Davis will tee off alongside fellow Australian Min Woo Lee at 9:18pm (AEST) on Thursday night as the defending champion, the second time he has had such an honour.

His victory in 2021 marked a breakthrough moment on the PGA TOUR, his win 12 months ago creating a slice of history as the first two-time winner of the event.

To mark the occasion, tournament organisers immortalised Davis in bobblehead form, an idea the 30-year-old was glad he green-lighted.

“When I heard that that was a potential for this week, I definitely wasn’t going to say no to having one of those done,” Davis said in his pre-tournament press conference.

“They nailed it. I heard the hair colour was a difficult one to nail, but I think they did a really good job.

“It’s very cool. I’m really glad I said yes to the idea of having one made up. Very unique experience but very fun. I’ve had a lot of requests, as soon as the picture came out a few days ago that a lot of people want one, which is kind of fun.

“Pretty cool perk for being able to come back here.”

It isn’t just a bobblehead that will mark the occasion this week, food outlets all week at Detroit Golf Club to stock the ‘Davis Double’, a sandwich consisting of crispy chicken, lettuce, tomato, onions, pickles, pepperoncini, provolone and mayonnaise on a brioche bun, inspiration coming from the meal Davis ate at the pub after his first win.

Such a showering of gifts only adds to Davis’s affinity for a golf course and a tournament he hopes can kick-start his PGA TOUR season.

After starting the year with top-20 finishes at The Sentry and The American Express followed by a tie for fifth at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Davis had climbed back into the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking.

In his 13 most recent starts he has missed seven cuts and is without a single top-10, making this week’s title defence a timely one.

“It’s been a little bit of banging my head against a wall over and over again, waiting for something to change,” conceded Davis, who experienced a lean run of seven events prior to last year’s win.

“Sometimes it’s a change in location, a change in scenery can be something that you can draw a lot of inspiration from, and just having so many good memories around this place, every spot I walk around in, will only help with that.

“I’m really glad it’s turned up now because there’s no better time to turn things around than getting right back here again.”

After a gruelling test last week at the KPMG Women’s PGA, four Aussies have found teammates for the LPGA Tour’s Dow Championship in Michigan, veteran Sarah Kemp also in the field alongside Canadian Alena Sharp.

There are a total of 13 Australasians in the field for the US Senior Open at The Broadmoor, Ripper GC resume their LIV Golf season in Dallas and the past three winners of the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit are contesting the Italian Open on the DP World Tour.

Round 1 tee times AEST

PGA TOUR
Rocket Classic
Detroit Golf Club, Detroit, Michigan
8:56pm            Aaron Baddeley
9:18pm*          Min Woo Lee, Cam Davis
10:02pm          Karl Vilips
3:49am*           Harrison Endycott

Past champion: Cam Davis
Past Aussies winners: Cam Davis (2021, 2024)
Prize money: $US9.6m
TV times: Live 8:45pm-5am Thursday, Friday; Live 9pm-8am Saturday; Live 10:15pm-8am Sunday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo Sports.

US Senior Open
The Broadmoor (East Cse), Colorado Springs, Colorado
11:21pm          Richard Lee (NZ)
11:21pm*         Mathew Goggin
11:31pm          Stuart Appleby
11:42pm*         Michael Campbell (NZ)
12:03am          Cameron Percy
12:13am          Mark Hensby
12:13am*         Richard Green
5:12am*           Brendan Jones
5:22am*           Steve Allan
5:33am*           Greg Chalmers
5:54am            Scott Hend
5:54am*           Rod Pampling
6:04am            Steven Alker (NZ)

Past champion: Richard Bland
Past Aussie winners: Graham Marsh (1997)
Prize money: $US4m
TV times: Live 8am-11am Friday, Saturday on Fox Sports 503; Live 4am-8am Sunday on Fox Sports 505; Live 4am-8am Monday on Fox Sports 506 and Kayo.

