Australian Open Champion Cameron Davis didn’t get the chance to recover from a poor third round when the final day of the Web.com Tour’s North Mississippi Classic was washed out.

Playing on a sponsor’s invitation, Davis was sharing third place through 36 holes before struggling to a 3-over 75 on Saturday to drop to a share of 17^th.

After opening with scores of 69-68 at the Country Club of Oxford, the 23-year-old would have loved nothing more than a chance to go low on Sunday but it never came with persistent rain forcing the cancellation of play.

The tournament result was declared on the 54-hole standings leaving Davis the leading Australian but ultimately rueing nine poor holes on Saturday.

A double and a triple bogey in the space of four holes ruined what had been an otherwise impressive week for the talented Sydneysider who was one of only three Australasians to qualify for the weekend.

He wasn’t the only one of the three to find the going tough in the third round, however, New Zealand’s Tim Wilkinson T60 after a Saturday 74 with Brett Drewitt 71^st following a 9-over 81.

Rhein Gibson and Stuart Appleby both missed the even par cut by a stroke while Steve Alker, Jamie Arnold and Curtis Luck also failed to advance to the weekend.

It’s been a whirlwind four months for Australian Open champion Cameron Davis but he arrives in Queenstown ready to play the ISPS HANDA New Zealand Open for the first time.

Turning Professional in October 2016 it took Davis just 13 months to record his first professional victory and on one of Australia’s biggest stages; the Australian Open.

Winning his national open proved to Davis that he had the game to compete with the world’s best with Jordan Spieth and Jason Day both in the field.

“It feels like it was almost still a bit of a dream, it’s kind of hard to tell myself that I’ve done it,” said Davis.

“It was so long ago now it feels like another person played that week because I was in the zone for at least two of those rounds and I don’t really have too much recollection of them.

“But it is cool having a tournament like that to be able to look back on and tell yourself you can do it.”

However, Davis is searching for his second win to continue building his confidence and this week presents a good opportunity.

“Since then I’ve just kept moving on to the next week, still trying to improve and trying not to get caught up in the fact that I’ve had one good week.

“I’m trying to prove to myself that I’ve still got it in me to do it. That was my first full year as a Pro. I want to be able to keep improving and keep getting better.

“I’m looking forward to getting to that next tournament where things fall together and seeing if I can pull it off down the stretch again.”

Having playing Millbrook Resort and The Hills, Davis likes what he sees and anticipates needing four low rounds to win the ISPS HANDA New Zealand Open.

“This scenery is probably the most spectacular setting I’ve played in, it’s amazing,” said Davis.

“I’ve played nine holes out at Millbook and I’ve played The Hills this morning so I’ve still got another nine holes to look at but so far everything I have seen has been pretty amazing.

“The course is playing quite soft but I feel like I’m playing well and I’m hitting the ball alright,” added Davis, who is busy devising his game plan for the courses.

“The courses definitely suit being able to hit the ball in a decent area off the tee, to like 240 metres. If I can hit an iron to that spot then I feel I can hit a lot of fairways.

“But if you’re aggressive with the driver and get out to 280, 290m off the tee then it gives you a lot of opportunities to make birdie with a lot of short irons in.

“I’ve got a feeling the scores are going to be quite low, if you’re going to win out here you probably going to need to shoot in the 20’s under par.

“I can’t say I’ve done that before so I need to really pull it all out and play some really good golf.”

Already with a status on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia, a win this week would open the door to the Asian Tour for Davis who has been focusing on playing in the U.S.

“I think every tournament I can get a start in is important this year, at the moment I’m still relying on invites.

“If I can have some really solid starts set well in advance so I can actually plan a schedule would be great. But you have to just keep your eyes on the prize and worry about that after you’ve had a good week.

“So I’m trying to make sure I focus on what the job is this week and then after just see what happens.”

The ISPS HANDA New Zealand Open will be played at Millbrook Golf Resort and The Hills from 1-4 March.

