Davis’ Motown vibes lead to first title
Australian wins in three-man playoff
DETROIT — Cam Davis holed a 50-foot sand shot on the 71st hole of regulation and that propelled him into a five-hole playoff where he outlasted Troy Merritt and Joaquin Niemann to win the Rocket Mortgage Classic for his first PGA Tour victory.
“It’s the only reason I’m sitting here now,” Davis said at a news conference alongside the trophy. “To be honest, in my head there wasn’t a thought of trying to hole it.”
Davis ultimately won when Merritt missed a 6-foot par putt on the fifth playoff hole. Davis missed putts to win on each of the playoff holes.
The 26-year-old Australian left 6- and 18-foot putts high, a 25-foot putt low and a 19-footer high. He misread a break on a 12-foot putt on the fifth playoff hole and settled for a par, then won when Merritt made bogey.
“I just tried to put as much out of my mind as I could and just hit every shot for what it was worth,” Davis said. “As simple as that’s said, it’s so hard to do when the pressure’s on like that. I just kept on putting good swings on it.
“I guess I didn’t make any putts, but I kept on putting it in play, so it worked out all right.”
Davis closed with a 5-under 67 to match Merritt (68) and Niemann (68) at 18-under 270 at Detroit Golf Club. Niemann dropped out of the playoff with a bogey on the first extra hole, his first bogey of the week.
Niemann had a chance to win it on the 72nd hole, but left a 17-foot putt high.
“I should have won this tournament, but I mean, it is what it is,” Niemann said. “I’m going to go rest next week and try to do my best for the (British) Open and the Olympics.”
Niemann had two shots that went 569 yards at 17 and he twoputted from 14 feet to take the lead at 18 under, but he quickly had company.
Merritt, who was in the final group with Niemann, made his fourth birdie in a five-hole stretch to share the lead at 17.
Davis joined the leaders with the eagle-birdie finish.
“I’ve been in some good positions before, but to play the golf that I played coming down the stretch was just awesome,” said Davis, who entered the tournament with four top-10 finishes the past two years.
The 35-year-old Merritt was shooting for his third PGA Tour win and first since 2018. He has been in contention lately, but has come up just short.
“It’s been a nice couple months, four top-10s, now nice finish this week,” he said. “I just hope for that win. We’re knocking on the door.”
LPGA TOUR: In The Colony, Texas, Jin Young Ko closed with seven straight pars for a 2-under 69 and a one-shot victory in the Volunteers of America Classic, her first start since losing the No. 1 world ranking.
Ko made a par putt from just outside 3 feet on the final hole at Old American Golf Club to beat Matilda Castren of Finland, who also shot 69.
The South Korean star won for the first time this year, and the timing couldn’t have been better. She had held the No. 1 ranking for nearly two years until Nelly Korda supplanted her last week by winning the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
Ko had failed to finish in the top 10 in four of her previous five starts on the LPGA Tour. But not far from her American home of Dallas, she thrived. She finished at 16-under 268 for her eighth career LPGA victory. She remains at No. 2.
Gaby Lopez of Mexico closed with a 65, making her only bogey on the final hole. She finished alone in third, two shots behind.
EUROPEAN TOUR: In Thomastown, Ireland, Lucas Herbert of Australia closed with a 4-under 68 for a wire-to-wire victory in the Irish Open that earned him a spot in the British Open.