LIV Golf
LIV Golf Dallas
Maridoe Golf Club, Carrollton, Texas
Australasians in the field: Cameron Smith, Lucas Herbert, Marc Leishman, Matt Jones, Ben Campbell (NZ), Danny Lee (NZ)

Past champion: Ripper GC (Team Championship)
Past Aussie winners: Ripper GC (Team Championship, 2024)
Prize money: $US20m
TV times: 2:35am-7am Saturday; 3am-8am Sunday, Monday on 7Mate.

DP World Tour
Italian Open
Argentario GC, Monte Argentario, Italy
3:50pm            Daniel Gale
8:30pm            David MIcheluzzi
8:40pm            Elvis Smylie
9:10pm*          Kazuma Kobori (NZ), Danny List
9:30pm*          Jason Scrivener
9:40pm            Daniel Hillier (NZ)
10:30pm*         Brett Coletta

Past champion: Marcel Siem
Past Aussie winners: Greg Norman (1988), Craig Parry (1991)
Prize money: $US3m
TV times: Live 9:30pm-2:30am Thursday, Friday; Live 8:45pm-1am Saturday; Live 8pm-1am Sunday on Fox Sports 505 and Kayo Sports.

LPGA Tour
Dow Championship
Midland Country Club, Midland, Michigan
9:15pm             Robyn Choi/Jenny Bae
9:37pm             Sarah Kemp/Alena Sharp
9:48pm*          Cassie Porter/Gemma Dryburgh
9:59pm            Lydia Ko (NZ)/Danielle Kang
1:41am*           Karis Davidson/Daniela Darquea
1:52am*           Fiona Xu (NZ)/Mariel Galdiano
2:36pm            Hira Naveed/Sofia Garcia

Past winners: Ruoning Yin/Jeeno Thitikul
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: $US3.3m
TV times: Live 1am-4am Friday on Fox Sports 506; Live 2:30am-4am Saturday; Live 5am-8am Sunday on Fox Sports 505; Live 5am-8am Monday on Fox Sports 506 and Kayo Sports.

Ladies European Tour
Amundi German Masters
Green Eagle Golf Courses, Germany
3:40pm*          Momoka Kobori (NZ)
4:24pm*          Amelia Garvey (NZ)
4:35pm            Amy Walsh
5:08pm*          Maddison Hinson-Tolchard
5:19pm            Wenyung Keh (NZ)
8:30pm            Kelsey Bennett

Past champion: Alexandra Forsterling
Past Aussie winners: Karrie Webb (2013)
Prize money: €300,000
TV times: 11am-12:30pm Friday, Saturday, Sunday; 10am-11:30am Monday on Fox Sports 503.

Korn Ferry Tour
Memorial Health Championship
Panther Creek Country Club, Springfield, Illinois
3:26am*           Brett Drewitt
4:15am*           Rhein Gibson
5:26am*           Harry Hillier (NZ)

Past champion: Max McGreevey
Past Aussie winners:
Prize money: $US1m

HotelPlanner Tour
Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge
Golf PGA France du Vaudreuil, Le Vaudreuil, France
5pm*               Sam Jones (NZ)
10:20pm          Hayden Hopewell

Past champion: Joel Moscatel
Past Aussie winners:
Prize money: €300,000

Epson Tour
Otter Creek Championship
Otter Creek Golf Course, Columbus, Indiana
Australasians in the field: Su Oh, Jess Whitting, Soo Jin Lee

Past champion: Savannah Carlson
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: $US250,000

LET Access Series
PGA of Sweden Championship Landeryd
Landeryds Masters & Landeryds Vasterby, Sweden
4:25pm            Stephanie Bunque
9:55pm*          Kristalle Blum
10:17pm*         Justice Bosio
10:39pm          Abbie Teasdale
11:01pm          Belinda Ji

Past champion: Natacha Host Husted
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: kr600,000

Korean PGA Tour
KPGA Gunsan CC Open
Gunsan Country Club, Korea
9:01am            Sungjin Yeo (NZ)
10:40am          Junseok Lee
2:13pm            Wonjoon Lee

Past champion: Jang Yu-bin
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: KRW500m