Davis Love III - Part 2 (The 1997 PGA and 2003 Players Championships)

Intro Music 0:07

Straight down the middle. It went straight down the middle.

Bruce Devlin 0:13

Then it's so Davis, after uh that great year in 92, you kicked off the new year in uh 93 with the victory at the tournament of champions. Boy, what a stretch you were on.

Davis Love III 0:27

It was a great stretch, and it was fun always to play at La Costa, and um that was the perk, you know, for winning. We got got a trip to La Costa, and it was great. And then obviously it switched over to Kapalua um for the start of the year um at some point in my career. So uh yeah, I was on a on a roll in there, and then like you said, something happened um end of 93 and into 94. Uh I wasn't playing, I did play on the the Ryder Cup team, and '93 was a pretty good year. But then 94 um was not playing well, and then that's when I um I sat down, Butch Harmon, Jack Lumpkin, and I all agreed that Jack should start working with me because he was home at Sea Island, and then he really put me to work. He said, You know, your game's not where you want to be, your work ethic's not where we want it. Um, come see me in the range. And we hit balls for a couple hours, and he he said, That was that was a good start. I'll see you tomorrow morning. And we just went on and on and on and on working um to get my game back, and then then it was that I think that was the my if you say my off year or my slump year, that was the the period where Jack kind of saved me and put me back on the right track. And again, you know, life catches up with you. We see it with a lot of players. Um, yeah, married, kids, maybe an injury, um, maybe wear and tear for 10 years on the tour, and the next thing you know, you're in a slump. And um, luckily mine didn't last very long, and Jack pulled me out of it and and got me back to work.

Mike Gonzalez 2:04

So, Davis, for our listeners, just so they understand, when you say that back in that time, perhaps your work ethic wasn't where you needed it to be, what does that really look like?

Davis Love III 2:16

Well, it it looks it looks lazy. You know, you you look the biggest thing we have um to deal with is our own goals and our own um desires we want results. Sometimes you start getting into results and you and your game flounders a little bit. So it it's a combination of things that you think, well, I'm I'm playing great, this is gonna go on forever, and you just get into bad habits. And you don't have somebody, which obviously I lost that with my dad, to be tough on you and remind you. Um my friend, former agent Mac Barnhart puts it the best. He said, Every other sport, you have a team that that owns your time and tells you what to do. You know, tennis and golf, we have to build our own team to be honest with us. Hey, your your swing's off, or your fitness is off, or um, your concentration's off. Let's get to work. Um, golfers can we kind of do whatever we want, you know, make our own schedule. We talked about before, like Bruce Litsky didn't practice a whole lot. Fred couples um did what he had to do, but he was not known as a hard worker. And then you got VJ on the other end who just pounded balls. So you needed somebody to um to manage that, to motivate you. Um, sure, I I keep saying I want to reach this goal or that goal. Well, somebody has to say, yeah, if you want to get there, you have to work a little bit harder. And it's you know, I don't think it's lack of interest or you know, Ricky Fowler playing great, makes a few changes, you know, builds a house, gets married. Things change in your life, and you have to have somebody there to push you um to make sure you're putting in the time. And um that's what you hear Jordan speak. He talks about team. Zach Johnson talks about his team around him. Um, we have now we have to build our own team, and then we have to be we have to be responsible enough to listen to them and and stay hard at work all the time.

Mike Gonzalez 4:15

So, Bruce, back in your day, uh, as we heard Lani Watkins uh say, there wasn't much of a team. His team uh was comprised of him, his caddy, and the bartender in the city he was at that week. Uh how did you guys uh get motivated the way uh Davis got pushed and motivated?

