SANDERSON FARMS CHAMPIONSHIP

October 3, 2020

Cameron Davis

Country Club of Jackson

Quick Quotes

Q. Well played today; for those of us who will never experience that, what's it like on moving day to start out with five birdies?

CAMERON DAVIS: I was just in the groove. I'd kind of been mucking around with a few things the first couple of rounds, but I've kind of stuck to the things that I know work, and on the range just whatever my shapes were doing, I just took it out to the course and -- I just felt like I had a little bit better idea of where the ball was going today. The first couple of rounds weren't very good ball-striking, so today was a nice change, and I just hit a few really close, and it's nice when you do it a few times in a row, and when the ball is rolling in with the putter, yeah, it's nice to get on the train.

Q. Strokes gained you improved in just about every single category. Let's go through what happened at 14. Obviously a big moment with that eagle. Take us through it.

CAMERON DAVIS: Yeah, I've been struggling with that tee shot, so today it doesn't matter what's in front of you, it's the same swing feel and just trying to hit the same ball flight. I hit a really good drive and it was the perfect full 3-iron for me. I'd been hitting a really nice draw with my irons, and it suited that shot perfectly, so I started it out to the right of the green, just hit it pretty hard. Yeah, as soon as I hit it, I knew it was going to be pretty nice, but when it took a nice little left kick on the front right corner of the green, it just ran up nice and close. Yeah, rolling the ball well, I felt pretty comfortable over that putt. It was just a couple of good shots in a row, which as I said earlier this week really wasn't happening, so it was nice to get a few of those going today.

Q. Seven birdies and an eagle, great ball-striking day for you, but maybe the key was those par saves at 11 and 13 when you had to make lengthy putts.

CAMERON DAVIS: Yeah, I made a bit of a mess at 11. I've just been not putting myself in the best spots on that hole so far this week, but yeah, those momentum savers are things that I haven't been doing that great a job of. I kind of kept shooting myself in the foot that a lot of events that I've been playing, but to keep the momentum going and keep moving forward is great. Yeah, 6- to 10-foot putts are what I'm trying to improve, and today they worked pretty well, so very happy.

Q. Obviously the ball-striking again better today, 10 of 14 fairways, 16 of 18 greens. What's been the difference between the first two rounds and today?

CAMERON DAVIS: First two rounds I was trying a few different things with the driver, just -- I was kind of trying to find three different sort of ball flies that I could use, a bigger drive, a standard drive and a lower sort of safe drive, and I didn't really get a good enough feel with any of them, so yesterday afternoon I just kind of tried to groove my nice consistent sort of stock driver and just took that out there today and used that all day, and a lot more comfortable. Yeah, I'm very happy with the way things went today, and I just need to keep that feel going tomorrow.

Q. It seems like you were committed with every shot. There was no doubt. You didn't back off, didn't question. Was that a key for you and is that something you actually work on?

CAMERON DAVIS: Yeah, I've been working on that a lot, especially if you're playing well towards the end of a round. There's a little bit of an urge to be a little bit more careful and you have to kind of override that with the mindset of I need to just keep doing what I have been doing, keep this going and not get ahead of myself. The more chances, the more opportunities I give myself to work on that the better because the only way you can really do a good job of practicing that is when you're having a great round or you're having a great tournament to keep it moving forward. So I've been getting a few opportunities, and it was nice to make the most of today. It's a four-round event, so one more good one, and yeah, we've just got to see where that leads me.

Q. Last year you finished inside the Top 125, make it to the FedExCup Playoffs. As you go forward, what are your expectations?

CAMERON DAVIS: I just want to keep improving. Each year I pick up on things that I've struggled with and try and do a better job of those. Last year was a much better run with the last season with kind of all the quarantining, I felt like I was really kind of finding my stride, and after a couple of months of not touching a club or hitting a ball I kind of lost a little bit of that and had to work back into it, but now I'm starting to find a groove and it's starting to come down to the finer details. I think I'm starting to figure out what works for me best, and it's about kind of continuing that through good stretches of golf, getting up towards the top of the leaderboard. I want it to start leading towards chances to win tournaments and stuff. I feel like I am starting to get closer to that, but yeah, it's still a lot of hard work to go tomorrow to give myself another chance.

Q. Have you had a start like that out on TOUR, anything like that?

CAMERON DAVIS: I think I've had stretches but maybe not to start a round out. I think I've done it as an amateur before, but it's been a little while since I've had a kick like that to start my round out.

