22 Sep 2022 | Professional golf |
Davis leaning on amateur days ahead of Presidents Cup debut
by Dane Heverin
Cameron Davis has not experienced a team environment since he was an amateur and he is over the moon to be back in that setting at the Presidents Cup at Quail Hollow in North Carolina.
The Sydneysider has an illustrious record in team competition having been an integral part of Australia’s Eisenhower Trophy triumph and New South Wales’ Australian Interstate Teams Matches victory in 2016, and he is looking to lean on those fond memories this week.
“I played a lot (of team match play) in Australia,” Davis said.
“There’s a lot of team golf coming through. We played in club competitions with eight-man teams. We played state competitions with our state teams, or as a national team playing against other countries.
“I absolutely loved it, and I actually felt that a lot of my best, sort of my biggest steps of improvement came through those environments because you’re surrounded by people and bouncing new ideas off each other and learning at the same time and pushing each other forward. That’s kind of the environment we’ve got here as well.”
Davis, who was selected to make his debut as one of Trevor Immelman’s captain’s picks, is joined by fellow Australian Adam Scott in the new-look International Team and suiting up alongside the ten-time representative has him pinching himself.
“I’ve looked up to him pretty much my whole golfing life,” Davis said.
“He was just getting started winning major tournaments when I was starting watching golf on TV. I remember watching him with THE PLAYERS in 2004. It was him and Tiger Woods for me.
“Being alongside him and playing as a peer rather than someone who’s just trying to figure out and learn underneath him, he’s really made everyone feel very comfortable and feel like equal members of the team.
“It’s great to have an Aussie accent on the team as well, but at the same time, it’s awesome to feel like I deserve a spot on this team alongside him and we’re going to be in this together.”
Davis’ selection came off the back of a consistent year where he has strung together five top-tens and three other finishes inside the top-20 on the PGA Tour.
The 27-year-old made his breakthrough on the tour by winning the Rocket Mortgage Classic last year and he is familiar with the pressure of the big occasion having won the ISPS HANDA Australian Open in 2017 - he is also a confirmed start for this year’s event and the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship.
He sees the pressure as a privilege.
“I think this is going to be the first time I’m starting with that atmosphere right at the first tee,” he said.
“To be honest, the way I’m taking it is I’ve earned that crowd by playing well. So try to treat it as though you’ve already played well all week before you even turn up to that tee, and that crowd is going around you because you’ve earned it.
“I’m really looking forward to the atmosphere. I try and take it as if it’s going to bring the best out of me.
“I spend most tournaments trying to psych myself up. If anything, I find myself getting a little flat unless you can start building a crowd around you by playing well.
“I feel like over the last couple of months I’ve gotten a lot of late tee times on Sundays and have had that sort of elevated heart rate given to me by the situation. I think this is definitely going to be a week where the situation is going to give you that elevated heart rate.”
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