Davis gets first win after five-hole Detroit 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 at Detroit Golf Club for his first PGA Tour victory.
“To be honest,” Davis said, “in my head there wasn’t a thought of trying to hole it.”
The 26-year-old Australian 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. He 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 and 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.”
Davis closed with a 5-under-par 67 to match Merritt (68) and Niemann (68) at 18-under 270. Niemann fell out of the playoff with a bogey on the first extra hole, his first bogey of the tournament.
Merritt made his fourth birdie in a five-hole stretch to share the lead at 17. Davis joined the leaders with the eagle-birdie finish.
■ LPGA: At The Colony, Texas, Jin Young Ko closed with seven straight pars in a 2-under 69 for a 16-under 268 total and a one-shot Volunteers of America Classic victory in her first start since losing the No. 1 ranking. Matilda Castren (69) was alone in second, with Gaby Lopez (65) another stroke back. Ko, who won for the eighth time and first this year, stayed at No. 2 behind Nelly Korda.
■ Champions: At Endicott, N.Y., Cameron Beckman ran off five straight birdies to start the back nine en route to a 4-under 68 for a 12-under 204 total and a one-shot Dick’s Sporting Goods Open win over Ernie Els (72) for the 51-year-old Minnesota native’s first tour victory.
■ European PGA: At Thomastown, Ireland, Lucas Herbert capped a wire-to-wire Irish Open win, shooting 4-under 68 for a 19-under 269 total in a three-stroke victory over Rikard Kalberg (67). The 25-year-old Australian notched his second tour triumph and first in 18 months.