Certainly not at the speed at which he arrived.

His amateur career was one that few can match.

The 2014 Victorian Amateur champion, Davis won the Australian Amateur title in 2015 and in 2016 was the individual winner at the Eisenhower Trophy that the Australian team won by 19 strokes in Mexico.

Those within the inner sanctum of Australian golf knew Davis had game but when he chased down Jason Day to clinch the 2017 Australian Open from six strokes back the 22-year-old entered a new stratosphere.

Six months later he’d won on the Korn Ferry Tour; seven months after that he was playing his first event as a member of the PGA TOUR.

GOLFTV to stream ‘Every Shot Live’ from the PGA TOUR at THE PLAYERS Championship

As he prepares to take on TPC Sawgrass for the first time at THE PLAYERS Championship this week – another opportunity to elevate his game in elite company – Davis revealed the moment when he felt like he belonged.

“Just being on the range and hitting balls next to everyone is enough to feel like I have what it takes,” said Davis, who has been drawn to play with Charley Hoffman and Rory Sabbatini the opening two rounds.

“I feel like I’m comfortable enough out here to not be as worried about making cuts anymore.

“I’m just comfortable now, where I feel like my good golf is good enough. It’s just about playing really good golf on the right week and if two guys play even better then that’s OK.

“I feel like that good golf is good enough to win tournaments.”

Davis’s best chance at a breakthrough PGA TOUR win came back in January when he was in the hunt until the very end of The American Express ultimately won by Si Woo Kim, the 2017 PLAYERS champion.

Now 26 years of age, Davis knows that being in contention is another step forward in adding his name to the list of Australian winners on the PGA TOUR.

“The more you’re up there, the more comfortable it gets,” Davis said.

“I know I’ve had really good results from a long way back on Sunday. That’s how I’ve won the

professional tournaments that I’ve won, coming from a long way back on Sunday and just going for it.

“The difference would be I haven’t experienced being in the lead going into Sunday. I would love to have that experience and soon but I feel like I’m able to put it all in its place a lot better now.

“When I stand on the tee on Sunday if I’m in contention, I’m figuring out what works for me better, which is more to not worry about what everyone else is doing and just kind of be as present as I possibly can in my own little bubble.

“The better I do that, the better I play.”

As for the raft of young Aussies to have joined the professional ranks in recent times, Davis encouraged them to work their way through each stage on the journey towards joining the PGA TOUR.

“If you did really well (as an amateur) you might have the option of those seven PGA TOUR starts,” said Davis, who had to return to the Korn Ferry Tour playoffs in 2019 to retain his status on the main tour.

“It’s great to take a few of those but I feel like it’s better to keep on working up through the stages.

“I like starting at the bottom and then just pushing as hard as you can.

“For me the best plan of attack was just to get over into the PGA TOUR cycle, get to the Mackenzie Tour and work my way up and just experience golf over here.

“It is a different style of golf so I’m really happy I did it that way.”

Davis is one of seven Australians who will contest THE PLAYERS Championship in Florida while there are just three Aussies in action as the European Tour resumes with the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters in Doha.

GOLFTV to stream ‘Every Shot Live’ from the PGA TOUR at THE PLAYERS Championship

Round 1 tee times AEDT

PGA TOUR
THE PLAYERS Championship
TPC Sawgrass (Stadium Cse), Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
11.51pm              Cameron Smith, Dylan Frittelli, Keegan Bradley
4.16am Cameron Percy, Brian Harman, Bernd Wiesberger
5.11am Adam Scott, Daniel Berger, Shane Lowry
5.11am*              Marc Leishman, Robert Streb, Justin Rose
5.33am Jason Day, Jason Kokrak, Francesco Molinari
5.44am Cameron Davis, Charley Hoffman, Rory Sabbatini
5.55am Matt Jones, Maverick McNealy, Will Zalatoris

Defending champion: Rory McIlroy (2019)
Past Aussie winners: Steve Elkington (1991, 1997), Greg Norman (1994), Adam Scott (2004), Jason Day (2016)
Top Aussie prediction: Adam Scott
TV schedule: Live 4am-10am Friday, Saturday; Live 5am-10am Sunday; Live 4am-9am Monday on Fox Sports 503.

European Tour
Commercial Bank Qatar Masters
Education City GC, Doha, Qatar
2.35pm*              Wade Ormsby, Marcus Kinhult, Adri Arnaus
3.35pm Maverick Antcliff, Adrien Saddier, Lars Van Meijel
7.30pm*              Scott Hend, Nino Bertasio, Shergo Al Kurdi

Defending champion: Jorge Campillo
Past Aussie winners: Adam Scott (2002, 2008)
Top Aussie prediction: Wade Ormsby
TV schedule: Live 7.30pm-12.30am Thursday, Friday; Live 8pm-12.30am Saturday, Sunday on Fox Sports 503.

* Starting from 10th tee