PGA Tour: Cam Davis is the first to repeat victory at the RMC |

By Roy J. Akers- www.skyviewsports.net

Player Eagles, Birdies and Bogeys, and They said it. Tournament Highlights and more (Cam answers my questions at the bottom of this story)

(Detroit, Michigan) With 33 golfers within seven shots of the lead, any player in the final 17 groups could come out the winner at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. The reality is that it will be players whose names are in the top ten that will win the RMC and that is where our first two-time RMC will come from.

Repeat Tournament Champion

Cam Davis is the first repeat winner of the Rocket Mortgage Classic. Standing just off the green and watching Akshay Bhatia putt on the 18th green is always nerve wracking wondering if a playoff is coming. Bhatia’s first putt had a good line but not enough speed and he left a 4′ foot putt. When Bhatia lined up for the playoff tying putt, it was easy to see from home he lined it up wrong and he did not convert. Conversely, Cam Davis was on the prowl Sunday after starting the round at (-16), a single shot behind Rai and Bhatia. Davis bogeyed the first and had three birdies between holes 3 and 7. The 7th is where Davis took his first lead of the day. He had to clear a tree that was 88′ high with a shot that cleared it by two feet. For the season, Davis has made the cut at (12 out of his 16) 2024 tournaments with his last two cuts coming at the PGA Championship and US Open. Before the RMC, Davis has made just over $1.4M on the season. He won $1.6m for his RMC victory.

Davis Feels for Bhatia

Davis said he is happy for the win and feels bad for Bhatia. “I don’t know what to say. Oh, sorry. Yeah, from where I was a couple of weeks ago to today, just completely different person. This is a little emotional actually. I wouldn’t wish what happened to Akshay on anyone, but I’ve done a lot of grinding to kind of get myself out of a hole and just all of a sudden to do that, it’s pretty good.” For the Day, he shot a two under 70. His birdie on the par five 17th was huge. He shot 68-66-66-70 and won the tournament by one.

Eagle

I love the Arccos graphics that CBS/PGA Tour uses to calculate everything from putting percentage to having the heighth of a tree a player must clear such as (88′) and Cam Davis hitting it 90′ on the 7th hole and clearing the tree by 2 feet. (Later, Davis revealed to me he actually clipped the tree.) For me, that statistical element adds a dimension as a viewer to know what the players are up against as they maneuver around the course. Sometimes you see stats that you could care less about. When a broadcaster has access to the stats and points it out with the graphic showing, it makes for a better viewing experience.

Eagle 2

Min Woo Lee played terrific at the RMC. Putting together scores of 68-68-68-69 and losing by one is tough. His final hole, the 72nd has to have him thinking because of his bogey. When no one could make a birdie down the stretch, Lee was going low. Lee has won nearly 4.9 M in his PGA career. he is still looking for his first win and it looks like he will be a first time winner soon.

Lee has won nearly 4.9 M in his PGA career. he is still looking for his first win and it looks like he will be a first time winner soon.

Birdies

Birdie # 1– A very well run tournament. From tournament staff, the remarkable grounds crew who got the course ready to play after nasty rains made the grounds a mess and standing water on many of the holes. The merchandise costs too much money. ($125+ for a polo is way too much money too pay for a Rocket Mortgage Classic logo polo shirt). All of the charities are a great touch and it helps them. This is a well run PGA Tour event.

Birdie # 2

Akshay Bhatia started out with consecutive pars to begin round four when a wicked bunker lie was chunked and AB earned his first bogey of the day. He rallied on the fourth with a birdie and again birdied for the final time on seven. Eleven consecutive holes without a birdie in a birdie fest in a tournament you are leading was his undoing. Bhatia had two birdies and two bogey’s on the day and never bogeyed a hole the entire tournament until the final hole. He lined up his final putt wrong and everyone watching could see it, but Bhatia could not. He finished in a 3 way tie for second. His take on the final putt. “Yeah, I mean, it’s hard, you’ve got so much slope there so you don’t want to run it five, six feet by. Yeah, just a little bit of nerves, honestly. I’m human and yeah, the greens get slower throughout the day here, missing is pretty tough. ”

A Solid Tournament

Rico Hoey put together a solid tournament carding all four rounds in the 60’s. On Sunday, Hoey had birdies on three of the first four holes before a pair of bogeys ended his run. Hoey still added two more back nine birdies and an eagle. Rico has only made 6 of 17 cuts in 2024.

Bogey

Aaron Rai was pretty dejected walking around the Detroit Golf Club after leading the RMC through the first five holes of the final round. He birdied the first hole and then started his bogey barrage with a five on the sixth, and two more on par threes. Rai has made about 70 percent of his cuts on the PGA Tour making over five million dollars. This week, Rai was top five among RMC participants in GIR, Driving and Putting but Sunday was a day that he could not get it going. He has made seven straight cuts and is having a solid PGA season.

Double Bogey

When you finish near the bottom of a PGA tournament after four days of competition after making the cut, something made the wheels fall off the wagon. While Wesley Bryan, Chris Gotterup, Aaron Baddeley and Peter Malnati spread out their bogeys on different places on their scorecards, they had two things in common. None of the four players had double bogeys on Sunday and none of the players made one birdie among them on the day. Not one. The John Deere Classic is coming up next week. Start practicing.