OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. – Cam Davis grew up shaping plastic balls around trees in his backyard in Sydney, Australia. It developed an innate creativity that serves him well as a PGA TOUR veteran at age 28.

But it was a straightforward task Sunday in Memphis, Tennessee, that determined his schedule for next year and potentially beyond.

Davis needed par at the final hole of last week’s FedEx St. Jude Championship, the first FedExCup Playoffs event, to solidify his position in the top 50, a spot at this week’s BMW Championship and access to next year’s eight Signature Events (as it later turned out, bogey would have sufficed). Parts of the season hadn’t gone to plan, but here he was, fresh off back-to-back top-10 finishes just to earn a Playoffs spot.

He flushed his drive down the right side of the 18th fairway (the left side was water-logged), played a crisp iron from 170 yards to 12 feet, two-putted for par and was headed to Chicago as one of 50 players set to compete this week at Olympia Fields Country Club (North Course).

With that par, he earned the right to set his schedule for next year, and he maintained his chances at a debut TOUR Championship appearance. All thanks to a late-summer surge that flipped his fortunes.

“This year, a lot of time was spent stressing about whether or not I was going to make it to the Playoffs or keep my card,” Davis said Tuesday. “To turn it around and finish strong like this is really satisfying, because I’ve pulled myself out of some pretty deep holes this year.”

Much has been made of Lucas Glover’s rapid ascent up the FedExCup standings in the last two weeks, winning back-to-back events to move from 112th to fourth, suddenly behind only Jon Rahm, Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy in the race for the FedExCup.

Meanwhile Davis, a soft-spoken, lanky Australian, has risen through the ranks in corresponding fashion. Perhaps not as dramatic, but with the same radical reconstruction to his 2024 schedule.

Davis moved from No. 62 to No. 45 on the FedExCup with a T6 finish last week at TPC Southwind, solidified with that closing par on a hole that has seen myriad disasters through the years. That came after a T7 at the Wyndham Championship to solidify his spot in the top 70 – after a T10 at the 3M Open just to move inside the top 70.

Rather than playing the FedExCup Fall to solidify his PGA TOUR card, Davis has a chance at the FedExCup title. He needs a solo sixth at minimum to qualify for the TOUR Championship, and he might need more. He has yet to advance to East Lake Golf Club, but the way his last month has gone, who’s to say he can’t keep the train rolling?

“I've found myself in this sort of situation quite a few times now through my career, whether it was my first year getting on to the PGA TOUR and losing my card and having to play a great nine holes to finish the Korn Ferry Tour Finals just to get my card back, to playing in a playoff,” Davis said.

“I feel like when it is kind of a do-or-die situation, some of the inhibitor actually is taken off in my brain, I feel like … in that sort of headspace, I feel like I’ve played a lot of really good golf to keep my career pressing forward.”

Andrew Tschudin has caddied for Davis since Korn Ferry Tour Q-School in 2017, having a front-row seat to Davis’ rise from 160th on the FedExCup standings as a rookie to his current stature as a TOUR winner, 2022 Presidents Cup team member and now one of the TOUR’s top 50 players.

Tschudin has long marveled at Davis’ innate creativity, which stems from those afternoons as a kid in his backyard, creating shots on the fly.

“You throw him in the trees out here,” remarked Tschudin, “and he’s great.”

Davis wasn’t facing any trees on the 72nd hole at TPC Southwind, but he was successful just the same. It necessitated a flight change that he was more than happy to oblige, having previously scheduled a flight home to Seattle (his adopted residence with wife Jonika Zapiorkowska, who’s from the area).

Making things easier? He hadn’t yet made any plans for this week, having an ideal trip in mind. He made it happen, utilizing a clutch gene that has been cultivated through the years.

“I think he carries himself like he fits in a bit more,” said Tschudin of Davis’ evolution as a TOUR pro. “When he first started, he was a bit shier; you’re just getting used to the ropes, seeing all these guys that he probably grew up watching. Now I think he’s quite comfortable out here, he’s comfortable playing with anyone, and I think that just evolves with a lot of people.”

One of those guys he grew up watching: Adam Scott, whose streak of 16 consecutive FedExCup Playoffs berths came to an end this season. Davis, who grew up idolizing Scott, has now extended his streak to five straight postseasons.

Don’t expect that streak to end anytime soon.