Researching Brian Davis

Davis was born in London. He turned professional in 1994 and became a member of the European Tour in 1997. He performed steadily for his first six seasons on the Tour, and won the 2000 Peugeot Open de España. In 2003, despite not winning a tournament, he had his best season by far to that time, finishing ninth on the European Tour Order of Merit. The highlights of his season included finishing in a tie for sixth at The Open Championship, and placing third in the European Tour's tour championship, the Volvo Masters, as well as two second places in lower profile events and playing on the winning Great Britain and Ireland team in the Seve Trophy. His second European Tour win came in 2004 at the ANZ Championship and later that year he became the first Englishman to be medalist at the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament. In 2005 he played on both the U.S.-based PGA Tour and the European Tour and in 2006 he concentrated more on the PGA Tour, making only a handful of appearances in Europe. Davis had two solid seasons on the PGA Tour in 2007 and 2008 where he finished inside the top 100 on the money list both times, including a runner-up at the Legends Reno-Tahoe Open.

2009 was a very consistent season for Davis. The season included 5th-place finishes at The Players Championship and the Valero Texas Open, followed by a third straight top 5 finish at the HP Byron Nelson Championship where he matched his best finish on the PGA Tour when he was runner-up behind Rory Sabbatini. He finished the season 43rd on the money list.

In April 2010 Davis called a two-stroke penalty on himself on the first play-off hole on Sunday to hand Jim Furyk a victory at the Verizon Heritage. Davis later received much praise for his decision which cost him a potential first PGA Tour victory. Davis finished second again later in 2010 at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, three shots behind Zach Johnson.

Davis has featured in the top 50 of the Official World Golf Rankings.

After graduation, Davis played in the French league with Élan Béarnais Pau-Orthez during the 1992–93 season alongside seven-foot-seven Gheorghe Muresan, and then returned to the NBA for the 1993–94 season with the Minnesota Timberwolves, where he played alongside Duke teammate Christian Laettner. Davis played in 68 NBA games, averaged 5.5 minutes per game, and scored a total of 131 career points (1.9 per game).

He maintains a close friendship with Laettner, and they partnered on a $2 million donation to Duke's men's basketball program to endow an athletic scholarship and support construction of an athletics center and practice facility. They have also pursued several business ventures together, including real estate development in Durham, a Major League Soccer team, and an unsuccessful attempt to purchase the Memphis Grizzlies. Some legal problems have also occurred.

With the Redskins in the 1987-88 NFL playoffs, Davis became the last player to tackle Chicago Bears running back Walter Payton, who retired at the end of the season. Later, in Super Bowl XXII, Davis intercepted Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway as the Redskins defeated the Broncos, 42-10.

He was born in Toowoomba to Richard Davis and Constance Mary, née Quinlan. He attended Catholic schools, and worked as a van salesman, a taxi proprietor, a truck driver and a taxi driver before entering politics. As an official with the Transport Workers Union, he was a member of the Labor Party, serving as president of the Fortitude Valley branch and state president of the Young Labor Association (1963).

In 1969 he was elected to the Queensland Legislative Assembly as the member for Brisbane. In 1972 he was promoted to the front bench as Shadow Minister for Welfare, Sport and Tourism. He lost his seat at the 1974 election in which Labor was cut down to a "cricket team" of 11 members. However, he returned in 1977 as the member for Brisbane Central, which included the bulk of his old seat. From 1977 he was Opposition Spokesman on Transport, moving to Works and Water Resources in 1980 and back to Transport in 1981. In 1982 he was appointed Leader of Opposition Business, but in 1984 stepped down from the front bench to become Opposition Whip. Davis retired in 1989.

Davis died aged 84 on 31 August 2018.