19 Oct 2023 | Professional golf |
Aussies on Tour: Davis reveals Olympic ambition
by Tony Webeck
Australian Cam Davis knows a green-and-gold Olympic call-up is within reach if he can continue his rich vein of form at the PGA TOUR’s ZOZO Championship in Japan this week.
Amongst an Australian contingent also boasting Adam Scott, Min Woo Lee and Aaron Baddeley, Davis is the highest-ranked Aussie in the field.
Indeed, only Cameron Smith (No.18) and Jason Day (No.23) sit ahead of Davis on the Official World Golf Ranking, thrusting the 28-year-old from Sydney well into the frame to represent Australia at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
With five top-10s in his past six starts on the PGA TOUR, Davis enters this week at a career-high No.42 in the world and with a clear picture of what is required to add his name to the two-man Australian Olympic golf team.
“I’ve seen some social media stuff pop up with me projected to make the team… I’ve got a lot of good golf to be played between now and then to make that happen,” Davis conceded.
“I’m glad that I’m on a good trajectory for it and if I keep doing what I’m doing, I might be a chance.
“It would be a lot of fun, competing at the Olympics. I love France. I went there for the first time this year on my honeymoon so I’d love to go back there and compete in that.
“There’s a lot of golf to be played until that team is selected and I’d love to put my hand up for it.”
Ever since the US PGA Championship where he recorded a career-best finish in a major of tied for fourth, Davis has been riding a wave of momentum.
He first had to play his way into the penultimate event of the FedEx Cup Playoffs to finish top-50 and secure his place in the limited-field PGA TOUR Signature Events in 2024.
With that accomplished, Davis has embraced the sense of freedom through the FedEx Cup Fall with a third-place finish at the Fortinet Championship and a tie for seventh at last week’s Shriners Children’s Open.
It’s form that he wants to carry through all the way to the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship and the ISPS HANDA Australian Open.
“There are multiple things going through my head about the trip home,” said the 2017 Australian Open champ.
“I would love to keep this form going and I feel like I have a real chance to win those tournaments, they mean a lot to me.
“I’d love to play some really solid golf while I’m there but at the same time I’m looking forward to seeing a lot of faces that I haven’t seen since last year and spending time with family.
“I love playing Australian golf courses as well, I feel it’s a style of golf that I don’t get to play very often.
“I’m trying to make sure that I really enjoy myself while I’m back home. I love the fans and everything about the atmosphere of those tournaments but at the same time I’d love to keep my game sharp and give it a good run.”
The LPGA Tour is also in Asia this week for the BMW Ladies Championship in Korea, where New Zealand’s Lydia Ko is the defending champion.
The top five Aussies on the Rolex Women’s World Golf Ranking are all in the field at Seowon Valley Country Club, led by world No.7 Minjee Lee.
Round 1 tee times AEDT
PGA TOUR ZOZO Championship Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club, Chiba, Japan 10:56am Aaron Baddeley, Robby Shelton, Mikumu Horikawa 11:18am* KH Lee, Collin Morikawa, Adam Scott 12.:35pm Vincent Norrman, Nick Hardy, Cam Davis 12:57pm Taylor Montgomery, Min Woo Lee, Keita Nakajima
Defending champion: Keegan Bradley Past Aussie winners: Nil TV times: Live 2pm-6pm Thursday on Fox Sports 506; Live 2pm-6pm Friday on Fox Sports 503; Live 4pm-6pm Saturday on Fox Sports 506; Live 2pm-6pm Sunday on Fox Sports 507 and Kayo Sports.
LPGA Tour BMW Ladies Championship Seowon Hills at Seowon Valley Country Club Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea 10:30am* Pajaree Anannarukarn, Allisen Corpuz, Hannah Green 10:41am Gemma Dryburgh, Georgia Hall, Grace Kim 11:36am* Brooke M Henderson, Stephanie Kyriacou, Stephanie Meadow 11:58am* Carlota Ciganda, Sarah Kemp, Yuka Saso 12.20pm Celine Boutier, Danielle Kang, Minjee Lee 12.42pm Jin Young Ko, Lydia Ko (NZ), Nelly Korda
Defending champion: Lydia Ko Past Aussie winners: Nil TV times: Live 2pm-6pm Thursday, Friday on Fox Sports 507; Live 2pm-3pm and 5pm-6pm Saturday on Fox Sports 503; Live 3:30pm-6pm Sunday on Fox Sports 506 and Kayo Sports.
DP World Tour Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters Real Club de Golf Sotogrande, San Roque, Andalucia, Spain 7:40pm* Wyndham Clark, Adrian Meronk, Ryan Fox (NZ) 11:10pm* Bryce Easton, Mikael Lindberg, Jason Scrivener 11:30pm Marcel Siem, Tom McKibbin, Daniel Hillier (NZ)
Defending champion: Adrian Otaegui Past Aussie winners: Nil TV times: Live 11pm-4am Thursday, Friday; Live 10:30pm-3am Saturday; Live 10pm-3am Sunday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo Sports.
Ladies European Tour Hero Women’s Indian Open DLF Golf and Country Club, Gurgaon, India 12:20pm* Elena Colombo, Avani Prashanth (a), Hanee Song (NZ) 1:30pm Elia Folch, Stephanie Bunque, Michele Thomson 5:05pm Momoka Kobori (NZ), Leonie Harm, Lydia Hall
Defending champion: Olivia Cowan Past Aussie winners: Nil
LIV Golf Team Championship Miami Trump National Doral, Miami Quarter-Finals Cameron Smith v Martin Kaymer Marc Leishman v Richard Bland Matt Jones/Jed Morgan v Graeme McDowell/Bernd Wiesberger
Defending champion: 4 Aces Past Aussie winners: Nil TV times: Live 4.15am-9.15am Saturday, Sunday and Monday on 7 Plus.
PGA TOUR Champions Dominion Energy Charity Classic The Country Club of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia 2:03am* Brian Gay, Stuart Appleby, Matt Gogel 2:09am Paul Broadhurst, Richard Green, Steve Flesch 2.20am Paul Stankowski, Darren Clarke, Mark Hensby 2:31am Rod Pampling, Joe Durant, Robert Karlsson 2:47am* David McKenzie, Tim Herron, Arjun Atwal 3:26am Steven Alker (NZ), Bernhard Langer, Stephen Ames
Defending champion: Steven Alker Past Aussie winners: Nil TV times: Live 5am-7am Saturday, Sunday; Live 5am-8am Monday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo Sports.
LET Access Series Calatayud Ladies Open Gambito Golf Calatayud, Spain 6:50pm Nicole Polivchak, Anna M Hedlund, Victoria Fricot 10:20pm Kristalle Blum, Cecilie Finne-Ipsen, Emily Penttila 10:20pm* Gabrielle Macdonald, Amy Walsh, Amaia Latorre 10:40pm* Emma Thorngren, Kelsey Bennett, Hannah Screen
Defending champion: Amy Taylor Past Aussie winners: Nil
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