It has taken just one start as a member of the US PGA Tour for Cameron Davis to grab the attention of the American experts.
Davis is one of five Australians who will contest the Sanderson Farms Championship at the Country Club of Jackson in Mississippi with Kiwi Tim Wilkinson playing his way into the field after topping the Monday qualifier.
After securing his PGA Tour card through the Web .com Tour Finals Series, Davis made his first start as a full member at the Safeway Open and did enough in finishing inside the top-20 to be considered one of the players to beat this week.
The reigning Australian Open champion won the Nashville Open on the Web .com Tour earlier in the year and did enough at the Safeway Open to catch the eye of PGA Tour Fantasy Golf expert Rob Bolton, who has included him in his weekly Power Rankings at No.9.
“Promptly asserted himself with a T17 at the Safeway Open where he got the most out of uncharacteristically inconsistent ball-striking,” Bolton writes. “Second in the all-around on the 2018 Web .com Tour.”
Fellow tour rookie Curtis Luck will be eager to improve on his first start of the 2019 season where he missed the cut while Aaron Baddeley hopes to take advantage of a second straight start. Without full status for 2019, Baddeley Monday-qualified for the Safeway Open and went on to finish tied for fourth, earning crucial FedEx Cup points and exemption into the Sanderson Farms Championship, where he was tied for 30th 12 months ago and tied for fourth in 2015.
Given he shot 64 on Monday to top qualifying, Wilkinson can use Baddeley as inspiration at a course where he finished tied for 33rd three years ago.
The other Australians in the field this week are Matt Jones and Stuart Appleby.