Bruce Devlin 4:34

Well, I think uh uh to be quite honest with you, I think I think David Graham and myself spent a lot of time together in the early days. I mean, we used we used to change shares in the motel room. Uh yeah, Davis is laughing, but that's the truth. And and our vice used to be the door jam. You know, we'd put the head uh head up heat it up and then put the head in the door jam and then you know, pull it out. And so it was uh I I think that was the uh motivation more than what the guys do today. You know, we we we never we never thought about uh you know getting psychological uh help or uh we didn't have you know we didn't have our coach traveling with us, because uh I guess Norman von Nyta helped me the most, but you know, he was 6,000 miles away, so that didn't help much either. But uh, you know, uh times have changed. Uh the money's the money's a lot better today. Uh the motivation, I think, for the players, you know, they can have a couple of really good years and basically set themselves up for uh you know for life. So uh it's it's a different game, but uh I I'm thankful that we're in such good shape today with our with the guys that we have that are playing golf. I think I think the young guys have done a fabulous job and they've obviously followed along behind Davis.

Mike Gonzalez 6:02

So, Davis, take us back to that 94-95 time frame. When did you start uh realizing that the game was starting to come back? You were starting to find it again and and got comfortable with your swing again.

Davis Love III 6:14

Well, yeah, 95 um was a year of uh some close close calls and majors, and I was back um you know competing, um getting my name on the leaderboard, and um kind of got back on a roll and obviously um made a made another um Ryder Cup team and got my game back in shape. And you know, I I should have won a whole bunch more turnouts. I have a lot of second place finishes, and um, but I I always um felt like I was competitive, you know. I I didn't just maybe one or two years in my career where um I felt like I I just wasn't ever on the top of the leaderboard. But starting in 95, you know, it came close at the Masters, came close at the U.S. Open. And um obviously that piles up a bunch of of points for the end of the year. So I had a good a good year in '95. And um, you know, really until started getting some injuries, um, you know, I missed I missed Tom Layman's um Ryder Cup team was the first one that I missed. And um again, I I wasn't 100% physically and I've never been 100% mentally. And that year I've really played for Ryder Cup points because I had played 12 international teams in a row, Ryder Cups and Presidents Cups, and um I kind of got in my way a little bit trying to make some points to get or give Tom Lightman a reason to pick me. And um, I finally called him. He was sneaking around behind trees at the PGA watching me and other players. I finally said, Hey, you do not need to pick me. You know, I'm not 100% healthy, I'm not 100% on my game. You can find somebody else. And to Tom's credit, when he made the picks, he did call me and say, Hey, I'm sorry you're not gonna make it. But um, I had to go with some guys that were hot. And that that was that was disappointing. Um, and then again, I think for a few years there, uh, I was again just chasing um points. It's hard when you got FedEx points and rider cup points and presence cup points. Um, that can certainly get in your way. So um I would and then I I think 2012-13, you know, I really let the injuries pile up. Um, been looking back at my stats on what I need to work on now, and right about uh Justin Parsons just pointed out what happened in 2013-2014. Well, my neck went out and I had a big neck surgery, has something to do with it, but my um my power, my um my mid-short iron game has been really lacking ever since then. So I had a good long run where the the ball striking was just there all the time, especially in the late 90s.

Mike Gonzalez 8:54

Yeah, so we're not gonna let you fast forward quite that fast because there's quite a few uh great things to talk about. I'm gonna take you back to 1995. Would you remind our listeners of how you got yourself into the Masters that year?

