Davis feels at home in Aussie pack hunting major glory

Quiet achiever Cameron Davis will take his place in a stacked domestic field when the Australian PGA Championship begins in Brisbane.

CAMERON DAVIS of Australia hits his tee shot on the second hole during the of the Nashville Golf Open at the Nashville Golf and Athletic Club in Nashville, Tennessee.
CAMERON DAVIS of Australia hits his tee shot on the second hole during the of the Nashville Golf Open at the Nashville Golf and Athletic Club in Nashville, Tennessee. Picture: Andy Lyons/Getty Images

He's Australian golf's other Cameron, nestled inside the world's top 50 and armed with the belief that he too can win a major.

Cameron Davis will play in the group ahead of 2020 British Open champ Cameron Smith in Thursday's first round of the Australian PGA Championship in Brisbane.

The world No.44 has spent a month at his Seattle base playing "golf for fun" since finishing 12th at the ZOZO Championship and has arrived home ready to add to his 2017 Australian Open title.

Davis has won on the PGA Tour too but enjoys a lower profile than world No.18 Smith, who he could yet beat for a spot on Australia's Olympic golf team to play in Paris next year.

The understated 28-year-old held his own as part of the Internationals in last year's Presidents Cup.

He feels like he belongs in that "clump" of Australians following in the footsteps of Masters champion Adam Scott, who he will play alongside at Royal Queensland in the 6am (AEST) feature group.

"There's quite a few of us in position to be able to kind of kick into that stage of our career now ... really contend week in, week out in some big tournaments," he said.

"And it will just be a matter of time before a really big one comes our way.

"Cam's (Smith) already got one (the 2022 British Open) ... he's a couple of years ahead of me but I would kind of clump him in the same group of boys.

"It's nice to feel like you're holding your own amongst the world of golf.

"The inner confidence is staring to come out for a few guys."

Davis finished well to tie for seventh at Royal Queensland last year but expects conditions to be different, given how constant rain has pounded the course since Monday.

But while the fairways will soften and promote more aggressive play, he said putting would again set the field apart.

"If you're just not quite reading the green properly or just don't quite have your speed out there, it feels like the ball takes a U-turn right in front of the hole every time," he said.

Smith is favoured to win a fourth title while Scott, Marc Leishman, Min Woo Lee and Lucas Herbert ensure a quality domestic field at the $2 million event.

Poland's Adrian Meronk - last year's Australian Open champion - Chilean Joaquin Niemann and Scottish Ryder Cup representative Robert MacIntyre headline the international entrants.