DETROIT — Cam Davis won his second Rocket Mortgage Classic title, finishing with a 2-under 70 after Akshay Bhatia three-putted from 32 feet on the final hole Sunday to win by one stroke.
“I don’t want anyone to go through what happened to Akshay,” Davis said, “but I’ve been trying really hard to get myself out of a tight spot and all of a sudden it’s been pretty good.”
Davis, a 29-year-old Australian who won his first PGA Tour title three years ago at the Detroit Golf Club, had not finished higher than 38th in six starts since tying for 12th at the Masters in April.
“I’ve been working with a hypnotherapist for a few weeks now, trying to think of a different way of organising myself,” he says. “I had a little epiphany last week, but nothing that signalled anything was going to happen.
“It’s crazy.”
Davis birdied the par-5 17th hole to tie Bhatia.
That proved to be enough as Bhatia, a left-handed player with a long putter, attempted a four-foot shot for par on the 18th hole but missed low, resulting in his first three-putt of the week.
“Honestly, I was just a little nervous,” Bhatia said. “I’m human, after all.”
Davis finished at 18-under 270 after a day when final pairing Bhatia and Aaron Lai missed out on even-par 72s each. Davis Thompson (68) and Ming Woo Lee (69) also finished one stroke behind.
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Bhatia’s tee shot on the par-four hit the wet ground and struck a tree.
Davis became the first two-time winner in the event since it first appeared on the PGA Tour schedule in 2019.
The 22-year-old Bhatia was seeking his third PGA Tour victory and second win of the year after leading or sharing the lead in each of the first three rounds. He finished fifth in the Travelers Championship and was in the final group. Disruption by climate protesters Attacking the 18th green.
“I know how to close out a golf tournament. I’ve done it before,” Bhatia said, “I just wasn’t in good form today.”
Cameron Young shot a 73 and made two bogeys in his final three holes to plummet to sixth place.
The pressure of winning his first tour title may have been the biggest burden on Young, a seven-time runner-up, who hit a driver shot 254 yards into the rough on the left side of the fairway on the par-5 14th hole.
As the ball was flying, Young shoved his driver into the tee box. And broke the shaftHe couldn’t get it back for the rest of the round.
Davis had three birdies in five of the first nine holes to move into a tie for the lead.
He lost the lead with a bogey on the par-5 14th hole when his approach shot landed on rocks near a pond, but he finished with one birdie and three pars in his final four holes to finish well enough in the end.
Bhatia, playing just behind Davis, hit his second shot into a greenside bunker on the 17th hole, hitting it to nine feet but pulling the putt left to settle for par.
It was the first of two big mistakes.
There were signs early in the afternoon that today might not be a good day for Bhatia.
Lai, who shared the lead with Bhatia in the second and third rounds, hit his approach from 142 yards to five feet for birdie to take the lead after the first hole.
Bhatia was two strokes behind at the par-4 third hole when his approach landed in thick rough and his chip shot went just nine feet, resulting in a bogey.
He answered with a 31-foot birdie putt on the par-5 fourth hole, the first of just two birdies on the day.
