[Photo: Getty images]

Multiple PGA Tour winner Cameron Davis has opened up about his disappointment in missing selection for this week’s Presidents Cup, admitting it “sucks” but has vowed to automatically qualify for future International teams.

Despite winning the PGA Tour’s Rocket Mortgage Classic in late June – and starring on debut for the International team in 2022 – Davis was not given a captain’s pick by skipper Mike Weir for the Royal Montreal showpiece starting Thursday night (AEST). The Sydneysider hoped for a wildcard for the 12-man Internationals after failing to be among the top six automatic qualifiers on the team’s points standings.

After the recent Tour Championship, Canadian golf legend Weir announced his six picks were three countrymen – Corey Conners, Mackenzie Hughes and Taylor Pendrith – as well as Australian Min Woo Lee, Korean Si Woo Kim and South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout.

Davis was considered a notable omission given he sat eighth on the standings and was close to qualification. Kim and Hughes, while fantastic golfers, were 14th and 15th on the standings, respectively. Kim has not won on the PGA Tour since January 2023 and Hughes since October 2022.

The 29-year-old Davis, though, took it in his stride and said automatic qualification would have taken care of it.

“Yeah, it’s frustrating [and it] sucks,” Davis told Australian media Tuesday during a call to confirm his participation in the Australian PGA and Open this summer. “Sitting at home and watching [the Cup] on TV is not going to be a lot of fun. I know I didn’t get enough [points] to get picked straight away, and that would be the one thing I would want to change more than anything else next time, is that it’s not up for debate. It’s earning my spot out there straight up.”

Davis also found out he wasn’t receiving a wildcard just two weeks after finishing T-5 at the BMW Championship, a field comprised of the best 50 players on the PGA Tour.

“I got a call from Mike just explaining to me that we’re going to hopefully see me there in the future and it was the hard decision, but outside of that, that was pretty much what we got,” he said.

The two-time PGA Tour winner, one-time Korn Ferry Tour winner and 2017 Australian Open champion said making the International team for the event at Quail Hollow in North Carolina in 2022 was the moment he felt he’d finally earned his place among the game’s elite players. At Quail Hollow, he contributed an impressive two points to the International team on debut. They lost the event 17.5–12.5.

“It stings not being there; it was probably one of the biggest and most exciting weeks that I’ve had as a pro golfer,” Davis said. “I got off to a great start by winning an Aussie Open when I was young, and that was a huge moment to draw from, but having been on tour for a few years, getting comfortable amongst those guys still took time and and that was a huge week for me, feeling like I belonged out there.

“It was great for me. They [International team] treat their wives especially well, as well. So she [Davis’ wife, Jonika] had an amazing time, and felt like a part of the tour as well for a week, and moving forward, that helped her a lot. We both see [the Cup] as a huge week for us in terms of just our comfort on the PGA Tour and feeling what we belong out there, and also playing great golf on that stage just keeps on firing you up and making you believe that you’re destined for more big things coming from it.”

Still, Davis will be cheering on the International team on TV from his adopted Seattle home, hoping the side can get its first Cup win since 1998 at Royal Melbourne. Despite the 2015 [Korea] and 2019 [Royal Melbourne] editions being close calls, and 2022 going deeper into the final day singles than some thought was possible against a stacked American team, the Internationals have lost every Cup since the 2003 edition was a tied result in South Africa.

“Every [time] it comes around, I want to see a win, whether I’m on the team or not,” Davis said. “It would be so big for the Internationals to win this and try and build this into an even bigger event. I mean, we’re playing against a [US] team that plays a team event every single year [including the Ryder Cup against Europe]. They’re able to figure a few more things out more regularly than the International team. It’ll be very cool to see if they can get it done this year.”