he had used since early childhood days stroking the ball in from everywhere.
At the Walker Cup in Royal County Down, when Davies rolled in a 20 foot putt for eagle his coach from East Tennessee just grunted, “That's what I'm used to seeing.”
There are those in Welsh amateur golf who say they have never seen a better putter, so expectations were high when Davies turned professional at the end of his US college business management studies.
The invites came in, but while McIlroy stunned crowds at the 17th at St Andrews to earn his European Tour card, Davies did well when stellar achievements were necessary.
A place on the Asian Tour was out of sight, out of mind to many, though Davies was top fi ve on the highly competitive tour at the time his big break came back in Wales. Sponsorship also
meant a new Ping putter, replacing the childhood version, a step up in quality which took a little time to get used to.
Now that he is challenging at the top level in Europe, it is easy to forget that he got his chance thanks to Ryder Cup Wales.
Because of the Ryder Cup there is a Challenge Tour event in Wales. Welsh players get invites that would not otherwise be forthcoming. Davies won the SWALEC Challenge in a
play-off at the Vale of Glamorgan resort and his professional career in Europe was up and running.
Another Challenge Tour win sealed qualifi cation for the European Tour, the win in Morocco gave security to launch the next phase of his career – although he counts his amateur victories, Challenge Tour victories and then the European Tour as a steady series of wins over the last few years.
“Competing in events
SWFacts
Rhys Davies
DOB 28th May 1985 Birthplace Edinburgh
Challenge Tour Wins 2 European Tour Wins 1
sportingwales
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