Davis Love III

Davis Love III
Personal information
Full name Davis Milton Love III
Born April 13, 1964 (1964-04-13) (age 47)
Charlotte, North Carolina
Height 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight 175 lb (79 kg; 12.5 st)
Nationality  United States
Residence St. Simons Island, Georgia
Spouse Robin Love
Children Alexia, Davis IV
Career
College University of North Carolina
Turned professional 1985
Current tour(s) PGA Tour
Professional wins 34
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour 20
Japan Golf Tour 1
Best results in Major Championships
(Wins: 1)
Masters Tournament 2nd: 1995, 1999
U.S. Open T2: 1996
The Open Championship T4: 2003
PGA Championship Won: 1997
Achievements and awards
Payne Stewart Award 2008

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 earned his PGA Tour card in the fall of 1985, on his first attempt. 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]

Love has won 20 events on the PGA Tour, including one major championship, the 1997 PGA Championship. He also won the prestigious Players Championship in 1992 and 2003. On November 9, 2008, he won his 20th career PGA Tour tournament, at the Children's Miracle Network Classic. This win gave him a lifetime exemption on the tour, at the age of 44. In 2011 he signed an endorsement deal with Bridgestone Golf.

In January 2011, Love was named the captain of the 2012 U.S. Ryder Cup team.[3]

Contents

Background and family

Love was born to Davis M. Love Jr. and Helen Penta Burgin shortly after his father contended at the 1964 Masters. His father, who was a former pro and nationally recognized golf instructor, introduced him to the game. His mother is also an avid low-handicap golfer. His father was killed in a 1988 plane crash.

Love played ice hockey as a youth. As he stated, "I was a right wing, but I could skate backwards, so they made me a defenseman."

Love attended Glynn Academy in Brunswick, Georgia for high school. For college, he attended 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.

Love won his first Tour title at the 1987 MCI Heritage Golf Classic, at Harbour Town Golf Links. He would later win this event four more times, setting a record for most victories in it. Love and Fred Couples won four straight times from 1992-1995 for the United States in the World Cup of Golf, a record for this event.

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.

His 1997 PGA Championship victory was the last major championship win achieved with a wooden-headed driver.

Also in 1997, Love developed and designed his own golf course in Harnett County, North Carolina. The course, Anderson Creek Club, won an award for "Best New Course in North Carolina" in 2001.

Love and wife Robin have two children: Alexia and Davis IV. Alexia (Lexie) is a nationally-ranked rider of Paso Fino horses. She is currently a junior at the University of Georgia, where she is majoring in Recreation and Leisure Studies. The Love family has resided in St. Simons Island, Georgia, since the early 1990s.

Amateur wins (1)

Professional wins (34)

PGA Tour wins (20)

Legend
Major championships (1)
Other PGA Tour (19)
No. Date Tournament Winning Score Margin of Victory Runner(s)-up
1 Apr 19, 1987 MCI Heritage Golf Classic -13 (70-67-67-67=271) 1 stroke Steve Jones
2 Aug 19, 1990 The International 14 points (8-0-15-14) 3 points Steve Pate, Eduardo Romero,
Peter Senior
3 Apr 21, 1991 MCI Heritage Golf Classic -13 (65-68-68-70=271) 2 strokes Ian Baker-Finch
4 Mar 29, 1992 The Players Championship -15 (67-68-71-67=273) 4 strokes Ian Baker-Finch, Phil Blackmar,
Nick Faldo, Tom Watson
5 Apr 19, 1992 MCI Heritage Golf Classic -15 (67-67-67-68=269) 4 strokes Chip Beck
6 Apr 26, 1992 KMart Greater Greensboro Open -12 (71-68-71-62=272) 6 strokes John Cook
7 Jan 10, 1993 Infiniti Tournament of Champions -16 (67-67-69-69=272) 1 stroke Tom Kite
8 Oct 24, 1993 Las Vegas Invitational -29 (67-66-67-65-66=331) 2 strokes Craig Stadler
9 Aug 28, 1995 Freeport-McMoRan Classic -14 (68-69-66-71=274) Playoff Mike Heinen
10 Feb 11, 1996 Buick Invitational -19 (66-70-69-64=269) 2 strokes Phil Mickelson
11 Aug 17, 1997 PGA Championship -11 (66-71-66-66=269) 5 strokes Justin Leonard
12 Oct 5, 1997 Buick Challenge -21 (67-65-67-68=267) 4 strokes Stewart Cink
13 Apr 19, 1998 MCI Classic -18 (67-68-66-65=266) 7 strokes Glen Day
14 Feb 4, 2001 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am -16 (71-69-69-63=272) 1 stroke Vijay Singh
15 Feb 9, 2003 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am -14 (72-67-67-68=274) 1 stroke Tom Lehman
16 Mar 30, 2003 The Players Championship -17 (70-67-70-64=271) 6 strokes Jay Haas, Pádraig Harrington
17 Apr 20, 2003 MCI Heritage -13 (66-69-69-67=271) Playoff Woody Austin
18 Aug 10, 2003 The International 46 points (19-17-5-5=46) 12 points Retief Goosen, Vijay Singh
19 Oct 8, 2006 Chrysler Classic of Greensboro -16 (69-69-68-66=272) 2 strokes Jason Bohn
20 Nov 9, 2008 Children's Miracle Network Classic -25 (66-69-64-64=263) 1 stroke Tommy Gainey

