Cam Davis wins Rocket Mortgage for first PGA Tour title

AP Published 8:40 p.m. ET July 4, 2021

DETROIT (AP) — Cam Davis of Australia won the Rocket Mortgage Classic on Sunday for his first PGA Tour title when Troy Merritt missed a 6-foot par putt on the fifth hole of a playoff.

Davis had putts to win on each of the five extra holes, one of them from 6 feet and a 12-foot birdie putt on the fifth playoff hole, the par-3 15th. He wound up winning when Merritt missed the green to the left and then missed his par put.

Davis closed with a 5-under 67 to match Merritt (68) and Joaquin Niemann (68) at 18-under 270 at Detroit Golf Club.

Niemann dropped out of the playoff with a bogey on the first extra hole, his first bogey of the week. He also lost in a playoff at the Sentry Tournament of Champions.

Davis holed a 50-foot bunker shot for eagle on the par-5 17th and birdied the par-4 18th to get to 18 under. Niemann two-putted from 14 feet for birdie on the 17th, while Merritt made his fourth birdie in five holes on the 17th to join Davis at 18 under.

Niemann had a chance to win it on the 72nd hole, but missed a 17-foot birdie putt.

LPGA TOUR

THE COLONY, Texas (AP) — Jin Young Ko closed with seven straight pars for a 2-under 69 and a one-shot victory in the Volunteers of America Classic, her first start since losing the No. 1 world ranking.

Ko made a par putt from just outside 3 feet on the final hole at Old American Golf Club to beat Matilda Castren of Finland, who also shot 69.

The South Korean star won for the first time this year, and the timing couldn’t have been better. She had held the No. 1 ranking for nearly two years until Nelly Korda supplanted her last week by winning the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.

Ko had failed to finish in the top 10 in four of her previous five starts on the LPGA Tour. But not far from her American home of Dallas, she thrived. She finished at 16-under 268 for her eighth career LPGA victory. She remains at No. 2.

Gaby Lopez of Mexico closed with a 65, making her only bogey on the final hole. She finished alone in third, two shots behind.

EUROPEAN TOUR

THOMASTOWN, Ireland (AP) — Lucas Herbert of Australia closed with a 4-under 68 for a wire-to-wire victory in the Irish Open that earned him a spot in the British Open.

Herbert won by three shots at Mt. Juliet over Rikard Karlberg (67) of Sweden and Johannes Veerman (71) of the United States.

Karlberg and Veerman also earned spots in the British Open on July 15-18 at Royal St. George’s.

Herbert won for the second time on the European Tour, adding to his Dubai Desert Classic in January 2020. He took the lead with a birdie on the 15th, and then stretched his lead to two shots when he saved par from a bunker and Veerman failed to get up-and-down from another bunker on the 16th hole.

The Australian had a tap-in birdie on the par-5 17th and closed it out with a 10-foot par putt on the 18th to finish at 19-under 269.

Rory McIlroy had a 73-74 weekend and tied for 59th.

PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS

ENDICOTT, N.Y. (AP) — Cameron Beckman ran off five straight birdies to start the back nine and then held on at the end for a 4-under 68 and a one-shot victory over Ernie Els in the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open, his first title on the PGA Tour Champions.

Beckman, a three-time winner on the PGA Tour, gets full status on the PGA Tour Champions and earns a spot in the U.S. Senior Open next week.

Els, who started the final round with a three-shot lead, closed with a 72 to finish second.

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.

Then it was a matter of holding on.

He made bogey on No. 15, Els had a two-putt birdie on the 16th and Beckman had to make an 8-foot par putt on the 17th. Beckman drove into the water on the 18th and made another bogey, but Els came up well short from 92 yards away and missed his 25-foot birdie putt.

Beckman finished at 12-under 204.

OTHER TOURS

Marcel Schneider of Germany followed a double bogey by closing with three straight birdies for a 4-under 67 and a one-shot victory in the Kaskada Golf Challenge over Josh Geary, Dimitrios Papadatos and Lorenzo Scalise. The Challenge Tour victory earned Schneider a spot in the British Open. … Seong-Hyeon Kim closed with a 3-under 68 for a one-shot victory over Yuta Ikeda and Yuki Inamori in the Japan PGA Championship. … Stephanie Kyriacou of Australia closed with a 5-under 67 and won the Big Green Egg Open by two shots over Sanna Nuutinen on the Ladies European Tour. … Hae Rym Kim closed with a 5-under 67 and beat Ga Young Lee with a birdie on the first playoff hole to win the McCol Mona Park Open on the Korean LPGA. … Ai Suzuki closed with a 4-under 68 for a one-shot victory over Mao Saigo in the Shiseido Ladies Open on the Japan LPGA.