Cameron Davis will tee off his ISPS HANDA New Zealand Open campaign at The Hills at 8.14am on Thursday playing alongside Lucas Herbert. For all Round one tee times please visit pga.org.au.

Tickets to the tournament can be purchased via Ticketek or on the gate with children under the age of 18 admitted free.

22-year-old New South Welshman Cameron Davis has trumped a leaderboard full of PGA TOUR stars to win the Emirates Australian Open.

Starting the day, six shots back of overnight leader and World Number 12 Jason Day, Davis fired a phenomenal 7-under 64 to win his first professional title on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia.

“It’s a little bit numb at the moment, I think.  I just didn’t expect to be in this situation, even though I had a great round, I just didn’t think I was going to be far enough up the leaderboard,” said Davis.

“I didn’t look at the leaderboard all day; that was probably good for me to do.  I just kept on going, just tried to keep playing my game and just keep pushing and pushing and see how far up I could get really.

“I didn’t even see the leaderboard before I hit that putt on the last hole.   I made that, and I thought, I’ll be up around the top, but to come into the scorer’s hut and see where I was at, I was kind of blown away. I had no idea I was going to be there.”

Davis began his campaign on Thursday firing an opening round of 63 to lead before over par rounds of 72 and 74 on Friday and Saturday dropped him down the leaderboard.

However his talent shone through at The Australian today as he fired five birdies, an eagle and bogey to capture the Stonehaven Cup by one shot from fellow New South Welshman Matt Jones and Swede Jonas Blixt.

A further shot back on 9-under the card was Queenslander Cameron Smith and another stroke off the pace at 8-under the card was Day who rounded out the top-5.

The four players to finish behind Davis at the Emirates Australian Open are all PGA TOUR winners which highlights a bright future lies ahead for the newly crowned champion.

“Now that I know I can go and play my best golf in a situation like this, it’s a massive boost for the future,” said Davis.

“It’s always been one thing to have a good round of golf, but to have a good round of golf in the final round of a tournament where you’re sort of in contention, that’s where I’d say I was at today.  I wasn’t right at the top, but I was far enough back where a good round could potentially put myself up there.

“For the future, to know that I can play my best golf under the most pressure you can really feel, is so good,” added Davis, who will next play at the final stage of Web.com Tour Qualifying School.

“I’m going to take that going forward for sure and hopefully it’s going to help me over the line in the future.”

As well as his national title, Davis has secured a place in the field at the 147^th Open Championship to be played at Carnoustie Golf Links from 19-22 July.

“It’s my first Major so, I’ve got no idea what to expect.  I know it’s going to be huge.  I wasn’t even thinking about that at all today,” added Davis, who hopes to follow in Jordan Spieth’s footsteps of winning both a Stonehaven Cup and Claret Jug.

“If I can follow in Spieth’s footsteps, I’d be pretty happy.  That’s going to be pretty tough to do, but I’m going to give it my best shot now that I’ve actually got the opportunity to go and play in it.”

Earning the other two positions on offer at the Emirates Australian Open were Matt Jones and Jonas Blixt.

For his win Davis earned AU$225,000 and status on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia until the end of the 2022 season.

From Sydney the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia now travels to the Gold Coast in Queensland for the Australian PGA Championship to be played at RACV Royal Pines Resort from 30 November to 3 December.

Headlined by Masters Champion Sergio Garcia, World Number 13 Marc Leishman, 2013 Masters Champion Adam Scott, PGA TOUR winner Cameron Smith and Jonas Blixt as well as defending champion Harold Varner III tickets are now on sale, for $25*, at Ticketmaster.

* Ticket prices include GST. Transaction fees apply. Please note the booking terms and conditions when purchasing your tickets through www.ticketmaster.com.au

22-year-old New South Welshman Cameron Davis has trumped a leaderboard full of PGA TOUR stars to win the Emirates Australian Open.