Davis Love III 9:08

Yeah, I um I was not in the Masters and was coming very close in a lot of tournaments West Coast um into the the spring, the the Florida swing. And then um fortunately at New Orleans uh I pulled off a win to get in the Masters last minute. Um obviously um I did not win the Masters, but Ben Crenshaw won the Masters, and I say it's because of the ghost of Harvey Peanick was sitting on his shoulder. Harvey passed away the Sunday that that I won New Orleans the week before the Masters, and then Ben and Tom um said, Hey, look, you're playing great. We're not playing that well. We'll go back for the services in Austin, give your regards, but you stay here and get ready for the Masters. And then famously, Crenshaw which comes through and wins and wins the Masters. You know, that was I wouldn't say my my only shot or my best shot, but that was one where I came in on a roll and was ready to go. Shot, I think, 13 under, which would have won a whole lot of masters at that point, and um did everything I could, but I I love being a part of Ben's story. You know, that was one of those years where he didn't really play that well except at the Masters. So um we've had some ghosts um pop up in different places in Ryder Cups um for Ben again in '99. Um something popped up on us in 2012 in Madonna on Sunday that that helped Jose Maria. So um I'm happy to be a part of Ben's story, but uh that silver tray is um is not my favorite trophy of finishing second. Um, and I did it again with Jose Maria. I think it was 99. Uh, I finished second again at the Masters, but um that's always the goal. You know, you want to be in it, you want to be especially a long hitter. I I I wanted to be in the Masters and have a chance to win, and that was a fun way to um to get in there, winning at the last minute.

Mike Gonzalez 11:09

So you won in 96. Uh, fast forward to the Buick invitational Tory Pines. Uh you beat Phil Mickelson by two. Um, and uh and then the next year uh let's talk about the the big one, which was your win at the PG Championship at Wingfoot uh golf club by five over Justin Francis Leonard.

Davis Love III 11:35

Yeah, Justin had just won the V Open Championship, and he was on a roll. Um, and obviously um Wingfoot suited my game very well, and and I picked one off uh at Wingfoot with playing with him the last round. So it was uh kind of a storybook year, you know, Tiger blowing the field away um at the Masters, and Tom Kite Um you know he's gonna be the the Ryder Cup captain, and we're telling him he ought to pick himself. And um I just had a I had a I just a magical year really to be involved with um really the first year of Tiger showing that he was gonna be a dominant player, him being on on a Ryder Cup team with us, and then you know, walked up 18 at Wingfoot with one of my best friends and my brother. That was a pretty a pretty good moment. And then Jim Nance got to tell the story of my dad watching it over me and the rainbow. So um pretty incredible year that I'll never forget.

Mike Gonzalez 12:34

And and pretty incredible golf, too. Just to remind our listeners, uh, I believe 65 was the course record at the time at Wingfoot. Davis Love had rounds of 66, 71, 66, 66. Uh, some might argue that's the uh at least the second most dominant major win ever. Um the first, some folks would say was Woods by 15 at the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, but only two players were within 10 shots of you. Of course, one was Justin and the other was Jeff Maggard.

Davis Love III 13:12

Yeah, Tiger and I um argue for each other. Um that his 97 masters after being, I think, three or four over the first nine and then running away with it, um, was a dominant performance. And he said, Yeah, but you had three 66s at wing. So um it's nice to to have a couple of those where um Fred Couple said my my last round at at the players when I was playing with him was the best round of golf he ever saw, and they keep replaying it on golf channel. So I've got a few of those. I don't have 80 stories like that, like Tiger, but um those were um it was my day or my week, and um I was I was blessed that that week to um you know it wasn't quite 10 years, but almost 10 years from losing my dad that I'm I'm winning a major championship and Jim Nance can tell the story again.

Bruce Devlin 14:07

Yeah. Yeah. So after the PGA championship, Davis, you uh you won the Buick uh in October that year, and boy, talk about shooting some good scores 67, 65, 67, 68, uh beating Stuart Sink by four shots. That was pretty dominant as well.

Davis Love III 14:28

Yeah, and again, uh an old Dick Wilson course with Bermuda Greens. Um that that was that was suiting me at the time. And um we always loved going to Callaway Gardens uh for the Buick. That was one of our favorite tournaments, um, kind of a family week and staying in cottages and like Hilton Head and um like we try to model our RSM Classic, um, just Southern hospitality over there in Callaway Gardens. And um I got to go deer hunting a lot during that week. And um the fall was was always a combination of um golf, hunting trips. The old um tournament in Abilene, Texas was one of our favorites because we would shoot doves. We I think we shot more doves than we shot golf balls that week out in Abilene. So Callaway was again was a very comfortable place for me and um a good golf course for me.