PGA Tour playoff record (2-7)

No. Year Tournament Opponent(s) Result
1 1989 Nestle Invitational Tom Kite Lost to par on second extra hole
2 1991 NEC World Series of Golf Jim Gallagher, Jr., Tom Purtzer Purtzer won with par on second extra hole
3 1992 Nissan Los Angeles Open Fred Couples Lost to birdie on second extra hole
4 1995 Freeport-McMoRan Classic Mike Heinen Won with birdie on second extra hole
5 1996 Buick Challenge Michael Bradley, Fred Funk,
John Maginnes, Len Mattiace		 Bradley won with birdie on first extra hole
6 1996 Las Vegas Invitational Tiger Woods Lost to par on first extra hole
7 2000 GTE Byron Nelson Classic Phil Mickelson, Jesper Parnevik Parnevik won with par on third extra hole
Mickelson eliminated with birdie on second hole
8 2001 Buick Invitational Frank Lickliter II, Phil Mickelson Mickelson won with double bogey on third extra hole
Love eliminated with par on second
9 2003 MCI Heritage Woody Austin Won with birdie on fourth extra hole

Japan Golf Tour wins (1)

Other wins (13)

Major championships

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

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 2008 2009
The Masters T7 CUT T14 T15 T6 CUT T22 T27 DNP DNP
U.S. Open CUT T7 T24 CUT CUT T6 CUT CUT T53 DNP
The Open Championship T11 T21 T14 T4 T5 CUT CUT CUT T19 T27
PGA Championship T9 T37 T48 CUT CUT T4 T34 CUT CUT CUT
Tournament 2010 2011
The Masters DNP CUT
U.S. Open T6 T11
The Open Championship CUT T9
PGA Championship T55 T72

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.

Summary

Results in World Golf Championship events

Tournament 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Accenture Match Play Championship R64 4 DNP R32 R32 2 R16 2 R64 DNP R32
CA Championship T16 DNP NT1 8 T40 T41 T11 DNP WD DNP T28
Bridgestone Invitational T10 35 T5 T11 3 T4 T13 T4 T6 DNP T19
HSBC Champions – – – – – – – – – – DNP

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.
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.

PGA Tour career summary

Year Wins (Majors) Earnings ($) Rank
1985 0 0 -
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 1 1,695,237 48
2009 0 1,622,401 52
2010 0 1,214,472 73
2011 0 1,056,300 88
Career* 20 (1) 41,218,723 6

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur

Professional

Legacy

See also

References

  1. ^ Official World Golf Ranking - September 7 2003
  2. ^ 69 Players Who Have Reached The Top-10 In World Ranking
  3. ^ PGA picks Love III to lead Team USA

