Davis Love III
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| Personal Information | |
|---|---|
| Birth | April 13, 1964 Charlotte, North Carolina |
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
| Weight | 175 lb (79 kg/12.5 st) |
| Nationality |  United States |
| Wife | Robin Love |
| Children | Alexia Davis IV |
| Residence | St. Simons Island, GA |
| College | University of North Carolina |
| Career | |
| Turned Pro | 1985 |
| Current tour | PGA Tour |
| Professional wins | 31 (PGA Tour: 19, Other: 12) |
| Best Results in Major Championships Wins: 1 |
|
| Masters | 2nd: 1995, 1999 |
| U.S. Open | T2: 1996 |
| British Open | T4: 2003 |
| PGA Championship | Won 1997 |
Davis Milton Love III (born April 13, 1964) is an American professional golfer.
Love was born in Charlotte, North Carolina. He attended the University of North Carolina before turning professional in 1985. He quickly established himself on the PGA Tour, winning his first tour event in 1987. He was later to be in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings for over 450 weeks and reached a high of third.[1][2] He has established himself as one of the most popular players on the PGA Tour.
Love has won nineteen events on the PGA Tour, including one major championship, the 1997 PGA Championship. He also won the prestigious Players Championship in 1992 and 2003. As of July 2007 he was fourth on the PGA Tour career money leaders list [3] with earnings of more than $35 million.
Love was introduced to the game by his father, Davis Love, Jr. who was a former pro and nationally recognized golf instructor tragically killed in a 1988 plane crash.
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[edit] Background and family
Love was born to Davis M. Love Jr.and Helen Penta Burgin shortly after his father contended at the 1964 Masters.
He played ice hockey as a kid. As he stated, "I was a right wing, but I could skate backward, so they made me a defenseman."
Love attended Holy Innocents' Episcopal School for high school and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1983 to 1985, where he was a three-time all-American and all-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) golfer. He won six titles during his collegiate career, including the ACC tournament championship in 1984.
In 1994, Love founded Love Golf Design, a golf course architecture company, with his younger brother and caddie, Mark Love. The company has been responsible for the design of several courses throughout the southeast United States. Completed in 1997, Ocean Creek is his first signature course and is located on Fripp Island in South Carolina.
In 1997, Love published the book Every Shot I Take, which honors his father's lessons on life and golf. The book received the 1997 United States Golf Association's International Book Award.
Love and wife Robin have two children: Alexia and Davis IV. Alexia is a nationally ranked rider of Paso Fino horses. She is currently a sophomore at the University of Alabama where she is a member of Kappa Delta sorority. The Love family has resided in St. Simons Island, Georgia since the early 1990s.
[edit] Amateur wins (1)
[edit] Professional wins (31)
[edit] PGA Tour wins (19)
- 1987 (1) MCI Heritage Golf Classic
- 1990 (1) The International
- 1991 (1) MCI Heritage Golf Classic
- 1992 (3) The Players Championship, MCI Heritage Golf Classic, KMart Greater Greensboro Open
- 1993 (2) Infiniti Tournament of Champions, Las Vegas Invitational
- 1995 (1) Freeport-McMoRan Classic
- 1996 (1) Buick Invitational
- 1997 (2) PGA Championship, Buick Challenge
- 1998 (1) MCI Classic
- 2001 (1) AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am
- 2003 (4) AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, The Players Championship, MCI Heritage, The International
- 2006 (1) Chrysler Classic of Greensboro
Major championship is shown in bold.
[edit] Other wins (12)
- 1992 Franklin Funds Shark Shootout (with Tom Kite), World Cup of Golf (with Fred Couples), Kapalua International
- 1993 World Cup of Golf (with Fred Couples)
- 1994 World Cup of Golf (with Fred Couples)
- 1995 World Cup of Golf (team with Fred Couples and individual title)
- 1996 Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge (with Fred Couples and Payne Stewart)
- 1997 Lincoln-Mercury Kapalua International
- 1998 The Crowns (Japan Golf Tour)
- 2000 CVS Charity Classic (with Justin Leonard), Williams World Challenge
- 2003 Target World Challenge presented by Williams
[edit] PGA Tour career summary
| Year | Wins (Majors) | Earnings ($) | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | 0 | 0 | N/A |
| 1986 | 0 | 113,245 | 77 |
| 1987 | 1 | 297,378 | 33 |
| 1988 | 0 | 156,068 | 75 |
| 1989 | 0 | 278,760 | 44 |
| 1990 | 1 | 537,172 | 20 |
| 1991 | 1 | 686,361 | 8 |
| 1992 | 3 | 1,191,630 | 2 |
| 1993 | 2 | 777,059 | 12 |
| 1994 | 0 | 474,219 | 33 |
| 1995 | 1 | 1,111,999 | 6 |
| 1996 | 1 | 1,211,139 | 7 |
| 1997 | 2 (1) | 1,635,953 | 3 |
| 1998 | 1 | 1,541,152 | 11 |
| 1999 | 0 | 2,475,328 | 3 |
| 2000 | 0 | 2,337,765 | 9 |
| 2001 | 1 | 3,169,463 | 5 |
| 2002 | 0 | 2,056,160 | 21 |
| 2003 | 4 | 6,081,896 | 3 |
| 2004 | 0 | 3,075,092 | 10 |
| 2005 | 0 | 2,658,779 | 13 |
| 2006 | 1 | 2,747,206 | 16 |
| 2007 | 0 | 1,016,489 | 96 |
| 2008* | 0 | 175,060 | 147 |
| Career* | 19 (1) | 35,805,372 | 5 |
- Complete through May 11, 2008.
