Davis Bryant of Aurora chalks up 42nd-place finish in his DP World Tour debut on Indian Ocean island; Coloradans David and Brady Duval notch 2nd straight top-3 showing at PNC Championship
By Gary Baines – 12/22/2024
And so the journey begins — and continues — for Davis Bryant.
The Aurora resident and former Colorado State University golfer, winner of the Inspirato Colorado Open earlier this year, formally began his DP World Tour career this week on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius, about 700 miles east of Madagascar.
And a very solid start it was as Bryant made the 36-hole cut and finished 42nd on Sunday at the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open, earning 7,228 euros ($7,539) in the process.
The 2019 CGA Player of the Year posted scores of 69-73-74-71 for a 1-under-par total, ending up 13 strokes behind champion John Parry.
After just missing out on getting into the field for last weekend’s Alfred Dunhill Championship in South Africa — where he was first alternate when the tournament started — then making his DP World Tour debut in Mauritius, Bryant will return home to Colorado for a stretch. If all goes to plan, according to Bryant’s mom Julie, he’ll fly from Mauritius to Paris, then to Colorado, ideally making it to the Centennial State on Christmas Eve.
For the record, that’s more than 10,000 miles of flying — just for the return trip home. And there certainly figures to be many more miles traveling in the coming year for Bryant, given that the DP World Tour visits 26 countries for the 2024-25 schedule.
Bryant making the cut in his DP World Tour debut adds another chapter to his remarkable performances in the second half of 2024. That includes three victories — including at the Colorado Open and the Wyoming State Open — and finishing third in the final stage of DP World Tour qualifying.
Bryant’s performance at Mauritius follows a similar accomplishment by his former CSU teammate, Connor Jones of Westminster. In his PGA Tour debut — a berth earned by being the winner of the 2024 Elite Amateur Series — Jones made the cut and tied for 65th at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship last month.
Dan Erickson, whose family has lived at TPC Colorado in Berthoud in recent years but are moving out of state, also played in the Mauritius Open for his DP World Tour debut after likewise successfully negotiating Q-school. But he missed the cut after carding rounds of 78-76.
The DP World Tour resumes its schedule with the Hero Dubai Desert Classic Jan. 16-19, part of a two-month swing that runs through the Middle East, then Africa.
For all the scores from the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open, CLICK HERE.
Brady Duval (left) and dad David on Sunday at the PNC Championship.
Meanwhile, at the PNC Championship, David Duval and son Brady of Cherry Hills Village finished third out of 20 teams Sunday in Orlando, marking David’s fourth top-3 showing in the event. That includes when the 13-time winner on the PGA Tour won it with stepson Nick Karavites in 2016 and last year’s runner-up showing with Brady.
The Duvals birdied the last six holes in the scramble format to close with a 14-under-par 58 that left them at 23 under overall, five strokes back of the champions for the second straight year, Bernhard and Jason Langer. To put that 23-under total into perspective, it’s two strokes better than Duval and Karavites’ winning tally eight years ago.
The Duvals’ 58 on the final day was the third-best single-round score of this year’s tournament.
Meanwhile, Justin and Luke Leonard, former full-time residents of Aspen, tied for 12th place on Sunday at 18 under par following a final-round 62.
The nationally televised PNC Championship features teams including fathers and sons, mothers and kids, grandfathers and grandkids and variations thereof.
For all the scores from the PNC Championship, CLICK HERE.
About the Writer: Gary Baines has covered golf in Colorado continuously since 1983. He was a sports writer at the Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, then the sports editor there, and has written regularly for ColoradoGolf.org since 2009. The University of Colorado Evans Scholar alum was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. He owns and operates ColoradoGolfJournal.com