Mike Gonzalez 15:23

So um back to MCI. We got to keep coming back to the story. It repeats itself. Your your fourth win there in 1998 just eked out a victory over Glenn Dale, only by seven shots.

Davis Love III 15:37

Yeah, I I get I I I was getting lucky at Hilton Head. I remember Phil Mickelson one time said, I'm not playing there anymore. Davis makes a triple with me on the eighth hole, and he still wins the golf tournament. Um no matter what, you know, confidence is a is a great thing. You know, how do you get it um transfer major championships or rider cups? But uh confident at Hilton Head for sure. I had enough plaid jackets that maybe I could pull all the green out of them and and make one green jacket out of it. But uh I got comfortable in plaid. Like Stuart Sink, he he's got a bunch of them too. And um, it's it's fun to be a part of a tournament that with that kind of heritage. Um, you know, shooting the cannon off, um, being a kind of a member of of their their club up there, and and any tournament with a jacket, you want to win it, that's for sure.

Mike Gonzalez 16:31

Yeah, no question. Uh and uh Bruce, you've got a couple as well, don't you? Including his uh plaid jacket from Colonial, I think.

Bruce Devlin 16:41

Colonial, that's right, yeah. It's uh it's uh Davis is right. Uh most of the places where you do get a jacket, they you know, there's a there's a lot of history around it, too. A lot of a lot of guys uh love to win that, just like Davis said, you know, that jacket's always nice to put on.

Mike Gonzalez 17:00

So it looks like you waited for Mark O'Mare. You mentioned Mark earlier, you waited for Mark O'Mare to get done winning all of his ATT tournaments. I think he won his fifth one in 1997. So with him out of the way, up steps uh Davis loved to win his first in 2001.

Davis Love III 17:18

Yeah, Pebble um Pebble wins there, you know, playing major championships. What an incredible it's you know, the West Coast kind of iconic home of golf. And to be able to play well on an incredible golf course and get a win there uh a couple times was a highlight for me. And then I like playing in the amateur tournaments, did well in them. Disney. Um, I never won the the Bob Hope, or now they call it the American Express. I never won that one, but I always enjoyed playing. Um, I was comfortable with the amateurs and always we could rig our pairings out there. I played a lot of Pebble Beach tournaments with um Brad Faxen and um our friends from the business world, John Lennon from American Express and Tom Ryan from CVS Drugstores. Um again, you pick good partners and get good pairings, uh, good things happen. So I was um I was always really comfortable at Pebble where some guys would get frustrated with slow play or um celebrity rotation or bumpy greens. I learned that from playing with Mark O'Mir and his dad out there a couple years, that um just patience and enjoying getting to play the golf courses um can lead you to a great week. And um I think I've played there over 30 times. That might be the I didn't play it, I haven't played it every year in my career, but really, really close. Um that place is special to a lot of players, but really special to me with getting two wins out there.

Bruce Devlin 18:47

So after missing uh missing a victory in 2002, Davis, boy, what a year you had in 2003. Four victories starting again at Pebble.

Davis Love III 19:00

Yeah, I there were some courses out there that um you know I didn't play as well as I should have. You know, I got beaten a playoff um at Riviera and had some um some close calls, you know, one at San Diego, but um had some close calls out there on the West Coast. And to get off one win on the West Coast sets you up for the year. You're comfortable, you're you're in the masters, um, you're in the big tournaments, and you can come back east and um again get to the the courses I was more comfortable with. You know, Greg Norman always had a line, well, the the tour doesn't start until Durrell. Well, yeah, everything else wasn't really a warm-up. It was uh a lot of competition. Um you wanted to get going on the West Coast, went in at Pebble a couple times, set up my year, and especially in 2003.

Bruce Devlin 19:55

So as we normally do, we we end up part of that year ends up being an MCI. But prior to that, in March, you won the players' championship again. That year beating Jay Haas and Patrick Harrington by guess what? Six shots. Another dominant victory.

