Korn Ferry Tour rookie Davis Thompson holds on for inaugural win at Rex Hospital Open

It was quite a 23rd birthday party for Davis Thompson on Sunday.

Thompson celebrated his birthday and earned a victory in the Korn Ferry Tour’s Rex Hospital Open at The Country Club at Wakefield Plantation, firing a 2-under 69 in the final round to post a one-stroke win over Andrew Yun and Vincent Norman.

Thompson, a rookie on the Korn Ferry Tour this season, played at the University of Georgia. He finished his week with a four-round total of 17-under 267, and was the leader after both the second and third rounds.

One week removed from falling out of contention after holding a share of the lead to start the fourth round at the NV5 Invitational, Thompson, the former top-ranked player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking settled into his role as the final-round leader at the Rex, carding a 3-under 33 on the front nine to keep challengers at bay.

On the back nine, though, Thompson admitted to the media following the win he was starting to feel some nerves after bogeys at 10 and 13.

“I felt it after Nos. 13 and 14,” Thompson said after his rounds. “That’s when (the nerves) really heightened. Put myself out of position on Nos. 10 and 13, which led to bogeys. But I knew I was playing well. Just tried to put one foot in front of the other, and I was able to birdie No. 15 and that calmed the nerves a little bit. Then made three great pars coming in.”

The last of those pars was an up-and-down save at No. 18 to secure the one-shot win.

Thompson became the second-youngest winner on the Korn Ferry Tour this season, older than only Wake Forest native Akshay Bhatia (19 years, 11 months, 19 days). Bhatia said Saturday he wasn’t playing his best this weekend, but still grinded out a 4-under 280 for the week after a 1-over-par round of 72 to close out the tourney Sunday.

Charlotte-area native Will Gordon, a 2019 Vanderbilt grad, and longtime Brazilian pro Alexandre Rocha shared the best round of the final day of the Rex Hospital Open with matching scores of 5-under 66. Gordon’s strong finish netted him a fourth-place finish. Rocha places tied for seventh.

The 2022 edition of the Rex was the final edition to be held at The Country Club at Wakefield Plantation. Next summer, the tourney will get a new venue — The Raleigh Country Club — and a new name: The UNC Health Championship.

This story was originally published June 5, 2022 at 11:25 PM.