COVID-19 battle can’t stop Aussie Cameron Percy from his first trip to the lucrative Players Championship

At 46, Cameron Percy thought his chance to play golf’s “fifth major” was gone, but he’ll tee it up in Florida this week seeking his slice of nearly $20m in prizemoney.

Cameron Davis is one of six Aussies playing for nearly $20m in prizemoney this week in Florida. Picture: Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images

When Cameron Percy was cut down by COVID-19 last December the idea he could be playing for nearly $20m at The Players Championship three months later seemed out of the question.

But the Aussie veteran is teeing it up in Florida this week for the first time at the event unofficially referred to as the fifth major where the winner gets close to $3.5m and joins a list of the game’s greats.

The 46-year-old, originally from bayside Melbourne, has been living and playing in the US for well over a decade, featuring in nearly more than 160 PGA Tour events and another 170 on the second-tier tour.

But through all that toil, Percy had never qualified for the Players Championship, where the best of the best have staged some of golf’s most epic moments.

Until now.

“When you write down your goals when you’re younger than this, you think, yeah, I’ll be there, but it took a long time,” Percy said on Wednesday.

“I didn’t know I was in the field until Friday night. I knew I was in, but I wasn’t guaranteed I was in, so it was sort of like, oh, we’ll see, we’ll see. As long as a non-exempt player didn’t win last week, I was in.

“Just with a few injuries here and there and age, I’m like, well, maybe that’s one event I’m not going to play. I never played the Arnold Palmer before last week, as well. I got to play that for the first time, so that was pretty cool.

“A lot of the (Aussie) guys, they know it’s my first time, so everyone has been coming up congratulating me. It’s pretty cool. It’s like, is this really your first time? I’m like, yeah. They’re like, wow.

“Like Leish (Marc Leishman). I was hitting balls with Leish and he was chatting to me, and he goes, is this your first time? I’m like, yeah, it is, and he’s like, that’s awesome.”

Golf for 2020 done and dusted. Looking forward to spending some time with my boys as the loneliness of hotel life since COVID has been tougher than normal. Should be able to fit in basketball,soccer,ice hockey,tennis,pickleball,wrestling,football and a little golf.

— cameron percy (@cameronpercy1) December 5, 2020

Percy conceded he was still battling the after effects of his coronavirus diagnosis too, which has hit his distance off the tee.

He was among a raft of golfers who tested positive, including fellow Aussie Adam Scott. Former Masters champion Danny Willett had to withdraw from this week’s event after testing positive.

“I’m still struggling with that. That was in December, so that’s what, nearly three, four months now,” he said.

“The symptoms weren’t that bad, it was after. I just lost all my strength, and fatigue and stuff like that. I’ve lost a lot of distance and stuff. There’s some other people that have experienced the same thing, so just try and get over it.”

The thread you didn't know you needed, but now you do.

Enjoy these views of @TPCSawgrass 👇 pic.twitter.com/K9BrYC0ZgR

— THE PLAYERS (@THEPLAYERSChamp) March 10, 2021

Percy is one of seven Aussies playing this week, along with another first-timer in 2017 Australian Open champ Cameron Davis.

The 26-year-old has missed just two cuts in his past 15 events on the US PGA Tour, which has included two top-10 finishes, and said his growing comfort levels give him hope a breakthrough win isn’t far away.

“I‘m just comfortable now, where I feel like my good golf is good enough,” Davis said.

“It’s just about playing really good golf on the right week, and if two guys play even better then that’s OK. I feel like that good golf is good enough to win tournaments.

“I‘m figuring out what works for me better, which is more to not worry about what everyone else is doing and just kind of be as present as I possibly can in my own little bubble, and the better I do that, the better I play.”

Originally published as COVID-19 battle can’t stop Aussie Cameron Percy from his first trip to the lucrative Players Championship