Starting the day, six shots back of overnight leader and World Number 12 Jason Day, Davis fired a phenomenal 7-under 64 to win his first professional title on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia.

Davis began his campaign on Thursday firing an opening round of 63 to lead before over par rounds of 72 and 74 on Friday and Saturday dropped him down the leaderboard.

However his talent shone through at The Australian today as he fired five birdies, an eagle and bogey to capture the Stonehaven Cup by one shot from fellow New South Welshman Matt Jones and Swede Jonas Blixt.

A further shot back on 9-under the card was Queenslander Cameron Smith and another stroke off the pace at 8-under the card was Day who rounded out the top-5.

The four players to finish behind Davis at the Emirates Australian Open are all PGA TOUR winners which highlights a bright future lies ahead for the newly crowned champion.

As well as his national title, Davis has secured a place in the field at the 147^th Open Championship to be played at Carnoustie Golf Links from 19-22 July.

Earning the other two positions on offer at the Emirates Australian Open were Matt Jonas and Jonas Blixt.

More to come.

As a superstar amateur Cameron Davis was touted as one of the great bright hopes for the next generation of Australian golf.

He turned Professional at the 2016 Isuzu Queensland Open and since then has been plying his trade on the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada before coming home for the Aussie summer of golf.

Today at The Australian, Davis showed his prodigious talent firing an 8-under 63 to lead the Emirates Australian Open after day one.

The secret to his round was course knowledge; Davis won the Australian Amateur on this layout in 2015.

“I knew the golf course well, I didn’t have to think too hard around my practice round, so I felt like I had a good chance this week,” said Davis.

“I played here like eight times in five days, so I got to know it pretty well.  I saw some places I probably shouldn’t have, but yeah, it’s nice to play it that many times and be able to come back and see not too much has changed.  It’s very familiar out here.”

His round was highlighted by four consecutive birdies starting at the 5^th hole and topped off by a chip in on the 7^th followed by a chance to hole out again on the 8^th.

“I had a good run there. Probably that one on 8 shouldn’t have gone in because it was too far away.  A back-to-back chip in would have been a bit rude,” added Davis.

“The first eight holes everything was looking like it was going in, even from off the green, which was nice.”

Another young Aussie, Taylor Macdonald (25) also enjoyed his opening round at The Australian firing 6-under 65.

“It was great. I felt really comfy after playing a couple (Australian Open tournaments) in my life. The nerves weren’t there this morning and I was striking it well, I’m pumped,” said Macdonald.

Meanwhile tournament drawcard and World Number 12 Jason Day thrilled the crowds producing eight birdies on his way to shooting 5-under 66.

“It was exciting to play. The crowds were terrific out there.  Our whole group played well and it’s really nice to be able to kind of feed off each other,” said Day, who played with Geoff Ogilvy (2-under 69) and Rod Pampling (3-under 68).

“I felt like I played some pretty solid golf out there.  I didn’t miss many fairways and I didn’t miss many greens. I think the biggest thing for me is to just try and play the way I’ve been playing but hole more putts.

“That’s the hardest thing that I’ve been trying to get across the line is really capitalising on the opportunities that I’ve had.

“I just need to somehow turn those good solid par holes into a great birdie hole.”

Playing on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia for the first time since 2013, Day loved having the support of a home crowd.

“It’s been four years since I’ve been here, so I think I owe it to everyone that wants an autograph or wants a picture, to be able to stop and give it to them,” added Day.

“They were very supportive of not only me, but the whole group, they’re great fans and to be able to hopefully make someone’s day is nice.”

After the first round Day is tied third alongside South Australian Nick Cullen who has spent the year playing on the European Challenge Tour and New South Welshman Alex Edge who birdied the last to see his name on the leaderboard alongside Australia’s highest ranked golfer in the world.

It was a mixed day on course for defending champion Jordan Spieth but he was happy to end the day with a birdie on the 18^th to shoot 1-under the card.

