A year ago in Morocco, Davis Bryant turned a birdie into a stack of cash that ignited his PGA Tour dreams.
Bryant made his international debut at an Asian Tour tournament there. Heading into the final hole on Friday and needing a birdie to get to the weekend, Bryant sank a 10-foot putt to make the cut.
The Aurora native and Eaglecrest alum only finished tied for 55th in Morocco, earning him about $8,000. But the confidence he gained from that tournament was a catalyst. The week after Morocco, he notched his first pro victory at the Wyoming Open to claim $10,000. His sizzling summer continued with a win in a playoff at the Inspirato Colorado Open, netting him $100,000, and then another win at the Platte Valley Pro-Am for $10,000.
All of that sent Bryant into DP World Tour Qualifying School with the wind at his back, and paved the way to Bryant’s PGA Tour debut on Thursday at the ISCO Championship in Louisville, Ky.
“Morocco gave me the belief I could play at a higher level, and I could hang with any of those guys on major world tours,” Bryant recalled. “And it propelled me into the rest of last summer.
“Once I got all that money, and I wasn’t worried about a round-trip flight to Europe, a hotel room, the possibility of playing (multiple stages) in Q School that added up to around $20,000 of expenses. … I saw it as a smart decision, and I was going to use it to invest in myself, even if I went to the first stage and shot a million.”
Just as Bryant conquered the pressure that came with winning the prestigious Inspirato Colorado Open at his home course of Green Valley Ranch — he showed up the first day and his friends razzed him that the tournament was a “fifth major” for him — the 25-year-old stood up to the rigors of Q School to even get to the DP World Tour in the first place.
In the opening stage of Q School last September in Sweden, he narrowly made the cut by two strokes. In the second stage in October in Spain, he made the cut in a playoff. And in the third stage, in November elsewhere in Spain, he surged to finish -27 over six rounds and in third place on the circuit to get his DP World Tour card for the 2025 season. It was the best finish by an American in the 156-man field.
All of a sudden, the former CSU Rams standout found himself in the big-time.
“That changes your whole perspective from playing state opens and mini-tour events and traveling in your car from place-to-place in the U.S., like he was doing for most of 2024, to now getting ready for the 2025 DP World Tour season,” observed his dad, Matt Bryant, the general manager at Green Valley Ranch.
CHERRY HILLS VILLAGE, CO - AUGUST 15: Davis Bryant poses for a photo with his father and caddie Matt, right, after competing in the 123rd U.S. Amateur Championship at the Cherry Hills Country Club in Cherry Hills Village, Colorado on August 15, 2023. This was the second day of play of the U.S. Amateur Championships. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)Related Articles
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In addition to Matt’s role at Green Valley Ranch since 2006, his mom Julie is the chief operating officer of the Colorado Open Golf Foundation. And younger sister Emma, who won a Class 5A state title in the same school year as Davis in 2017-18, played at the University of Denver.
Add in the fact that the undersized Davis — who is 5-foot-8 and 140 pounds — has always relied more on fairway precision and putting than length off the tee, and it’s easy to see why Matt is reveling in his son’s PGA Tour debut. Even more so considering Davis was born three-and-a-half months premature, weighing 1 pound 10 ounces, and needed a heart surgery the next day.
“He’s flipped a switch,” Matt Bryant said. “At his size, you have to believe in yourself, play your game, not try and be somebody you’re not. And that’s what he’s done. He’s not the biggest or strongest, but from where he started 25 years ago as a preemie who spent 105 days in the hospital to what he’s doing now as a professional athlete, it’s pretty cool to watch.”
Bryant’s jump up the DP World Tour rankings earned him the spot in the field at the ISCO Championship.
He had his first Top 10 finish on the DP World Tour two weeks ago when he tied for 10th at the Italian Open, and after tying for fourth at last week’s BMW International Open in Munich, Germany, he moved up 43 spots to the No. 89 ranking. That performance included an ace on Friday while carding 63 as he took a two-shot lead into the weekend.
Davis says he “always plays with a chip on the shoulder” because of the chatter about his size.
“I know I might have to hit a 6 or 7 iron into a green when other guys will hit an 8 or 9, and that’s fine,” Bryant said. “I own my game and I’m never going to play out of myself. … I look at (Justin Thomas), I look at Rickie (Fowler) and other guys on the PGA Tour who are small dudes and major winners.”
MUNICH, GERMANY - JULY 04: Davis Bryant of the United States acknowledges the crowd on the ninth green following his round on day two of the BMW International Open 2025 at Golfclub Munchen Eichenried on July 04, 2025 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)Adding to Bryant’s intangibles is his willingness to never shy away from big moments as well as his unflappability, according to his former CSU teammate AJ Ott.
“He wants big putts, he wants to play the holes when his back’s against the wall,” Ott said. “He’s very even keeled, very steady. A lot of guys ride the highs too high and the lows too low, but Davis is so good at being very consistent mentally. So now that golf is his livelihood, he’s built up for that.”
Considering his streak over the last year, Bryant’s setting his goals high for the future.
He believes he can finish in the top 110 of the DP World Tour rankings, which would keep his card on that tour and ensure him entry into 2026 events. But he also wants to make a push for his PGA Tour card, which can be achieved by finishing in the rankings’ Top 10, not counting players with exemptions or those already with their card.
“I’m riding the wave like I did last summer,” Bryant said. “I have the game to (get my PGA Tour card), and the mindset to do so. … I’ve felt calm and comfortable the last two tournaments, much more so than I was in the beginning of the year.
“I feel like I belong.”
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