Cam Davis and his partner Adam Svensson played alongside defending champions Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry on day three at The Zurich Classic on Saturday.
Both teams finished at -22 after three rounds, and they’ll undoubtedly have a chance of winning the Zurich Classic in New Orleans on Sunday.
McIlroy produced a little bit of magic on the final hole after a 90-minute rain delay, when he roled in a 25-foot putt for eagle to really thrust him and Lowry into contention.
Davis and Svensson are well in with a chance of securing a victory on the final day as well.
However, it goes without saying that the Irish duo will be more comfortable with their current position than the Australian and the Canadian are.
After a slow start on Thursday, Lowry joked that McIlroy may as well have stayed in bed for the front nine of their first round.
However, The Masters champion now seems to be in full flow.
Cam Davis shares one problem about playing with Rory McIlroy at The Zurich Classic
Davis and Svensson produced some very good golf themselves on Saturday in New Orleans, and they matched the 61 shot by McIlroy and Lowry.
However, they were overshadowed purely due to how famous their opponents are.
Davis spoke to reporters after his round at TPC Louisiana on Saturday, and praised McIlroy for his ‘amazing’ golf:
“I felt like Rory was going to give them exactly what they wanted to see. I’m pretty sure most of them were out there to watch Rory and Shane, and they played amazing golf, so they absolutely brought exactly what they were expecting.“
When asked if he had to block out the noise that comes with playing alongside McIlroy, the 30-year-old Australian responded by saying:
“I mean, a little bit. There are situations like if they hole out first before we do, we know the gallery is just going to be moving to the next tee while we’re putting. There’s things like that that you just know are going to happen. But at the same time when there’s that many people around, it just kind of turns into white noise. If there’s no one moving and one person moves, that’s one thing; it looks like a bomb going off. But if you’ve got 100 people all moving at the same time in your field of vision, it just kind of all blends together.
“Honestly, it’s the environment we want to play in. It’s a sign that you’re either playing with someone who’s pretty special or you’re playing really well yourself. I feel like it’s an environment you want to get more and more used to, so it’s always fun. I don’t see any drawbacks to playing like that.“
What PGA Tour players were saying about Rory McIlroy ahead of the Zurich Classic
It seems like a huge weight has been lifted off McIlroy’s shoulders since his win at Augusta National two weeks ago.
And heading into The Zurich Classic earlier this week, golf journalist Rex Hoggard shared what he has heard from PGA Tour pros about the 35-year-old Northern Irishman:
“He could continue to go on a tear. I spoke to a couple of players at Hilton Head last week and a couple of guys this week and the consensus is, among the people around him, the players and his contemporaries. That this is going to free him up. This is only going to make him hungrier, only going to put him in a position where he no longer has that ‘burden’ hanging over him. He no longer has to struggle to find motivation going into Augusta. It is going to be there because you are eating in the fancy locker room that nobody else gets to eat in and you are wearing the green jacket when you do it. I think that’s the consensus.“
It would be no surprise to see him go on and win multiple tournaments between now and the end of the 2025 season.
And who would be shocked if McIlroy defended his Zurich Classic title alongside Lowry on Sunday?
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