Weekly Recap: Pop Cam-pagne

Ever since a 22-year-old Cam Davis won the 2017 Australian Open -- in a field that included Cameron Smith, Jason Day and even Jordan Spieth -- many golf observers have expected greatness from the Australian. When he won a Korn Ferry event a few months later, he seemed to be on schedule.

But as we see all the time in golf and all sports, athletes' arrows rarely point straight up. Davis could barely make half his cuts his first two years on the PGA Tour, one of which saw him finish outside the top 150 in the standings.

A top-10 here and a top-10 there during 2020 offered hints, which eventually led to Davis' big breakthrough on Sunday as he survived a five-hole, three-man playoff to win the Rocket Mortgage Classic.

That was after he stunningly got into the playoff.

Davis eagled 17 from 50 feet out of a bunker for the shot of the tournament, then birdied 18 to catch 54-hole leaders Troy Merritt and Joaquin Niemann and forge a three-man showdown.

One of the most prodigious hitters on Tour won in his 71st appearance and moved him to a career-best 67th in the world rankings. He had been as high as 97th, but began this year well outside the top 200.

"When I turned pro, I didn't really have anything in terms of status on a tour and then I worked my way into the Mackenzie Tour, didn't really go so well," Davis said, offering reporters a brief career history. "Worked my way on the Korn Ferry Tour, worked my way to here, lost my card, then kept my card last year after getting it back through the Finals, then progressing on to this. I feel like it's been a really nice steady upward trend. I guess it's nice not to be bouncing up and down, it's nice to keep moving forward and I hope to keep that going."

It remains to be seen whether he keeps it going, but he certainly has the stability of a two-year exemption on Tour through 2022-23 to fall back on. Sometimes, that's what a golfer needs to exhale and just play. But it also would not be surprising for Davis to take a few steps back in the near-term, as we often see with golfers coming to terms with life-altering magnitude of their first win.

Davis has improved his putting ever year -- he ranked 80th in Strokes Gained: Putting entering the week -- but he was very fortunate the flat stick didn't cost him a win in the playoff. On the first four holes, he had chances to win only to miss. Niemann was eliminated with a bogey on the first playoff hole and Merritt succumbed similarly on the fifth.

A little luck never hurts in sports, never hurts in helping a player's arrow take a sharp turn upward.

Let's see how the now 26-year-old Davis responds.

MONDAY BACKSPIN

Troy Merritt
As painful as the playoff miss will be for Merritt, he's played some quality golf of late. He had top-10s at the Valspar and Charles Schwab in May. He's now 86th in the rankings, just four positions shy of his all-time best. He was also top-10 at last year's Rocket Mortgage, so he's bound to be a popular pick come next year.

Joaquin Niemann
Niemann was the best player by far among those in the mix at the very end. But at that point, especially in a playoff, it's anybody's game. He didn't have a bogey for 72 holes and picked a really bad time for his first – the 73rd hole. Niemann began the year with successive runners-up in Hawaii, but he had been pretty quiet since then. This runner-up was just his second top-10 since January.

Hank Lebioda

Lebioda has just completed the best consecutive weeks of his PGA Tour career, adding a tie for fourth to last week's tie for fifth. The left-hander is still only 27, was ranked top-25 on Tour in greens in regulation entering the week and top-60 in both Strokes Gained: Approach and Putting. 

Alex Noren
It may be hard to recall that Noren used to be ranked in the top-10 in the world rankings (four years ago). He began the week very close to 100th. Now 38 years old, the Swede has had a quietly very-good-but-not-great year, with top-25s in almost half of his 20 starts. And now he has his first top-10 with a tie for fourth.

Kevin Kisner
It's one thing to have one good week; it's another to string them together. Kisner has now put together back-to-back top-10s for the first time in almost a year. He tied for eighth in Detroit, following a T5 at the Travelers. He's finding his putting stroke again.

Jason Day
A tie for 14th following a tie for 10th at the Travelers surely is welcome news for the former world No. 1 who had fallen out of the top-60 in the world rankings. It's just so hard to rely on Day to keep it going or to back him in any given week. He's capable of highs such as the past two weeks but also sharp lows, up to an including withdrawals.

Phil Mickelson
The week began with a bombshell – details of an old Mickelson mob-related gambling incident chronicled by the Detroit News. No matter where you stand on whether it should have been published, it did not help Mickelson's golf game. It may have had no effect, but it didn't help. He tied for 74th. He now heads to The Match on Tuesday alongside Tom Brady against Bryson DeChambeau and Aaron Rodgers. We think this round of golf will help clear Mickelson's head and help in his preparation for the Open Championship. He's made the cut in all three majors so far.

Webb Simpson
Simpson missed the cut in only his third start since April. He withdrew from the Wells Fargo at the beginning of May with a neck ailment and, while we haven't heard that come up again, something appears to be keeping Simpson from playing good golf. He's fallen out of the top-10 in the world and, though he has missed only cut in eight trips to the Open Championship, it will be hard to back him with any vigor.

Bryson DeChambeau
DeChambeau has been a mess since the final round of the U.S. Open and missed the Rocket Mortgage cut – that coming two days after breaking with his caddie. He's playing The Match with Aaron Rodgers against Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady on Tuesday and, frankly, it's the best thing for him right now – a carefree round of golf where he can at least try to have a little fun and show some joy on the course. It sounds odd, but how things go in The Match could go a long way in determining how he does at the Open Championship.

Mito Pereira
Pereira got his first look at a PGA Tour event since his battlefield promotion from the Korn Ferry Tour and, despite the incredibly weak field, he missed the cut. It's unfair to judge him based on one event – nerves could have played a big part. This was only his second PGA Tour event ever after he missed the cut at the Puerto Rico Open earlier this year. Pereira is entered in this week's John Deere Classic, where an even weaker field awaits.

Brice Garnett
Talk about whiplash. Two weeks ago, Garnett gained an astounding 14 shots on the field on the greens (13.90 actually), obviously finished first in Strokes Gained: Putting at the Travelers and tied for fifth. At the Rocket Mortgage, he lost almost four strokes on the greens, finished 147th out of 156 in putting and missed the cut.

Hideki Matsuyama
Matsuyama tested positive for COVID and withdrew before the second round. We don't know whether he was symptomatic or ill in anyway. Where this leaves him for the Open Championship, stay tuned.

Dubai Duty Free Irish Open

Young Australian Lucas Herbert went wire-to-wire to win by three strokes and secure a berth in the Open Championship. Forty-eight-year-old Richard Bland continued his remarkable summer with a tie for fourth. He'll also be at Royal St. George's. The Champion Golfer of the Year for two years running, Shane Lowry crept into a top-25 on Sunday. And Rory McIlroy meandered his way throughout the tournament and tied for 59th. He's back outside the top-10 in the world rankings at No. 11. He'll be part of a loaded field this week at the Scottish Open, meaning he'll be playing a third straight week in a major.