……….Fatiha Betscher, Tampa Bay, FL.
England’s Brian Davis painted the Valspar Championship course red in posting a six under par 65 as he looks to gloss over his 318th PGA Tour event victory bare patch.
Davis finished birdie, birdie, bogey, bogey and 18th hole birdie to set up a one shot leas in the $US 5.9m event sponsored by leading paint manufacturer Valspar and being played on the Copperhead course Innisbrook Resort course at Tampa Bay.
Brian Davis with the 2004 ANZ Championship trophy.
The 40 year old Londoner has enjoyed five second place finishes on the PGA Tour since moving from the European Tour including the highly-acclaimed scenario of calling a penalty on himself down the final hole that cost him a maiden Tour win in the 2012 RBC Heritage Classic at Hilton Head.
However while he’s been winless in the States Davis has still managed to earn $12,87m in PGA Tour career prizemoney.
“I had a fun front nine hitting some great shots and made some good putts, so it couldn’t have been better,” he said.
“I then made the turn, greens got a little bit tricky during the day but then the golf course was there for the taking with no wind and it was fairly soft so you have to try and make a good score out there today if you could.”
To birdie the last hole on any day of any tournament is a good feeling and with Davis asked that ‘it should make dinner taste better tonight’.
He smiled in responding: “I’ve got my three kids with me this week so it won’t be anything exotic, I can assure you.”
It has been over 10 years since Davis last tasted victory and that was victory in the co-sanctioned European and Asian Tour ANZ Championship at the Horizon Resort course some 90-minutes drive north of Sydney in Australia.
His first victory was four years earlier in capturing the 2000 Spanish Open at the PGA Golf de Cataluyna Course.
The American Rickie Barnes and Sean O’Hair share second place with rounds of a five under par 66 while there is six players at four under par including World No. 3 Henrik Stenson who is contesting the event for a first time in his career.
Also shooting a four under par 67 is Germany’s Alex Cejka who birdied the first extra play-off hole in capturing last week’s Puerto Rico Open.
BRIAN DAVIS — FACT FILE
1974 Born in Camberley, Surrey
1992 Wins prestigious Peter McEvoy Trophy as amateur
1994 Turns pro, plays on US Challenge tour
1996 Second in European Tour School, earns card
2000 First title, the Spanish Open
2002 Marries Julie Clemence, finishes 2nd during honeymoon
2003 Claims 11 top-10 finishes, 9th on Order of Merit
2004 Wins ANZ Championship
