For much of the third day at the Sandbelt Invitational at Yarra Yarra Golf Club it looked as though Cam Davis would once again carry a multiple shot lead into the fourth and final day at Peninsula Kingswood on Thursday.
Despite a bogey at the short par-4 1st and another at the par-5 8th after flaring his drive right, the PGA Tour winner managed to still make the turn in one-under courtesy of three birdies in four holes starting at the 2nd.
His main contender, and playing partner, Momoka Kobori had the same score over the front nine, before she found arguably her best golf of the week across the Tom Doak redesigned back nine to finish the day level with Davis on 12-under and all set for a final day shoot out.
Kobori’s gun barrel straight driving, iron play execution and rock solid short game was cause for this week’s tournament director Mike Clayton to ask if she ever misses a shot.
The only evidence that she does came at the par-3 15th when she missed her short par putt after hitting her approach long of the green to make a bogey, that although losing a shot to par didn’t lose a shot to Davis who made the same score.
Still, Davis held a three shot advantage at 13-under par. And it wasn’t just the score, nor the resume of each player that caused the smattering of following fans to feel this was something akin to a David and Goliath battle.
Sending his ball into the stratosphere off the tee and when approaching greens, the difference in tee shots between the pair was almost as much as 100 metres throughout the day, despite playing from different tees.
The best example coming at the par-4 13th when Kobori required a 3-wood from over 200 yards to the middle of the green compared to Davis’ three quarter wedge nestled close to the pin for an easy birdie.
But the diminutive Kobori was enjoying watching what Davis was capable of, and then focusing on what she and coach/caddie for this week Dom Azzopardi had set out as a plan.
“I actually love watching these things,” Kobori told Golf Australia magazine of Davis’ ball flight and power. “I just love watching. Even when I am out there, I tend to look at what shots other players are playing and we will be watching thinking I might play it a certain, but they’ve played it a different way.”
Playing it in a different way certainly came to pass over the final three holes, where Kobori made three birdies across 16, 17 and 18 that were playing as a par-5, par-4 and par-5 for the women to level the playing field in relation to par.
The score could have been even better, with her chip from the front edge of the 16th going agonisingly close to falling for an eagle, while her clinical birdie at the downhill par-3 17th was followed by another at the last. Leading many to contend that playing golf might be easy for the New Zealander who broke the Royal Melbourne course record on day two.
“I wouldn’t call it easy. Golf’s never easy,” she said with a smile after signing for her 68.
“I played some really solid golf coming down the stretch, which I was really happy about. I put the ball in the fairway and had some wedges in, which is always nice. Good chance to put it close and make birdie, which I was able to do, so definitely really happy.”
As Kobori was making the game look easy over the closing stretch, Davis appeared to find it difficult for the first time this week.
It was a par four at the 16th for the New South Welshman, who then noticeably went after his drive at the 17th in an attempt to reach the green.
He missed the shot right between the greenside bunkers and a tree, arguably the worst spot he could have found.
A flubbed attempt at a flop shot found the sand, then he was lucky to escape with a par after a mid-length putt found the bottom of the hole.
Again, at the last Davis smashed driver up the hill, yet it was a pulled short iron this time followed by three hits with the putter, the first and second from off the green, and bogey for a one-under 69.
"That’s Sandbelt golf, you’ve just to hit the ball on the right side of the pin, right side of the green and give yourself green to work with. And I just missed a few shots and it was a constant miss, so to be honest it is pretty easy to work on now that I’ve got this afternoon and tomorrow morning before we tee off again,” Davis told this publication. “Just need to see a few shots go in the right direction and back on track.”
Putting his struggles down to execution as opposed to bad planning, Davis, and Kobori for that matter, will be less prepared for the challenge of Peninsula Kingswood’s North Course tomorrow. Both going in somewhat blind to the course.
The other difficulty ahead being the head-to-head battle while playing from different tees, with different pars on the scorecard and vastly different golf games.
“It is difficult. It’s pretty hard if you are competing against the women but they’ve got a par-5 whereas you have a par-4 and it is a brutal par-4 for you and an easier par-5 for them, you can’t really be looking at what they are doing too much because the scores aren’t going to reflect what you’re doing,” Davis said.
“She’s playing awesome golf, you’re expecting her to make birdies, so I am just trying to knuckle down and hit good shots and make some birdies of my own.”
It will be a similar plan of attack for Kobori.
“It’s just do what I can, put myself in the best position I can and if I can do that I might give myself a chance to win,” Kobori said. “If it doesn’t happen it means that Cam’s played some pretty good golf like he has been the last few days. That’s the mindset I’ve got going in, ‘See what happens’.”
What has happened so far this week, including David Micheluzzi equalling the Yarra Yarra course record to sit third alone at nine-under, has been pretty special.
And a head-to-head battle between a man and a woman, one with a sky scrapper like build and ball flight, the other closer to the ground in height and flight, sets up as something to behold on Thursday morning.
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