By Adam Pengilly
At face value, there shouldn’t be much wrong with Cameron Davis’ life. Happily married, a multimillionaire travelling the world playing his chosen sport, a top 12 finish in The Masters, the world’s biggest golf tournament (maybe The Open excluding), well under par in the bigger picture of things.
But two weeks ago, he was so down on his sport and how hard it was to get a little white ball in the hole, he started speaking to a hypnotherapist. His wife, Jonika, had been spouting the benefits.
Finally, Davis caved.
“She felt like it helped her a lot,” Davis said. “I resisted for quite a long time. But I decided my game was going in the wrong direction, and I was feeling more and more stressed day-to-day with my golf. I was kind of falling out of love with the game a little bit. My career trajectory was not where I wanted it.”
It’s not hypnosis as most people would assume.
Davis wasn’t being paraded on a stage in front of hundreds of people, spontaneously break dancing to Jean-Martin Charcot’s command, mocked to a gallery in fits of laughter.
Cameron Davis after winning the Rocket Mortgage Classic.Credit: Getty Images
As he explains it, he walks through a deep meditation where you think about situations you want to deal with better, like when he launched his fairway wood to the green with his second shot of the par-five 14th hole in the final round of the Rocket Mortgage Classic, only to see it clamber back into the water. Australian Ian Baker-Finch was incensed in commentary, claiming no ball should land on a green like that and roll back into a watery grave without thick grass to stop it.
Davis dealt with it, maybe because he’d already seen it.
“My golf has come from a pretty rough place to where it’s at,” Davis said.
“It had been a long time since I’d won, and I wasn’t playing anywhere near good enough golf to keep up with the best players in the game. We’ve only been working together [with his hypnotherapist] a couple of weeks, and I’ve almost gone from almost disliking the game to feeling like I’ve got a bit of the magic back.
Akshay Bhatia misses his par putt on the 18th hole.Credit: Getty Images
“It’s been a huge difference.”
On Monday morning (AEST), Davis won his second PGA Tour event in Detroit, the same event he won three years ago for his maiden win in the United States. This one felt like it meant more.
American Akshay Bhatia (-17) three-putted for the first time all tournament on the 72nd hole, blowing the chance to head to a play-off with Davis (-18), who finished with two-under 70.
“Just a little bit of nerves, honestly,” Bhatia said. “I’m human.”
Maybe hypnotherapy will help?
Davis’ treatment came after missing the cut at the PGA Championship and US Open the past two months. He sprayed it everywhere for a seven-over start at Pinehust No.2 in the US Open and thought there must be a better way.
It was enough to beat Bhatia, fellow Australian Min Woo Lee, American Davis Thompson and England’s Aaron Rai, who all shared a tie for second. It was the first time an Australian had won an individual event on the PGA Tour since May last year (Jason Day in the Byron Nelson Classic).
“It’s been a long few years of really not recapturing that magic,” Davis said. “To be back here, it feels extra special.”
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