Davis Love III 20:15

Well, I was patting at at the players. You try to get as many birdies as you can on Sunday before you get to 16, 17, 18, where things can go haywire. And so a couple times there, I would get uh a one or two or three shot lead, maybe three holes ago, and then I'd make a run through the hard holes. Um, you know, Eagle 16 or Birdie 17. So I was um those holes look a lot easier when you're got two or three shots in hand. And um, again, that that little turn through uh 16-17, which is created. I and I've had a couple disasters there as well, like everybody else. But um, those holes were good to me. And then next thing you know, you're winning walking down 18 comfortably, and it's a lot better than having to burney 18 to win. Um, it's nice to have some shots in hand with all that water left in the fairway.

Mike Gonzalez 21:09

Yeah, you were you were two back after after three rounds, and so to win by six, uh, you had to do something incredible. And and what that was was shooting 64 in some fairly uh tough conditions uh in the final round. You were paired with uh Fred Couples. Uh, did that make life a little more comfortable for you?

Davis Love III 21:27

Uh I was always comfortable playing with Freddie. There was a while early before we started it, you know, playing a lot together in the early 90s. That if I got paired with Fred Couples, I'd I didn't play well. And then to flip it around the other way, um, I did it to Justin Leonard a bunch too, right? Maybe something about playing with your friends, I was a little more relaxed. You know, I had a couple good rounds with Greg Norman, maybe, but you know, Greg Norman was dating to play with and obviously hard to. Beat. Um, maybe I got with Freddie or got with Justin, um, and and I relaxed and played a little bit better, but um and they pushed me too as well. Um, you know, Freddie, Freddie would never let up. So yeah, that day I came out, as you said, the weather wasn't great, came out with a a blue rain jacket on, and it got better as the day went on, but I was making so many birdies I wasn't gonna take it off. Um I did that opposite. Um, I was playing with Tom Kite on Sunday, and I had this cashmere button-up Father Knows Best sweater, but it didn't have a logo on it. It was so cold. And but I was rolling along, and I think it was on um 15 or 16. I I made another birdie or an eagle, and I go, I got it now. I can take this sweater off and be cold. So um, I was a little bit superstitious. Um, the great Bob Drum, who Bruce knew well, had this little uh segment he did in the telecast called The Drummer's Beat. And he walked up to me. Um, I think it was in Flint, Michigan, on the putting green, and he said, Are you superstitious? And I go, No, he goes, Ah crap. And he walks away with somebody else, and I said, Well, wait a minute, I like white tees and I like a 64 penny. So I walked back over. I say drummer would like white tees or 64 penny. He said, Ah, bring the camera. And so I realized that that I had I had some things that um were not they were routines, you know, like all right, you put on a sweater and you're hitting it great, don't change the momentum. Or um you Freddie was that way with golf tees, he would have a T that he hit good shots with and he'd save it for a par three. Um, so maybe I picked up some of that from Fred, but um that blue jacket, uh, we lost a lot of lot of things uh in in the house fire a few years ago. But luckily the blue jacket was at the Hall of Fame. So if I if I need it in an emergency, I can pull it back out from 2003.

Bruce Devlin 24:09

So obviously, uh we you know we go back to that old MCI Heritage Classic again, and uh I gather that you must have had a 64 penny and a white T there, too, because you end up winning in the playoff, uh beating Woody Austin.

Davis Love III 24:25

Yeah, that day, that one really was lucky. Um coming down the stretch, I had a chance, but I kept, and you know, Bruce, those greens are so small. I kept just missing greens, and I kept telling my brother on the back nine, I'm gonna chip this one in. And I get next hole, miss another green. I'm gonna chip this one in. And I was one behind, miss the green again, um, which is not unusual at 18. It's easy to spell out just right of the green. Then it kicks it away from the green, and I get up there and I got a um I chip over the over the hump across the green. And my brother says something like, Well, now's the time to go ahead and chip one in. And I I hit it and it went right in the middle of the hole. And I turned around and pointed at him. I said, I told you I was gonna chip one in. And it was all over. You miss every green on the back nine, odds are you're you're gonna chip one in. So then I got lucky again in the playoff. Woody had a putt at 17 that would have closed it out and and he missed it. Let me go hit a uh hit it close on 18 and win the win the playoff. But I was not I didn't have a whole lot lot of luck in playoffs. Um, I'm I'm maybe two out of six or eight. So uh again, the luck came through at the heritage.