[edit] Major Championships
[edit] Wins (1)
| Year | Championship | 54 Holes | Winning Score | Margin | Runner Up |
| 1997 | PGA Championship | Tied for lead | -11 (66-71-66-66=269) | 5 strokes | Justin Leonard |
[edit] Results timeline
| Tournament | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Masters | DNP | DNP | CUT | DNP |
| U.S. Open | DNP | DNP | CUT | T33 |
| The Open Championship | DNP | CUT | CUT | T23 |
| PGA Championship | T47 | CUT | DNP | T17 |
| Tournament | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Masters | DNP | T42 | T25 | T54 | CUT | 2 | T7 | T7 | T33 | 2 |
| U.S. Open | DNP | T11 | T60 | T33 | T28 | T4 | T2 | T16 | CUT | T12 |
| The Open Championship | CUT | T44 | CUT | CUT | T38 | T98 | CUT | T10 | 8 | T7 |
| PGA Championship | T40 | T32 | T33 | T31 | CUT | CUT | CUT | 1 | T7 | T49 |
| Tournament | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Masters | T7 | CUT | T14 | T15 | T6 | CUT | T22 | T27 |
| U.S. Open | CUT | T7 | T24 | CUT | CUT | T6 | CUT | CUT |
| The Open Championship | T11 | T21 | T14 | T4 | T5 | CUT | CUT | CUT |
| PGA Championship | T9 | T37 | T48 | CUT | CUT | T4 | T34 | CUT |
DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.
[edit] Results in World Golf Championship events
| Tournament | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accenture Match Play Championship | R64 | 4 | DNP | R32 | R32 | 2 | R16 | 2 | R64 |
| CA Championship | T16 | DNP | NT1 | 8 | T40 | T41 | T11 | DNP | WD |
| Bridgestone Invitational | T10 | 35 | T5 | T11 | 3 | T4 | T13 | T4 | T6 |
1Cancelled due to 9/11
DNP = Did not play
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = tied
WD = withdrew
NT = No Tournament
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.
[edit] United States national team appearances
[edit] Amateur
- Walker Cup: 1985 (winners)
[edit] Professional
- Dunhill Cup: 1992
- World Cup of Golf: 1992 (winners), 1993 (winners), 1994 (winners), 1995 (winners), 1997
- Ryder Cup: 1993 (winners), 1995, 1997, 1999 (winners), 2002, 2004
- Presidents Cup: 1994 (winners), 1996 (winners), 1998, 2000 (winners), 2003 (tie), 2005 (winners)
[edit] Trivia
- Gave Michael Jordan his first set of clubs in college.
- Played ice hockey as a kid.
- Marks his golf ball with a 1965 or 1966 penny, and uses white tees.
- One of the last PGA Tour players to switch from wooden persimmon drivers to metal woods.
- Considered one of the greatest long-iron players of all time.
- Good friends with Fred Couples.
- Titleist-sponsored PGA Tour member.
- Has been sponsored for many years by Polo Ralph Lauren.
- Was given a custom-built "American Chopper" motorcycle by his wife Robin for his 40th birthday.
- Has a portion of I-95 named after him. In 1998, the segment of I-95 which extends in Georgia from the McIntosh County line to Highway 341 at exit 7A and B was designated the "Davis Love III Highway."
- Davis Love holds the second longest ever officially recorded drive in competition play in history with a massive drive of 476 yards at the 2004 Mercedes Championships. His drive was 39 yards short of Mike Austin's record.
- He also has a restaurant named after him in his hometown of St. Simons Island, Georgia, called the Davis Love Grill.
[edit] Notes and references
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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