Cam Davis got the trophy at the 2024 Rocket Mortgage Classic, but his face after he won told a different story: How in the world did I win that tournament? Davis shot a 2-under 70 to claim victory at 18 under, surviving runs from Min Woo Lee, Cameron Young and Aaron Rai. But it was Akshay Bhatia who suffered heartbreak pairing in the final pairing alongside Rai.
Bhatia looked to be in control for most of the event despite holding a thin margin on the field. He went out in 35 on Sunday and still looked fine, but his round turned poor in a hurry. Bhatia had to scramble all over the golf course, at one point eking a par out of a 97-yard drive on the 13th hole. Even despite some of his mishaps, he went to the last tied with Davis at 18 under, hitting his approach to 32 feet. After a sketchy lag putt to 4 feet, Bhatia missed his par putt -- it would have sent the Rocket Mortgage Classic to a playoff -- instead three-putting for the first time all week.
Just like that, Davis -- watching from the driving range -- learned he was suddenly the winner.
"It sucks. No other way to put it," Bhatia said. "I mean, just sucks."
To be fair to the Australian, he played as well as (if not better than) most atop the leaderboard Sunday. Despite hitting an approach into the water on the par-5 14th, he still gained over two strokes on the field from tee to green. Bhatia made up for that bogey on No. 14 with a birdie at the par-5 17th just a few holes later. Even with that success, he lost strokes putting to the field; had he not gone cold with that club, Bhatia prevails by three or four shots.
Incredibly, this is Davis' first top 10 of the season and his first victory at all since ... the 2021 Rocket Mortgage Classic.
It was not necessarily a backdoor victory because Davis played well enough and hit the ball terrifically for most of the final round, but it was certainly an unexpected turn of events. Gaining just over 12 strokes on the field does not win many PGA Tour events.
But Davis was not playing many PGA Tour events; he was playing this one. It was one he put himself in position to win over the first three days and then went out and won Sunday. On a day when it seemed like nobody wanted to take the mantle, Davis took it for the second time in the last four years at this golf course, even if it looked unexpected. Grades: Davis -- A, Bhatia -- A-
Here are the rest of CBS Sports' grades for the Rocket Mortgage Classic.
T3. Min Woo Lee (-17): Min Woo is a good player who has become a fan favorite because he exudes true joy while he plays. He made a double on No. 7 but bounced back by playing 10 of his last 11 holes in 5 under. He was pulling flagsticks, making chips, getting the fans going at every opportunity. Unfortunately for him, he did not play 11 of his last 11 in 5 under. He made a bogey at the last to fall one short of the eventual playoff number at 18 under. Still, this is one of his better outings on the PGA Tour and his first top five since at T2 at the Cognizant Classic back in March. Lee is obviously a compressor of the ball, but he scored and contended this week because he was a scrambling fool. It was awesome to have him in the mix throughout. Grade: A
T7. Cameron Young (-15): Same story, different week for Young. Of the top 150 players in the world, nobody has played better golf but been able to win a tournament since the start of 2022. Going into this week, he was gaining 1.24 strokes per round on the field with zero victories. Next closest without a win worldwide? Denny McCarthy, who was just a touch over 1.0 SG. It happened again this week. Young gained nearly 10 strokes on the field but ended up with another winless Sunday. It's a good problem to have, but at some point -- after nearly 70 events as a PGA Tour player -- you have to win one. Perhaps it's coming soon. Even more, his disposition while he plays has never really made one believe that he enjoys professional golf. The complete and total opposite of Lee. Grade: A-
T10. Nick Dunlap (-14): This is who we thought Dunlap would be after winning the American Express and leaving Alabama to become a professional. His struggles have seemingly been mostly mental and emotional, the type of struggles anyone would expect from a fresh pro coming right off the amateur circuit. (Dunlap is still the reigning U.S. Amateur champion!) As covered earlier in the week, it's nice that he is emerging from those struggles after six months and not six years. It feels like he's 25, but the reality is that he's still 20 (15 years younger than Rickie Fowler!) and his future still looks solid. Grade: A
MC. Tom Kim (-3): Playing his ninth week in a row, Kim finally ran out of gas. It's been an excellent run for him, though, after a T4 at the Canadian Open and then a playoff loss to Scottie Scheffler last week at the Travelers. Now he can regroup for this summer where he'll play the Open Championship in July and the Olympics -- as a representative for South Korea -- in August. Grade: F