Q. Did you have a number in mind today?

CAMERON DAVIS: No, no. My focus today was just try and improve my ball-striking from the last two rounds. I feel like I was all over the shop and just hung in there really well and putted really well round 1, and the putting didn't really save me in round 2 as much as it did the first round, so it was kind of lackluster, but it was all ball-striking, just concentrating on being comfortable and finding the right shots, and if I could just do that all the way around that was going to maximize my score, so I didn't really cap it at anything. I thought I could have something good, I just needed to keep doing what I was doing.

Q. At what point did you feel like this could be a pretty special day?

CAMERON DAVIS: It was one of those rounds where you kind of find that zone where you're trusting your driver, you're trusting your irons, your putter feels really good, you're not worried about the score, you're just trying to get yourself back into that head space. I've been low before but it's been a long time, but I didn't really think about it too much. Today was an opportunity where halfway around, having a great round, and I was just like, I've got to keep doing this. I've been working on this, I haven't done a good job of this lately, so this is a brand new nine holes and I've got to get back to what I was doing. That was the key for me, and it went pretty well.

Q. When did you get married, and what has that done for your perspective in terms of golf not being the end-all, be-all?

CAMERON DAVIS: I've been with my wife Jonika for over six years now, so I feel like we actually had been living a life that was basically married for quite some time, but it was really nice to kind of cap it all off with a really nice day September 5th. So it's been a few weeks now. Things haven't changed much. We're still together. It's working really well, and yeah, it's nice to kind of really have a nice home base now in Seattle. We've got a house and a dog together.

Q. Why did you do that, move to Seattle?

CAMERON DAVIS: I've been in Seattle for four or five years now. Ever since I came over here and turned pro and played my first year on the Mackenzie TOUR I've called Seattle my home, and yeah, getting a house earlier this year really kind of cemented it as my home base.

Q. Pre-pandemic you bought it?

CAMERON DAVIS: Right as it was starting actually we were finalizing everything up. It hasn't been too long, but I feel like Jonika and I have made the most of a pretty rough year with getting a few big things done. We tried to make it as enjoyable a 2020 as we could with all the things that were going on for us.

Q. Do you feel like you've proven that you belong out here yet or do you feel like you need to prove that tomorrow?

CAMERON DAVIS: Well, I'm still here, third season now. I feel like I'm starting to get more consistent. I'm making a lot more cuts. I feel like my good golf is good enough and starting to be there or thereabouts a little bit more often I think -- it's a comfort level thing that I really gained after the first season out here. I felt like I tried way too hard, but I knew I had enough game to be out here, and this last season a lot more. Good tournaments, a couple of top 10s started creeping in there, and I feel like I can compete out here. It's just putting four rounds together for me now.

Q. What experience will you draw on tomorrow playing maybe with the lead or in one of the last groups?

CAMERON DAVIS: Yeah the things that work for me under pressure. I think I've just got to make sure I do a good job of those, just staying present, being really committed to each shot that I hit, not trying too hard to hole putts or trying too hard to hit a fairway, but the best way those things happen is if you just let it happen and give yourself a relaxing sort of visual of you know your comfortable ball flight, you know where you need to start this, you know what the swing feels like, just repeat it, don't worry if there's trouble left or trouble right. I've just got to keep it simple and try to make a lot of birdies.

Q. Did you win the Australian Open?

CAMERON DAVIS: Yeah.

Q. What were you going into the final day there?

CAMERON DAVIS: I was six back. I'd been in the lead to start the tournament and I shot 8-under in the first round and then just kind of slowly dropped back to a position where I didn't even think I was a chance anymore, and to be honest I didn't see a leaderboard all day. Every time I looked at it it was on the second page, and I was just like, if I'm having a great round I'm sure someone else up there has probably gone low, as well, but it wasn't an easy day, and I didn't find out until after I finished to be honest. I walked in the scoring area, and they led, have a look at the TV behind you. That was just a day I just felt like I was just leading the charge and making as many birdies as I could and trying to get myself up there. It's a different story when you know you're in the lead or near the lead, so I think, yeah, it's just the patience, again. There's added pressures and stuff like that going on, so you've just got to kind of get out of your own way.

Q. This is a tournament where the winner has been a first-timer the last six years; why do you think that is?

CAMERON DAVIS: I don't know. I mean, this tournament hasn't been at this course for a super long time, so I'm sure the experience of the guys who have been out here longer on a different course that they've played multiple times, 10 plus years, I think everyone had to start it from scratch, and maybe that puts everyone on a level playing field. I'm not really sure. The par-5s are long. A lot of the younger guys hit the ball quite a long way, so that might give them an advantage. I'm not sure. It's just a good test, and yeah, a lot of the older guys, a lot of the younger guys are all having good scores. I don't know why it's come down to every single one being a first-timer, but hopefully there's another one.