Georgia Bulldog group seeing red

MAMARONECK, N.Y. – The phone was in the bag. He put it there before the round, and by golly, it was going to stay there. Instead of snapping a photo, caddie Todd Thompson looked at the leaderboard and burned it into his memory.

Davis Thompson, his 21-year-old son, was at 4-under-par and leading the 120th U.S. Open.

“It was cool to see his name up there,” said Todd, who in his day job is the tournament director for The RSM Classic, the PGA TOUR’s regular stop in St. Simons Island, Georgia.

PGA TOUR UNIVERSITY:Get to know Davis Thompson

Cool? Well, OK, that’s an understatement, but then Todd and his son are understated guys.

Thompson bogeyed three of the last six holes for a 1-under 69 at Winged Foot, just four back of early leader Justin Thomas, while playing partners Harris English and Brendon Todd each shot 68. The all-Georgia group were the only threesome to all shoot under par in the morning wave.

Familiarity helped.

English, who like Thompson lives in Sea Island, Georgia, played a practice round with the kid at Ocean Forest last week as part of their preparation for Winged Foot. The kid won. Todd, who lives in Athens, Georgia, sometimes plays with Thompson when they’re in town, and calls the younger player remarkably poised for his age. Thompson called it, “a comfortable pairing.”

He is the fourth-ranked player in PGA TOUR U, a new program that sends the top collegiate players to the Korn Ferry Tour to begin their professional careers, and the fourth-ranked player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, earning his U.S. Open start. But he still looks as guileless as the paperboy, and his nerves needed soothing, at least early in the week.

“Yeah, the first guy I think I saw was Rory,” he said. “That was pretty cool. Growing up, I was around – I was growing up and getting really serious about golf when he was winning all of his majors. So I kind of looked up to him. I'm just very thankful to be here.”

He showed no signs of nerves with birdies on holes 6, 7 and 8, sending shock waves far and wide. On the other coast, Todd Thompson’s boss Davis Love III was in Pebble Beach for the PURE Insurance Championship on PGA TOUR Champions, and cheering through his TV.

“I woke up and my phone was blowing up,” said Love, the 21-time TOUR winner who won the 1997 PGA Championship at Winged Foot. “The whole island is excited for Davis.”

So was Chris Haack, who is going into his 25th year as coach of the Georgia men’s golf team.

“When he was 2 under I was not surprised,” Haack said. “When he went to 3 under, I thought, Awesome! When he went 4 under, I thought, Oh, my God, this is great. He’s a momentum player. He’s not flashy, not very talkative. I just love the work ethic. I’ve had a lot of really good players, and he works as hard or harder than anybody I’ve ever had.”

And as for Thompson? What did he make of being 4 under?

“Just keep everything physical, not emotional,” he said. “Just stay through my routines and just keep doing what I'm doing. Just take it one quality shot at a time, one hole at a time, and not thinking about the future or 18, but staying in the moment.”

Yep. Understated. He is not, by the way, named for Davis Love III. Todd Thompson and wife Leigh just liked the name. Their son grew up playing golf and basketball in Auburn, Alabama. When he was 12, Todd turned the golf instruction over to Eric Eshleman, Director of Golf at the Country Club of Birmingham, to avoid mixing up the father-son relationship.

Davis Thompson helped lead Lee Scott Academy to six state titles, including individual titles in 2013 and 2015. He was an All-America at Georgia as a junior, and finished T23 as an amateur at The RSM Classic. Today, his legend extends all the way from Auburn to Sea Island. The most famous story might be Keith Mitchell, also a Georgia alum and the winner of The Honda Classic last year, making seven birdies in a match against Thompson – and losing 4 and 3.

“He’s unbelievably good,” Mitchell told the PGA TOUR.

English and Todd concur.

“He's just been very disciplined since day one,” Todd said. “He doesn't party. He practices efficiently. He has a very easy-going temperament, doesn't seem to get too mad.”

Thompson hit what appeared to be a good tee shot at the par-3 13th hole Thursday, but the ball went too far and he made bogey. Todd got in his ear as they walked to the 14th tee, saying they were all fooled by the wind gust, that he’d hit a good shot, that he should keep his head up.

Todd Thompson, who also played for Georgia, tried to qualify for the U.S. Open a handful of times, but never made it. So being on his son’s bag has worked nicely on a few levels.

“With the rules here for COVID and everything, it was the only way I could get here,” he said. “My wife’s not happy she’s not here, because she would have loved to watch.”

Love III sees in Davis Thompson a player who will have absolutely no trouble making the transition from college to the PGA TOUR, when the time comes.

“He knows how to play golf,” Love said. “… I’m impressed with his demeanor; he’s very even, doesn’t get upset. It’s perfect for a U.S. Open, perfect for pressure.”

Perfect for the TOUR, too, but there’s no hurry. Davis Thompson is taking it one shot at a time.