Mike Gonzalez 25:44

Yeah, I think at that tournament, those those two shots you hit, the chip on 18, and then I think you hit the stick on on 18 again with your approach in the fourth playoff hole, those were probably two of my most memorable Davis Love shots ever.

Davis Love III 25:59

Yeah, and I got to use the I never throw out cocky lines or or claim claim shots, um, celebrate them too much, but I got to use the Hal Sutton line, be the right club today.

Intro Music 26:12

Yeah.

Davis Love III 26:13

And uh we all wanted to be big and tough, uh, like Hal Sutton. So I that was my one one cocky moment when the ball was in there. Uh I knew it was good. I'd obviously been around that hole a couple times already in uh tough hole location. Uh, and and finally stuffed one in there. I did that at um well to to win a playoff in New Orleans to get into the Masters in '95 on a part three. Um just finally sucked it up and hit one close and got it over with. So um, those are good feelings. Unfortunately, I think about 32nd place finishes for me that I didn't pull. I pulled off a couple of them.

Bruce Devlin 26:52

So to finish that year in 2003, Davis, uh second victory at the International. And you said earlier about, you know, getting off to a great start. You started off by getting 19 points the first day, 17 the second day, and then just sort of cruised to a 12-point victory, beating Ratif Gusan and uh VJ Singh.

Davis Love III 27:16

Yeah, it was a fun Sunday. Um, it was one of those things where you know you could you could make a bunch of of triples um and and still pick up um pick up a win. So it was a fun day. We were having some um some kind of some family rumor controversy at home. People were being kind of cruel, um, spreading some rumors around. And then not only did I win, but Peter Costas teeded me up to show support for my wife and for our family at home. Um, so that was an emotional win on a lot of levels to um to finish it off. And um I think it was Craig Stadler one time, one of those cut days, he was so far ahead, he just decided he wasn't gonna play the last hole and take his take his triple. Um, so uh I it was nice coming down the stretch knowing that I could just bogey every hole and lose lose a point here or a point there and and still win. Um and and the Vickers family uh at Castle Pines was so good to the tour. They were so uh in my family. Uh what a what a nice place to to play golf and then uh to get a couple wins.

Mike Gonzalez 28:28

Jack Vickers, of course, had uh Vickers Oil. Uh had a chance to meet him quite a bit back many, many years ago. Of course, he was a fixture on the second green at the Masters Par 3. That that was his station for a number of years. You used to always see him there, but uh uh he founded uh Castle Pines uh and uh was quite a gentleman, wasn't he?

Davis Love III 28:48

Oh yeah. Um great golfing family. They were all all the brothers, great players and met to the game of golf. And my dad was out their way and and and knew them very well. He was from El Dorado, Arkansas, and was out in and he he knew the Vickers family well. So I had a leg up, you know. I could walk in Castle Pines in in the in the 80s and have friends um take care of me like uh like my dad would have. And um the greatest thing there was the locker room guy, Tom Orrell, was one of the the great guys in golf, club pros or or um, you know, locker room manager is not a great term for a guy like that. We brought him to Sea Island, helped us train um our locker room guys. Um, great hospitality out there. There's talk of a golf course renovation there and and maybe professional golf going back to Castle Pines. So hopefully that happens before I'm done.

Mike Gonzalez 29:49

Yeah, that'd be nice. What was your milkshake flavor?