“I made, I think five bogeys today, which to shoot under par with that, that’s really good,” said Spieth, who proved that even the World Number 2 can get nervous on the first tee.

“This was actually the longest I’ve had in between tournaments since maybe college; even last year was a week less, so I was a little anxious to get started.

“I kind of had the nerves to begin and my short game was a bit rusty and then started to pick it up and played pretty well from there.

While he sits seven shots off the leading pace, Spieth is unperturbed as he looks for a low round in the morning conditions tomorrow.

“My goal is to shoot three or four (under par) per round, so I’ve got to make up a couple,” added Spieth.

“It’s going to play pretty similar tomorrow as to today, this golf course is going to bake out on the weekend, you’ll see scores back up on this course because the wind always blows and the greens firm up.

“I’m not anxious about the finish of this tournament yet, I’ll just have to kind of stay focused on the goals that I’ve set.”

The highlight of the day belongs to New Zealander Brad Shilton who had a hole-in-one on the 172m par-3 11^th hole, his second hole of the day.

Using his 5 iron, Shilton scored the ace and a Rose Gold, TAG Heuer, Carrera Calibre Heuer 01, timepiece valued at $16,300 for his efforts.

The second round of the Emirates Australian Open will tee off at 6.50am with Cameron Davis on course at 12.05pm, Jason Day at 12.10pm and Jordan Spieth at 7.05am.

For all round 1 scores please visit pga.org.au.

For all round 2 tee times please visit pga.org.au.

As a superstar amateur Cameron Davis was touted as one of the great bright hopes for the next generation of Australian golf.

He turned Professional at the 2016 Isuzu Queensland Open and since then has been plying his trade on the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada before coming home for the Aussie summer of golf.

Today at The Australian, Davis showed his prodigious talent firing an 8-under 63 to lead the Emirates Australian Open after the morning field on day one.

The secret to his round was course knowledge; Davis won the Australian Amateur on this layout in 2015.

“I knew the golf course well, I didn’t have to think too hard around my practice round, so I felt like I had a good chance this week,” said Davis.

“I played here like eight times in five days, so I got to know it pretty well.  I saw some places I probably shouldn’t have, but yeah, it’s nice to play it that many times and be able to come back and see not too much has changed.  It’s very familiar out here.”

His round was highlighted by four consecutive birdies starting at the 5^th hole and topped off by a chip in on the 7^th followed by a chance to hole out on the 8^th.

“I had a good run there.  Probably that one on 8 shouldn’t have gone in because it was too far away.  A back-to-back chip in would have been a bit rude,” added Davis.

“The first eight holes everything was looking like it was going in, even from off the green, which was nice.”

While Davis holds the top position and Queenslander Taylor Macdonald is second on 6-under the card, World Number 12 Jason Day, thrilled the crowds producing eight birdies on his way to shooting 5-under 66.

“It was exciting to play. The crowds were terrific out there.  Our whole group played well and it’s really nice to be able to kind of feed off each other,” said Day, who played with Geoff Ogilvy (2-under 69) and Rod Pampling (3-under 68).

“I felt like I played I played some pretty solid golf out there.  I didn’t miss many fairways and I didn’t miss many greens. I think the biggest thing for me is to just try and play the way I’ve been playing but hole more putts.

“That’s the hardest thing that I’ve been trying to get across the line is really capitalising on the opportunities that I’ve had.

“I just need to somehow turn those good solid par holes into a great birdie hole.”

Playing on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia for the first time since 2013, Day loved having the support of a home crowd.

“It’s been four years since I’ve been here, so I think I owe it to everyone that wants an autograph or wants a picture, to be able to stop and give it to them,” added Day.

“They were very supportive of not only me, but the whole group, they’re great fans and to be able to hopefully make someone’s day is nice.”

After the first round Day is tied third alongside South Australian Nick Cullen who has spent the year playing on the European Challenge Tour.

The afternoon field are on course.