PALM HARBOR, Fla. (AP) – Brian Davis is living out his golf career exactly how he wanted, except for a PGA Tour victory that so far has eluded him.
He took a tiny step in that direction Thursday in the Valspar Championship when he chipped in for birdie on his final hole at Innisbrook for a 6-under 65, giving him a one-shot lead over Sean O’Hair and Ricky Barnes.
It’s a tiny step, and Davis knows that. The 40-year-old from England has had the 18-hole lead five previous times. He has five runner-up finishes.
Everything else about the PGA Tour is just what he imagined, though what a curious route.
Davis first came to America as a teenager with friends of his parents, and they stopped in Orlando to play golf on a course that was so green, and no nicely manicured that “I thought it was the Masters.” He returned two years later as an 18-year-old to work with a coach and play the mini-tours. He went to Q-school and was on the verge of making it to the final stage. But he thought he needed birdie and instead made bogey, and that turned into a detour.