Davis Love III 29:54

Um, well, I I would just go with a vanilla or whatever Mike Hulbert had, we'd split one. Um that got to be a craze. Mike Hulbert tried to drink as many as he could one day uh in a rain delay on CBS. I kind of started gravitating the other way, going, I don't know if I walked these hills after a milkshake. Um, we would literally go to Castle Pines and show up for a Tuesday practice round, stay in a cottage on the grounds, and we would never leave the whole week. We'd eat every meal in the clubhouse, hang out in the locker room. Um, we we got to doing that at memorial as well. Um, and Nicholas would come in the locker room, go, are you guys living in the locker room? You're only only time I I see you is you're not even on the range. You guys are just in the locker room. So we figured out the tournaments that had good food, good hospital, and uh Castle Pines, Colonial, and Memorial were as much about the hospitality and the and the food as it was about the golf.

Bruce Devlin 31:02

So bit of a bit of a gap after winning at the uh international in uh 2003. Next victory was uh Chrysler Classic at Greensboro in 2006, uh beating Jason Bone.

Davis Love III 31:17

Yeah, um I again I always loved playing Disney. It was a great family week. And um I had come back from some some injury, um tearing up my ankle, I think. And um I got kind of a um a pat on the back award um that year from the guys in the fitness truck. They said to my trainer, I said David's sitting the hardest worker, but he was here every day this year. And so come back from an ankle injury and and get another another win. We hate missing majors, so uh I was going into that stage in my career where um you could kind of see that you weren't gonna get in every world golf championship or get in every major, and so winning the end of that season set me up for the next year for sure.

Mike Gonzalez 32:06

By now, uh Davis, as you mentioned, being uh uh a star student of the health trailer, uh uh you're starting to probably feel your age a little bit, and uh you got you're nicked up, uh unlike a 20-year-old on tour. Uh so it's probably takes a little bit more work to stay in the kind of shape you need to stay to compete at this level, huh?

Davis Love III 32:29

Yeah, and if if I could go back and do anything over again, it would be in the in fitness. Um, you look at the players now, um, they spend as much or more time in the gym as they do on the driving range or the golf course. Um I I think you know, Gary Player talked about it. There weren't a whole lot of people doing it when I hit the tour, but um these days you have to do it to to be able to not only to hit the ball a long way and hit it consistently, but to be able to walk. Um, my son-in-law just came back from a three-day golf trip and he goes, I got a lot of respect for you. You can walk four or five days at four or five days in a row at your age. And he goes, 'I'm worn out after three days' because most people play in a cart. And so you start getting to that stage of your career where, yeah, it takes a little bit more work. I remember seeing Raymond Floyd in the fitness truck taping all his fingers and his toes and trying to get loosened up and stretched. And I'm like, God, poor old guy, he's running out of gas. Now I'm that they see me in the fitness truck getting patched up and stretching and therapy and trying to stay competitive. And, you know, there's some great players, like Jerry Pate, a little injury. Um, and he went from winning, you know, a major championship to not really being competitive just because of an injury. So I've been really blessed that uh I've been through a lot of injuries, but that I can still get out there and play. And um, you know, after winning there at Disney, it wasn't the end of my career, it was just uh trying to manage it from then on.

Mike Gonzalez 34:10

Well, you had one more in you after uh the 2008 win at the Children's Miracle Network Classic at Disney World. Uh you won at Sedgefield Country Club. This was the 2015 Wyndham Championship by uh one over Jason Gore.

