DUPONT, Washington—Callum Davison had nothing but pars on his first nine holes during the final round of the Forme Tour Qualifying Tournament Friday. Going bogey-free was one of his goals when the day began, but Davison knew he needed to get something going or his one-stroke lead would not hold up. Davison did his thing. He rolled in birdie putts of 10 feet, five feet and 15 feet on his next three holes, added two more—on Nos. 16 and 17—did indeed go bogey-free and coasted to a two-shot victory over fellow Canadian Jared du Toit. As medalist, Davison is exempt for all eight 2021 Forme Tour tournaments. 

Du Toit, Chris Crisologo (third), Mike Chanaud (fourth) and Blair Hamilton—Chanaud , an American, the only non-Canadian of the group—earned exemptions for the first half of the season and can remain exempt based on their play. Seventeen other players earned conditional status on the first-year Tour.  

The difference between Davison’s front nine and the back nine was his iron play and a better mindset, the Duncan, British Columbia, native explained. “I honestly didn’t strike it that good on the front (nine). I left myself with a lot of 25-footers. I didn’t have anything going.” The difference, he said, was simply turning 25-foot birdie opportunities into 10- and 15-footers. 

Davison knew he was in solid leaderboard position standing on the 17th tee, figuring he was at least one ahead, if not more. “I knew I was tied after nine. But going into the day, especially after nine, I knew if I could go bogey-free, which was the goal, then if I made the odd birdie along the way, that was a bonus.”

He obviously did better than that, with five “odd” birdies over his final nine holes. 

Perhaps the most-impressive of the bunch came at No. 17. After he deposited his drive in the bunker on the fairway’s right side, he hit what he described as his “best bunker shot of the week” (how about best shot period?), landing his ball eight feet behind the cup and spinning it to five feet below the hole. From there, he rolled in the putt for the two-shot advantage. 

“I was just trying to get it on that tier, and luckily that’s where it went,” Davison said. “I could see it landed right behind the flag. I thought it might have a chance (to go in). I was glad it didn’t spin off the green.”

So good was the shot that there was little chance of that happening. On the par-5 18th, Davison played it safe and was on the green in three. He missed his birdie putt and tapped in for par, a 5-under 67 that secured the win. 

Even with a late bogey on 18 playing a group ahead of Davison, du Toit easily earned his card, as well, matching Davison’s 67. Canada’s Lawren Rowe, who tied for sixth, had the other 67. 

“I played pretty good all day. Nothing crazy. All in all, I took care of business,” said du Toit, who will board a flight Sunday for Bucaramanga, Colombia, where he will play in PGA TOUR Latinoamerica’s Holcim Colombia Classic presented by Volvo, starting Thursday. Du Toit holds membership on both Tours now, giving him plenty of playing opportunities this summer. 

The Forme Tour begins June 23-26 with the L&J Golf Championship at Jennings Mill Country Club in the Athens, Georgia, suburb of Watkinsville.