Cameron Davis jets from Australian Open to Web.com Q-School

The next challenge for newly-crowned Australian Open champion Cameron Davis is qualifying school in the US.

Cameron Davis poses with the Stonehaven Cup after his stunning win at the Australian Open on Sunday. Picture: Getty Images

Cameron Davis was signing autographs outside the media tent. He was too polite to reject anyone who thrust a pen in his direction. His hand was trembling. His voice was cracking. “I’ve got no idea what’s happening,” he spluttered while frantically scribbling his signature on caps, T-shirts, magazines, programs and a map of the course he had just conquered to win the Australian Open. “Where do I go now?”

He was led into his press conference. He spoke with the delirious, bright-eyed, giddy disbelief of a bloke who’d just picked all 10 numbers in Keno. And now? He’s about to walk into the gasping desperation of a 146-man shootout at Arizona’s Whirlwind Golf Club in the final stage of qualifying for the secondary Web.com Tour in America.

“It’s another big week we’ve got to get on top of,” he said.

The 22-year-old’s one-shot victory in his national championship sent his world ranking from No 1494 to No 229 in the blink of an eye. It gave him possession of a piece of silverware with names on it such Nicklaus, Palmer, Player, Sarazen, Watson, and Norman. And now C. Davis. He’s revelling in a win that no one saw coming when he was hacking it around to miss the cut at the NSW Open the previous week; a win no one saw coming when he was hacking it around Canada’s Mackenzie Tour to miss five cuts in 11 starts this year. But there’s still an important piece of business to attend to before he can tuck into his Christmas dinner. He needs four more rock-solid rounds to gain full-time employment in the US next year.

“Now that I know I can go out and play my best golf in a situation like this, it’s a massive boost for the future,” he said. “It’s always been one thing to have a good round of golf, but to have a good round of golf in the final round of a tournament when you’re in contention, it’s given me a lot of confidence. Just to know that I can play my best golf under the most pressure you can really feel, I’m going to take that forward and hopefully it’s going to help me get over the line in the future.”

Davis has already survived a couple of hair-raising playoffs to reach the final stage of qualifying for the Web.com Tour, which is the level below the mega-rich and prestigious USPGA Tour.

At Nevada’s Dayton Valley Golf Club in October, he survived the first stage by finishing 11-under through four rounds to make the 20-man cut-off from 71 starters. Earlier this month at Bear Creek Golf Club in California, he blitzed the final round with a seven-under par 65 to finish equal second out of 76 starters.

The third and final stage of qualifying starts next Thursday. He’s down for a practice round on Monday. He attributed his abject failure at the low-key NSW Open to having shot the lights out in the second stage of Q-School.

“In the NSW Open I was just cruising a little bit after doing so well at second stage over in America for Web.com,” he said. “I didn’t go through my preparation quite as well. I was thinking a little bit too much about the swing. I just tried to make it as simple as I could. Stay comfortable. Stay relaxed. Just concentrate when you need to. That was all it really was.”

The top 45 plus ties from the 146 starters will become members of the Web.com Tour. Exemptions will vary depending on how high a player finishes. Davis is free from financial burdens for the time being and he says nailing his finish at the Open, when he birdied the last with a clutch putt for a closing eight-under 64, gives him untold momentum as he heads off to try and secure next year’s meal ticket.

Davis was belting drives on the range after his final round brought the house down at The Australian. His next assignment is a different sort of pressure cooker. There’s few tournaments more desperate than the final stage of qualification for a tour. He has the soothing knowledge that his victory on Sunday gives him a guaranteed start at the British Open next year, plus the increased likelihood of sponsors’ invitations to a couple of top-flight US events.

“I’m going to try to come down from the excitement I’ve obviously got after winning this,” Davis said. “Regardless of how that goes at Q-School, I’m really happy. It wasn’t the best year up until this point. I played in Canada, I didn’t go that great, but to finish the way I have so far — I mean, regardless of how I go in the next couple of weeks, it’s been a pretty successful year. I’ve always felt like if I play my very best golf, I’m able to compete. I feel like I’m playing well, obviously, at the moment. so I’m feeling pretty good going into the final stage. But it’s a whole different week. A whole different golf course. We’ve got to go back to work, start mapping out the courses, get there early, just treat it like another week. You’ve got to start from scratch again.”