Davis Love III 34:30

Yeah, again, coming off of um a really a big a big injury or a big surgery. I was having um a lot of neck problems starting in 2012-13. Um I remember Tiger pulling me aside and going, people don't realize how bad your neck is, do they? And go, no, he could tell he was really out driving me and the my game wasn't there. So I had the surgery, um, came back, um, again, put in a lot of work. Um, another one of those Sundays where I started behind and got on a roll, especially on the front nine. And that was really um a mental comeback as much as a physical comeback. I got on a roll. Um, I think I made a couple birdies in an eagle, and I I walked in um the restroom going to the I think in between six and seven. I go, now's the time to do everything Rotella taught you. Don't look at the leaderboard, don't think about winning. Let's just play golf the rest of the way in. And um, other than maybe one one eight iron on a par three, I hit every shot good the rest of the day. Um, I made the putts that I had to make, and I walked up 18 thinking that I needed a birdie to win. And um, our good friend now, Bobby Long from Greensboro, who's an Augusta member and um really saved the Greensboro tournament, brought Wyndham as a sponsor. Um, I walked off the green and Bobby's running out there. Congratulations! I go, what? I had to make that putt, didn't I? And he goes, No, you won. You're you're ahead by two. And um so I think um the the best um comeback for me was the mental side of it, putting myself in a position to win. And obviously, since then I haven't won, but um had a lot of other injuries and a lot of other surgeries. But to win at 51, um, you know, I'd already got 20 wins, uh lifetime exempt. Um instead of just cruising along or throwing in the towel, it was nice to get one more win. And in the midst of you know, being Ryder Cup captain and everything else that was going on, it was nice to be connected with those players to get to go again back to back to the Masters. Um, you know, if I don't win that tournament, I don't get in the Masters, I don't make a hole in one on Sunday, you know, so many, so many things snowballed off that that 15 win at Greensboro. And and it was my third win. It was really three different golf courses. The old um Forrest Oaks and a renovated Forest Oaks, and then at Sedgefield. So I won kind of in all three eras of that golf tournament.

Mike Gonzalez 37:12

And and just for our listeners, the that third win at Greensboro, that puts you second only to Sam Sneed, who won that tournament uh uh eight times. But uh other than that, the the most wins ever there. Davis loved the third. Uh, third oldest winner ever at age 51, as uh Davis mentioned, he was 51 at the time. And that allowed him to win on the PGA tour in four different decades. Only Sam Sneed and Raymond Floyd had done that. That is quite an accomplishment.

Davis Love III 37:44

Yes, an accomplishment to to be out there still playing in four different decades. But um, yeah, I was really proud of that win. And um, you know, when I won my 20th, to have Lanny Watkins and Bob Murphy and so many great players, Jack Nicholas, call me and say, Hey, congratulations, you're you're a lifetime member. It really settled in. And then to to win in your 50s, which obviously not many people have done, um was an incredible. So um hopefully before I turn 60, um I can I can get in the hunt again um and and see what that feels like at a really old age. But when you when you look at Tom Watson almost winning the open championship, Phil Mickelson winning a major after 50, um, the golf ball doesn't know how old you are. It only knows the the club face or the putter face. So I I keep dreaming I'm gonna get back in contention on the tour, get back in contention on some champions tour events and get that feeling again. But uh that was a lot of fun in Greensboro um with a lot of friends around, friends and family in North Carolina. I always uh I always like playing there.

Bruce Devlin 39:03

Well, Davis, I'm not gonna bet against you that you can't win at an advanced stage because uh you've always had a great golf swing, and obviously to have won 21 times, you know how to get it done.

Davis Love III 39:18

I just got to get past the Thursday. That's what Rotel worry about you on Sunday. We gotta get we gotta get you going on Thursday mornings. And and I have I've been recently I've been I've been feeling showing some signs that uh that the game's coming around. So I said about Tiger a lot. If if Tiger through all these injuries, if he can play a full season, he can win golf tournaments. I I feel the same way for me, whether it's regular tour or champions tour, it really doesn't matter because you have to hold a whole bunch of putts. Um, if I can play a full season, um get a bunch of tournaments in, I think I can get back to contending a little bit.

Mike Gonzalez 39:57

Thank you for listening to another episode of For the Good of the Game. And please, wherever you listen to your podcast on Apple and Spotify, if you like what you hear, please subscribe, spread the word, tell your friends until we teat up again.

Intro Music 40:14

For the good of the game, down the fairway, it went, smack down the fairway. Like head just long as just down the west.