his final nine holes, the amount of players in contention meant it was always going to be a hard task to recover, although given this was the first of the signature events for 2024 his two-way share of 10th would mean a cheque for US$530,000 to get the season underway.

Cam Davis was the only other Australian in the 59-player field and finished 52nd despite a last round of 8 under 65.

The winner Chris Kirk finished one ahead of former Australian Master of the Amateurs winner, Sahith Theegala to pocket the US$3.6 million winner’s cheque and win his 6th PGA Tour title.

The PGA Tour now heads across Hawaii to Honolulu and the Sony Open where Cam Davis and Aaron Baddeley are the Australians in the field.

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Master of the Amateurs begins Tuesday at the Southern Golf Club


Southern Golf Club plays host for the second occasion – image Australian Master of the Amateurs

Australia’s Master of the Amateurs championship will be played for the 27th occasion when the 72 hole event begins on Tuesday at the Southern Golf Club in Melbourne’s sunbelt.

The championship was first played in 1997 when Australia’s Barry Miles won the inaugural staging at Royal Pines on the Gold Coast although, five years later, Melbourne’s sandbelt became the permanent home for the event with Yarra Yarra, Royal Melbourne and Victorian Golf Clubs and now the Southern Golf Club playing host to a championship which has gained much prestige amongst not only Australian but world amateur events.

Amongst the list of previous winners are names such as Brendan Jones, one of Australia’s most successful ever competitors in Japan, Jason Day who is currently Australia’s leading world-ranked player and a 13-time winner on the PGA Tour and more recently Sahith Theegala who has himself become a star performer on the PGA Tour in recent times.

Not only has the winner’s list been impressive but over the years many other players who would go on to make their mark in world golf have competed including Rickie Fowler, Bryson De Chambeau and Tommy Fleetwood.

Players from Australia, New Zealand, the USA, England, Ireland, Japan, Canada, Scotland and numerous Asian countries at scheduled to tee it up.

The Master of the Amateurs took on a women’s division in 2018, the most notable of their winners to date being the NSW golfer Stephanie Kyriacou who has gone on to success on the Ladies European Tour and is now performing with distinction on the LPGA Tour>

The event is played over 72 holes with a 54-hole cut on Thursday evening followed by the final round on Friday 12th January.

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Jason Day loses ground but remains in touch in Hawaii


Jason Day – file photo USGA

Jason Day, one of two Australians in the opening event of the 2024 PGA Tour season, The Sentry, lost ground with his second round of 69 on the par 73 layout at the Plantation Course at Kapalua in Hawaii but he remains within striking distance of leader Scottie Scheffler at the halfway stage.

Day, whose opening round of 65 on day one had him just one off the lead, now finds himself in share of 15th place but just four shots from Scheffler’s lead after the current world number one added a second round 64 to lead by one over Tyrell Hatton, Brendon Todd and Sungjae Im.

Day’s only blemish on day two was when failing to reach the green from the rough at the relatively short par 4 13th hole but he soon recovered with birdies at the 14th and 15th although he failed to find the green with his seocnd at the very reachable 18th and was unable to make birdie on one of the easiest holes on the layout.

Day is playing the event or its equivalent for the for the first occasion  since 2019, the 36 year old in the field courtesy of his win in Dallas last year and his standing on last season’s FedEx Cup points table. He has a previous best of 3rd in this event in 2015.

Day, who appears back in good health and playing well again, said on Thursday how delighted he is to be in the field and just playing the event.

“Yeah, it’s a good way to start the year. I just can’t help but feel thankful to be able to play this game, and be here healthy and enjoying golf, which is a good thing. I still want to compete and play well and try and win this tournament. So, three more days to go, but I feel very lucky to be here.”

Day was asked when he last felt as healthy as he does now.

“Going back probably before 2015. So, it’s quite a long time. I still get hiccups every now and then still. For the most part, yeah, through my No. 1 years, I was in a lot of pain, but kind of just, I did — I sucked it up and just pushed through the pain. Which was, like, great, but it was, like, very short. So, hopefully, this time getting back there I can stay there for a lot longer than what I did.”

Cam Davis is the other Australian in the 59 player field but he is languishing back in 57th place despite a second round of 69 himself.

