Aust rookie Davis fires in US PGA debut

Rookie Australian pro Cameron Davis has impressed with a five-under-par 66 on debut on the US PGA Tour in Mexico.

Australian youngster Cameron Davis has lived up to his fast-growing reputation by shooting five-under-par 66 on debut on the US PGA Tour.

Far from being daunted by the elite company in just his second event as a professional, 21-year-old Davis compiled five birdies and an eagle to be tied 11th after the first round of the Mayakoba Classic in Mexico.

The Sydneysider was clearly comfortable on the same Greg Norman-designed El Cameleon Club course where he shot rounds of 67 66 68 68 - 17-under - when leading Australia to the world amateur teams title in September, earning this week's start.

Davis, who has set his career sights on playing on the US tour regularly, is three shots behind American Chris Kirk (63) who leads by one shot from Colombia's Camilo Villegas and Americans Gary Woodland and Ben Crane.

WIth $US7 million ($A9.2 million) in prizemoney of offer, it is a huge opportunity for Davis and he admitted his nerves were jangling early.

"It took me a little while just to really settle down and just start relaxing, just hitting my targets and just swinging freely," Davis told PGATour.com.

"I was get a little bit steery early on. The rest of the day I was able to kind of relax and just get comfortable out there and play the game I played around here last time.

"I think the greens are a little bit quicker than they were when we played. It's rained a lot more so the rest of the golf course is actually quite soft, but it is very similar.

"I thought some of the tees might have changed, but the tees were all exactly the same. It's just exactly the same golf course so I've just got to just pretend I'm back there playing that tournament.

"It's been a great experience so far."

Marc Leishman is the next-best Australian, tied for 51st after a 70 while Cameron Smith posted a 71 and Steve Bowditch's struggles continued with an 81 to be last.


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Source: AAP



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