For the second straight week on the PGA Tour, it took another lengthy playoff to produce a winner and this time it was Aussie Cam Davis outlasting Troy Merritt at the Rocket Mortgage for his first win on the PGA Tour.
It was a mad scramble for the title chase at Detroit Country Club Rocket over the last six holes with at least a dozen players in position to win.
But it was Davis who had the best finish of all of them. He holed a bunker shot for eagle at the par five 17th to get to 17-under then at the par four 18th, he planted his approach to six feet and holed the closing birdie to finish regulation play with a 67 that got him to 18-under.
Davis went to the range and waited while Troy Merritt and Joaquin Niemann both birdied 16 and 17 to finish 18-under.
Niemann was the first man out of the playoff. He bogeyed the 18th, his only bogey of the week and was eliminated — leaving Merritt and Davis to duke it out.
It took another four holes before Merritt missed a six-foot par putt at the short (142-yard) par three 15th, the fifth playoff hole. Davis had chances to end it on virtually every playoff hole but his putter didn’t cooperate. He had just missed a 12-footer for birdie but got a gift from Merritt to end it.
The 26-year-old Aussie closed with 67 while Merritt and Niemann shot 68s.
“I just kept on trying to play the way I played down the stretch,” Davis said, as he was calm and reserved after getting the win. “I felt I was hitting the ball well. I had to stay really patient and calm and did a pretty good job of that.”
Alex Noren and Hank Lebioda finished tied for fourth at 17-under while Bubba Watson and Brandon Hagy shared sixth at 16-under.
Cameron Beckman Get First Champions Win:
After a 65 on Saturday, it looked like the Dick’s Sports Goods Open was Ernie Els’ to win or lose.
Els didn’t count on Cameron Beckman’s back-nine birdie run on Sunday at En-Joie Country Club.
Beckman got on a roll with five straight birdies to start his final nine holes, posted 68 to nip Els by a shot.
Els, who started the final round with a three-shot lead, closed with a 72.
Beckman capped off his five straight birdies with a 50-foot putt across the 14th green, and with Els making a pair of bogeys, Beckman suddenly had a four-shot lead with four holes to play.
Beckman gave Ernie some hope with a bogey at the 15th then Els drove the green on the par-4 16h hole, his tee shot with a driver coming to rest 15 feet behind the hole. He missed the eagle attempt but made birdie. Beckman failed to get up-and-down for birdie and the lead was down to two.
Els caught the left lip with a 15-foot birdie attempt on the par-three 17th, while Beckman missed the green to the left, chipped to eight feet and calmly rolled it in.
Beckman’s woes went down to the final hole where he pulled his drive left and into the water. He took the penalty and his third finished 20 feet from the hole.
Els had 92 yards for his second shot, but left it some 25 feet short and was well short with his birdie putt.
“This feels great,” Beckman said after the win. “I had so much fun. Getting to play with Ernie and Darren Clarke, how much fun can I have?”
As for Els, his wedge at the 18th let him down. “The only thing disappointing is my second shot on 18,” Els said. “I hit is so far short, and I leave the putt short. It’s going to sting a bit. I think I might need to have a couple of beers tonight.”
Dick’s Sporting Goods Scoreboard:
