These days, Georgia junior Davis Thompson is sitting on top of the world: winner of the prestigious Jones Cup, fourth in the amateur world rankings, and a four-time winner since capturing medalist honors at the 2019 NCAA Regional in Athens, Ga. But it hasn’t always come so easy: midway through his sophomore season, Thompson was lost. He’d managed just one top-10 finish in his previous 10 events, and had come up short in every chance to win that he’d seen as a collegiate player. Over Christmas break, though, Thompson’s father gave him some good advice — stop pressing, and start playing. That advice quickly paid dividends with a runner-up finish at the 2019 Jones Cup, and culminated with a T23 finish in the PGA Tour’s RSM Classic in November — and now, with a remarkable nine-shot victory at the 2020 Jones Cup.
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LYING FOUR: What is it like sleeping on a lead at a tournament as big as the Jones Cup?
DAVIS THOMPSON: It was pretty cool for me. Last year, I was in sort of the same scenario: I was tied for the lead, but I knew that weather was coming and that there was a possibility that we weren’t gonna be able to play. This year was different. I knew for a fact that we were going to be playing, and [Baha Men’s “Who Let the Dogs Out” begins blaring] — sorry about that.
LYING FOUR: [laughs] Is that your ringtone?
DAVIS THOMPSON: No, it’s my coach’s ringtone. It’s stupid loud. [several seconds elapse] [music subsides] But yeah, like I said, this year I just tried to stay calm and use past experiences to help with that. Obviously, this was the biggest tournament where I’ve had a lead. But I tried to use past experiences like Regionals and the Western to help calm my nerves and play good golf.
LYING FOUR: Obviously you got really comfortable on that golf course; you had one bogey in your last 38 holes. What is that like, to be in a tournament that big on a difficult golf course, and you just can’t miss?
DAVIS THOMPSON: It’s very encouraging. I just kept sticking to my routine and kept committing to targets. I just had a really good ball-striking week; I was able to hit it in the right spots and miss it in the right spots. Not every shot was perfect, but when I did miss it, I would miss it in the right portion of the green, or the right rough instead of the left rough. It was just very encouraging for me to see my hard work paying off, because I was working on some things with my swing, and I was able to hit the ball really well.
Photo credit: Steven Colquitt
LYING FOUR: On Sunday, before you sort of blacked out in the middle of the round, you were one-under through your first six. How did you feel after those six holes? Were you just barely missing? I guess what I’m getting at is, did you feel like you were on the verge of a run like you were on in the middle of the round?
DAVIS THOMPSON: Yeah, I did. I was hitting a lot of quality golf shots early, but I was just a touch off in my distances. I hit a really good shot into No. 5, and I was probably 20 feet short. I missed that putt, but I knew that if I kept hitting solid golf shots, then eventually I was gonna hit them close enough and possibly make a birdie, which could possibly lead to other birdies. I did that on No. 7: I hit a really good shot from about 200 yards to about four feet, and was able to make it. I was off and running from there, from 7 to 11.
LYING FOUR: Yeah, from 7 to 13, you were six-under. You must have known during that run that you were taking control of the tournament. Had you ever been in a situation like that, where it had come down to the moment of whether you were going to seize control of the tournament, and you did?
DAVIS THOMPSON: I’d done it before in junior golf, but never on this stage. Obviously I knew what my playing competitors were doing, so I knew I had a comfortable lead, but I didn’t know if any groups ahead of me were making a move or anything like that. So I just had the mindset of, “Just keep attacking, just keep playing smartly aggressive, and keep trying to make birdies.”
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LYING FOUR: For anybody who’s never seen you play, what would you say are the strengths of your game, and what are you still fine-tuning?
DAVIS THOMPSON: I think I’m still fine-tuning my short game and my wedge game from 100 yards and in. I think every player can get better from that, at some point. I’m a pretty solid ball-striker. I hit a lot of greens, and I think my speed’s pretty good on the greens; if I’m missing birdie putts, then I’m tapping in for par, which is pretty stress-free.
LYING FOUR: You’ve had a really solid amateur career; there aren’t any stretches where you’ve laid a bunch of eggs. But it’s impossible to ignore that, since mid-2019, you’ve been winning a lot more. What has changed since then that has allowed you to start finishing so many events off?
DAVIS THOMPSON: I think my mindset has changed. The thing about my freshman and part of my sophomore year is that I was very hard on myself and tried to prove myself to others. Halfway through my sophomore year, I talked to my dad a lot and to my group around me — my swing coach, some family friends — and they all told me, “You’ve gotta release all those expectations that you have for yourself, and just go out there and play.” I think that’s helped me start to believe in myself — to believe that I’m good enough, to believe that I have the talent to do this, and hopefully I have the talent to play this game professionally.
Photo credit: UGA Athletic Association
LYING FOUR: I’m always curious to ask people like you, who have risen so high in their field, when they realized that they were really, really good at golf. I remember reading an interview with Art Garfunkel one time, and he said that he could remember being four or five years old and just realizing how nice his voice sounded. Was there a moment like that for you, either as a kid or as a junior golfer — or even in college — where you realized that you have a chance to achieve things in golf that most people don’t have a chance to achieve?
DAVIS THOMPSON: I think for me it happened when I started a run of golf this past year. Like I said, I’ve just been really hard on myself — creating all these expectations for myself that were unrealistic. I just started playing really consistent this past year, and I knew once I started playing this consistent for so long that I have a chance to play this game for a long time and to be a really good golfer. I was just a lot more consistent, with not as many rounds out of the ordinary.
LYING FOUR: This awakening that you had halfway through your sophomore year — what led to that?
DAVIS THOMPSON: During the fall season, I was working really hard — I was working in the weight room, I was practicing hard. I just felt like I was doing all the right things, but I wasn’t getting the results that I wanted, and that was really frustrating me. I was at home over Christmas break playing with my dad, and we played on a day where it was probably 50 degrees, with the wind blowing 20-25 miles per hour — and I was playing, honestly, terrible. And I was getting so mad at myself. He just sat me down and told me, “You’re putting way too much pressure on yourself, and you need to just relax. Enjoy just being in college, because right now, you have the opportunity to play golf and be stress-free, because you’re not playing for money. It isn’t your job yet.” So I really took that to heart. It changed my mindset about some things, and I really started playing well about January of last year.
LYING FOUR: It sounds like he must be a tremendous resource for you. Not everybody has that.
DAVIS THOMPSON: Yeah, I definitely wouldn’t be here without my dad, that’s for sure — my parents, or my sister. I just have a tremendous support group around me. I’m thankful for them, and I’m grateful for them. My dad has definitely never put any sort of pressure on me about golf or any sport. He’s always been my number one fan, and I can’t thank him enough for that.
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Photo credit: John Weast
LYING FOUR: Let me ask you about the RSM Classic. How was that?
DAVIS THOMPSON: That was a very, very cool experience. I live down in St. Simons now, so playing in front of my friends and family that don’t really get to watch me in college tournaments — that was just a very fun experience. To be able to make the cut on the number and end up playing well on the weekend was also very special.
LYING FOUR: I know you got to play with a lot of good, young players, which must have been a really insightful view of what could lie ahead for you. But you also got to play with Jim Furyk on Sunday. How was that?
DAVIS THOMPSON: It was awesome. I learned a lot. I mean, I was driving it by him probably 20 or 30 yards, but we ended up shooting the same score that day, which was pretty incredible. Just watching him play — he’s a testament that you just play your own game. I just tried to ask him a few questions about how he’s been so consistent for so long, and he just told me that with his swing, he didn’t really change anything — that over the years, he’d thought about changing, but he stuck with what makes him great. Sometimes change isn’t always the best thing.
LYING FOUR: At this point, what is there left to accomplish in college and amateur golf? The Jones Cup is one of the biggest tournaments in amateur golf, and I’m sure you know that you’re ranked No. 4 in the world now. What is there left to accomplish?
DAVIS THOMPSON: I have a lot of goals this semester. Obviously, getting off to a hot start winning at the Jones Cup was awesome. But I want to win a national championship; we haven’t done that yet. I want to win an SEC championship; we haven’t done that yet as a team. Individually, I have some other goals that I’d like to accomplish, but I just want to accomplish a lot of things on my team this semester. I’m gonna try not to put a lot of pressure on myself to force it. But if those opportunities present themselves, then I’m really excited about the opportunity.
LYING FOUR: Are there any things you know now that you wish you’d known about college golf or big-time amateur tournaments like the Jones Cup — things that you know now that you wish you’d known when you got to Georgia?
DAVIS THOMPSON: I think for some reason, earlier in my college career, when I played in big tournaments, I would just kind of tense up and I would get nervous — which is normal. But at the end of the day, it’s just golf — it’s just a different golf course. But at the day, it’s still just about getting the ball in the hole. I wish I’d taken that to heart and understood that the game of golf doesn’t define who I am, and just don’t set these unrealistic expectations or yourself.
Banner photo credit: UGA Athletic Association
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