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Day and Davis play season opener at Kapalua

Jason Day – in the field on two counts – his win in Dallas last year and his FedEx Cup standing – Getty Images

Jason Day and Cam Davis are the only two Australians in the field for this week’s opening event of the 2024 PGA Tour season, the Sentry at the Plantation Course at Kapalua on Maui, the pair earning their place courtesy of their standing inside the top 50 in the 2023 FedEx Cup rankings and, in the case of Day, as a result of his win at the Byron Nelson event near Dallas.

Day finished 28th in the FedEx Cup standings last year while Davis was 48th.

The event, previously known as the Tournament of Champions which involved a line-up of winners of events from the previous twelve months, has been replaced by a field that also includes winners in 2023 but has the addition of the leading 50 players in the 2023 FedEx Cup points table.

The event will be the inaugural staging of a ‘Signature’ event series where a purse of US$20 million is on offer with a first place cheque of US$3.6 million and even 10th place earns US$550,000 and the last placed player in the field of 59 this week will receive US$50,000.

Essentially the ‘Signature events’ is a name change from the newly introduced ‘Designated’ events in 2023

The increased prizemoney in the eight Signature events scheduled for 2024 has clearly been introduced to counter the cash splash on offer by LIV Golf with eight signature events.

With there yet to be a definitive answer or announcement on the supposed agreement between LIV Golf’s benefactor PIF and the PGA Tour, these events are expected to at least appease some of those who have remained loyal to the PGA Tour.

Interestingly the last two winners of the event, Jon Rahm and Cam Smith, are now LIV Golf members and, as such, are ineligible for this week’s event.

Day will play the event or its previous equivalent for the 6th occasion and has been inside the top ten in the restricted fields on three occasions with a best of 3rd in his stellar year of 2015.

Day comes off the back of a win at the teams’ event in Florida in which he paired with Lydia Ko, completing a year which saw him win for the first time in five years when successful at the AT&T Byron Nelson.

Davis has played at Kapalua once previously when earning his place in the 2022 Tournament of Champions field courtesy of his breakthrough PGA Tour victory at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in late 2021.

Davis finished 10th that year including weekend rounds of 66 and 66 to finish nine shots behind his countryman, Cam Smith, whose 34 under par total that week remains the record for 72 holes at the Plantation Course at Kapalua.

Cam Davis plays Kapalua for the second occasion – image Australian Golf Media 

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Harrison Endycott regains full PGA Tour status


Harrison Endycott – Getty Images

Sydney’s Harrison Endycott is back on the PGA Tour next season following the completion of 72 holes of PGA Tour Qualifying in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida this morning.

Endycott was forced to wait 24 hours longer than originally scheduled after inclement weather saw play postponed on Sunday, but he added a final round of 67 today to extend his winning margin to four and claim one of the precious PGA Tour cards given to the leading five players and ties.

“Yeah, obviously a win is a win. It’s great to go do the job over four days,” said Endycott.

“It was a tough grinding year, rookie year on TOUR, and you learn a lot out there. Sometimes it’s good to take a step back, and we went through all our stats after RSM and managed to really point out and pick out why we were in that category, whether it’s wedge dispersion, some course management decisions and some putting.

“It’s great that the PGA TOUR give us — can provide that information for us. We just picked up what we needed to get better, did some really good work over the last few weeks, and it’s nice to come out and get a win.”

Endycott becomes the 4th Australian to earn medallist honours at PGA Tour School following in the footsteps of Brett Ogle, Neale Smith and Stephen Allan.

Endycott had come off a  stretch where he missed eight of his last nine cuts on the PGA Tour so to turn things around in such a crucial week has been particularly impressive, especially with the pressure of leading or sharing the lead throughout.

Endycott completed his rookie PGA Tour season in 139th place on the FedEx Cup table and while he would have gained several starts from that category he would have had to do so without the certainty of knowing when those starts might come.

The former Eisenhower Trophy winner and a winner on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2022, now gets the opportunity to capitalize on what he has learned from his first year on the PGA Tour as he heads into 2024.

Endycott will also earn US$50,000 for his work but more importantly, he has his full playing rights back.

John Lyras was the next best of the Australasians in 54th place after recovering from a horror round of 78 on the opening day on Thursday.

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