Cam Davis wins second Rocket Mortgage Classic title on Akshay Bhatia shocking 3-putt

Akshay Bhatia was at the top of the leaderboard, whether tied or solo, all throughout the 2024 Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit.

But he three-putted Sunday evening from 32 feet on the 18th green, giving Cam Davis his second victory in four years at Detroit Golf Club, finishing at 18-under-par 270.

Davis is the first two-time winner of Detroit's flagship PGA Tour tournament that started in 2019, finishing one shot clear of Bhatia, Min Woo Lee, Aaron Rai and Davis Thompson. Davis, now a two-time Tour winner with both of them coming at Detroit Golf Club, watched the missed putt securing his win while warming up for a potential playoff on the third tee box.

"It was a combination of shock and feeling bad for him," Davis said of Bhatia's missed putt. "At the same time, (I was) realizing that the huge burden of trying to win again is off the shoulders. It's still a bit of a shock."

Bhatia had just one bogey and no three-putts through 71 holes, as he was looking for his second win on the PGA Tour this season and third of his career.

Instead, Davis' steady play, including an up-and-down from just outside the bunker on the par-5 17th, and an up-and-down from the left rough on No. 18, was enough.

"I left those chips in the best place I could," Davis said.

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"Sucks," Bhatia said minutes later in his news conference, arms crossed. "No other way to put it. Just sucks."

Bhatia and Rai were tied for the lead at 17-under heading into the final day, with Davis and Cameron Young a shot back tied at 16-under. Rai briefly jumped into the lead, but Bhatia and Davis pulled ahead heading into the back nine. Bhatia jumped into the lead thanks to a Davis bogey on No. 14, then Lee reached 18 under before subsequently falling back to 17 under with a bogey on the final hole.

Davis won the tournament in 2021, outlasting Troy Merritt and Joaquin Niemann in a five-hole playoff.

Bhatia can't close

Bhatia played clean golf through the first 54 holes, not tallying a bogey through the first three days of the tournament to enjoy a shared lead heading into Sunday. He faced adversity early, including an up-and-down on the first hole and his first bogey of the tournament on No. 3 after duffing a chip on his third stroke to fall behind Rai early.

From there, he returned back to his mistake-free play, until the final hole. He sank a 31-foot birdie putt on No. 4 to immediately regain the stroke, then moved into a share of the lead with a birdie on No. 7 after reaching the greenside rough in two shots before sticking the chip inside four feet for a simple birdie.

He played holes 8-17 with 10 straight pars in the windy conditions. Lee and Davis both reached 18 under with birdies on No. 17.

"It's a very tough situation to be in for him and for someone to be the benefactor, that is a bit of a weird situation to be in but at the same time there's so much relief because it's been a long time since I've been on top," Davis said.

Min Woo Lee rallies late, stumbles on 18

Two of the four players who finished tied for second shot up the leaderboard late Sunday. Lee and Thompson piled up the birdies in the final back nine to move into the crowded top of the leaderboard.

Lee sat at 1 over on the day after a double bogey on par-5 No. 7 thanks to a three-putt from 6 feet, but answered with a chip-in birdie on No. 8, then shot 33 on the back nine to finish 3-under 69 for the day. He birdied the 17th hole to move into a tie for first place at 18 under with Bhatia and Davis, but finished with a bogey after his approach shot went long on 18. His tough pitch from thick rough for birdie down the slope ran through the green into the opposite rough. His par save chip came up 14 inches short.

Thompson had six birdies and two bogies to finish 4-under 68 Sunday and move into the cluster at second place. He finished with three birdies in five holes to climb the leaderboard, including sticking his tee shot within three feet on No. 15 for a tap-in birdie in front of the grandstands.

Bhatia, Davis surge to lead through front 9

Rai held a lead for most of the front nine after he started the round with a birdie on the first hole, which grew to two shots by No. 3 after Bhatia bogeyed it. But things flipped beginning at No. 6. Rai and Bhatia drove side-by-side in the middle of the fairway, but Rai's approach bounced off the green to the short side while Bhatia stuck it to 15 feet for a birdie attempt.

Rai bogeyed after leaving himself a 10-foot par putt, while Bhatia calmly two-putted for par to cut the lead to one. While that was happening, Davis was a hole ahead and birdied the par-5 seventh hole to jump into the sole lead, briefly, before Bhatia joined him with his own birdie on No. 7. Rai bogeyed No. 9 to fall two shots behind before the turn, leaving Bhatia and Davis alone at 18 under.

Young, playing with Davis, recovered from an early bogey with two pars on Nos. 8 and 9 to pull within one shot of the lead for the final nine holes, but could not stay in the fairway with his driver and missed numerous putts short and wide. He snapped his driver shaft after missing the fairway left on No. 14, forcing him to hit 3-wood off the tee on his final three holes. He finished those holes 5-5-5 to shoot 73 and in a tie for sixth at 15 under.

Top amateur finishes strong

Luke Clanton, a 20-year-old amateur who will be a junior at Florida State in the fall, finished his tournament tied for 10th with a score of 14 under. He followed up his 65 on Saturday, the lowest score of the third round, with an even-par round of 72 to finish his first PGA Tour event (outside of a major).

Clanton will take home no prize money from the tournament because of his amateur status coming into the tournament, leaving six figures on the table.

THE LEADERS

Par-72 at Detroit Golf Club

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Cam Davis wins Rocket Mortgage Classic on shocking Akshay Bhatia 3-putt