External links

Match play era
1916 Jim Barnes • 1917–18 Cancelled due to World War I • 1919 Jim Barnes • 1920 Jock Hutchison • 1921 Walter Hagen • 1922 Gene Sarazen • 1923 Gene Sarazen • 1924 Walter Hagen • 1925 Walter Hagen • 1926 Walter Hagen • 1927 Walter Hagen • 1928 Leo Diegel • 1929 Leo Diegel • 1930 Tommy Armour • 1931 Tom Creavy • 1932 Olin Dutra • 1933 Gene Sarazen • 1934 Paul Runyan • 1935 Johnny Revolta • 1936 Denny Shute • 1937 Denny Shute • 1938 Paul Runyan • 1939 Henry Picard • 1940 Byron Nelson • 1941 Vic Ghezzi • 1942 Sam Snead • 1943 Cancelled due to World War II • 1944 Bob Hamilton • 1945 Byron Nelson • 1946 Ben Hogan • 1947 Jim Ferrier • 1948 Ben Hogan • 1949 Sam Snead • 1950 Chandler Harper • 1951 Sam Snead • 1952 Jim Turnesa • 1953 Walter Burkemo • 1954 Chick Harbert • 1955 Doug Ford • 1956 Jack Burke, Jr. • 1957 Lionel Hebert

Stroke play era
1958 Dow Finsterwald • 1959 Bob Rosburg • 1960 Jay Hebert • 1961 Jerry Barber† • 1962 Gary Player • 1963 Jack Nicklaus • 1964‡ Bobby Nichols • 1965 Dave Marr • 1966 Al Geiberger • 1967 Don January† • 1968 Julius Boros • 1969‡ Raymond Floyd • 1970 Dave Stockton • 1971 Jack Nicklaus • 1972 Gary Player • 1973 Jack Nicklaus • 1974 Lee Trevino • 1975 Jack Nicklaus • 1976 Dave Stockton • 1977 Lanny Wadkins† • 1978 John Mahaffey† • 1979 David Graham† • 1980 Jack Nicklaus • 1981 Larry Nelson • 1982‡ Raymond Floyd • 1983‡ Hal Sutton • 1984 Lee Trevino • 1985 Hubert Green • 1986 Bob Tway • 1987 Larry Nelson† • 1988 Jeff Sluman • 1989 Payne Stewart • 1990 Wayne Grady • 1991 John Daly • 1992 Nick Price • 1993 Paul Azinger† • 1994 Nick Price • 1995 Steve Elkington† • 1996 Mark Brooks† • 1997 Davis Love III • 1998 Vijay Singh • 1999 Tiger Woods • 2000‡ Tiger Woods† • 2001 David Toms • 2002 Rich Beem • 2003 Shaun Micheel • 2004 Vijay Singh† • 2005 Phil Mickelson • 2006 Tiger Woods • 2007 Tiger Woods • 2008 Pádraig Harrington • 2009 Y. E. Yang • 2010 Martin Kaymer† • 2011 Keegan Bradley†
† indicates the event was won in a playoff ‡ indicates the event was won wire-to-wire

1974 Jack Nicklaus · 1975 Al Geiberger · 1976 Jack Nicklaus · 1977 Mark Hayes · 1978 Jack Nicklaus · 1979 Lanny Wadkins · 1980 Lee Trevino · 1981 Raymond Floyd† · 1982 Jerry Pate · 1983 Hal Sutton · 1984 Fred Couples · 1985 Calvin Peete · 1986 John Mahaffey · 1987 Sandy Lyle† · 1988 Mark McCumber · 1989 Tom Kite · 1990 Jodie Mudd · 1991 Steve Elkington · 1992 Davis Love III · 1993 Nick Price · 1994 Greg Norman · 1995 Lee Janzen · 1996 Fred Couples · 1997 Steve Elkington · 1998 Justin Leonard · 1999 David Duval · 2000 Hal Sutton · 2001 Tiger Woods · 2002 Craig Perks · 2003 Davis Love III · 2004 Adam Scott · 2005 Fred Funk · 2006 Stephen Ames · 2007 Phil Mickelson · 2008 Sergio García† · 2009 Henrik Stenson · 2010 Tim Clark · 2011 K.J. Choi†
† indicates the event was won in a playoff