Cam Davis Wins PGA Event; Ex-Cal Golfer Brandon Hagy Falls Just Short

Sunday belonged to Cam Davis, who won the Rocket Mortgage Classic on the fifth hole of a three-man playoff, but former Cal golfer Brandon Hagy will remember the day with fondness too after putting together the performance of his life at the Detroit Golf Club.

The 30-year-old Hagy, ranked 187th in the world, had a long putt on the 18th green Sunday that would have given him his fourth birdie in the last five holes and would have tied him – temporarily -- for the lead as he sought his first PGA Tour victory.

The putt stopped short, so he had to settle for a bogey-free round of 4-under-par 68, leaving him at 16-under for the tournament. That was enough to give Hagy a tie for sixth place, two strokes behind Cam Davis, Joaquin Niemann and Troy Merritt, who finished regulation at 18 under par and settled matters in a playoff.

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Davis won his first PGA Tour title when Merritt missed a six-foot par putt on the fifth playoff hole.

Niemann was eliminated when he bogeyed the first playoff hole.

Davis missed potential winning putts on the first four playoff holes and also missed a birdie putt on the par-3 15th hole, which was the fifth extra hole. But Merritt gave Davis the victory when he missed his short par putt on that hole.

"It's been pretty hectic for me since the 17th hole," Davis said afterward, referring to his eagle on the 17th hole, shown here:

CLUTCH. @CamDavisGolf eagles 17 to tie the lead @RocketClassic. 🙌 pic.twitter.com/gjHwBNqdh3
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 4, 2021

Davis' win was a surprise, but no more surprising than Hagy’s showing.

Hagy, a 2014 graduate of Cal Haas School of Business, had missed the cut in three of his past four events, and finished 50th in the fourth.

He has just two top-10 finishes in 91 career starts but one of them was a runner-up performance at the Honda Classic in March when he closed with a 66. However, he finished five strokes behind winner Matt Jones at the Honda Classic. This week he was in contention right up until the end.

This week's showing will add $262,500 to Hagy's earnings this year, which are now up $1,367, 715.

One of Hagy’s teammates at Cal was Max Homa, who bounced back from his round of 74 on Saturday with a 4-under-par round of 68 on Sunday. It was an up-and-down tournament for Homa, who had rounds of 70, 65, 74 and 68 to finish at 11 under par. That was good enough for a tie for 25th place, which is his ninth top-25 finish of the year. He earned $56,411 for his four days of work.

Homa had four birdies on the back nine of his bogey-free round and had to be pleased after missing the cut in his past two PGA events and four of his last five.

Byeong Hun An, the third former Cal golfer who played the final two rounds in Detroit, had a strong start Sunday. He was 3-under for the round after eight holes, putting him at 9-under for the tournament and among the leaders.

However, things fell apart after that. An recorded five bogeys and a double bogey over the final 10 holes to finish at 4-over-par 76 for the round at 2-under for the tournament, one stroke behind Phil Mickelson. An earned $14,475.

Cover photo of Brandon Hagy by Raj Mehta, USA TODAY Sports

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