Davis finds good fortune in three-way playoff win
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, but maintained his composure because he knew good shots set up putts he just missed.
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.
“It’s hard to be standing here knowing that there is a playoff going on right now,” Niemann told reporters.
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 two-putted 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 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 two months, four top-10s, now nice finish this week,” he said. “I just hope for that win. We’re knocking on the door.”
The 22-year-old Niemann shared the second- and thirdround lead and was runnerup for the third time.
LPGA
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 sank her shoulders when she made her par putt from just outside 3 feet on the final hole at Old American Golf Club, holding off Matilda Castren, 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.
“I was thinking I had a lot of pressure with the No. 1 ranking,” Ko said. “But I made it this week. I’m very happy.”
Ko and Korda will square off on big stages over the next month or so. The next major is the Evian Championship, followed by the Olympics and the Women’s British Open.
Gaby Lopez closed with a 65, making her only bogey on the final hole. She finished alone in third, two shots behind.
PGA Tour Champions
Cameron Beckman ran off five straight birdies to start the back nine and then held on at the end for a 4-under 68 and a one-shot victory over Ernie Els in the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open, his first title on the PGA Tour Champions.
Beckman, a three-time winner on the PGA Tour, earned full status on the PGA Tour Champions and a spot in the U.S. Senior Open next week.
Els, who started the final round with a three-shot lead, closed with a 72 to finish second. David Tooms (67), Retief Goosen (66), Wes Short Jr. (68), Miguel Angel Jimenez (69) and Paul Goydos (68) tied for third.
PGA Europe
Lucas Herbert completed a wire-to-wire victory at the Irish Open, shooting 4-under 68 in the final round to win by three strokes and secure a place at the British Open.
It was Herbert’s second title on the European Tour, after the Dubai Desert Classic in January 2020.
Rikard Karlberg was second and Johannes Veerman was third. They also clinched British Open spots along with Herbert, as the three top finishers who were not previously exempt. The world’s oldest major starts at July 15 at Royal St. George’s.