Davis Love III - Part 3 (The Majors and Team Competition)

Mike Gonzalez 0:15

Davis, if we can, let's just uh have you reflect back on some of your major championship experience. We've alluded to some. Uh let's just start with the Masters. That comes first in the year typically, uh, where you had 20 starts, 15 cuts made. You mentioned the two top fives, which were both uh close calls. The the second to Crenshaw, which was just sort of a I don't know, a destiny sort of year, perhaps uh for those involved with everything that happened that year. And then the second to Jose Maria, which was sort of uh, you know, Sevi had passed away the year before. The 1999 Ryder Cup of experience, of course, was coming up that fall. Uh, but uh that was by two shots uh behind uh Maria. What are some of your favorite memories other than just the close calls that you had?

Davis Love III 1:00

Well, being a part of um, you know, Ben Crenshaw's story of winning the Masters after losing Harvey. My dad played for Harvey. Um, that's the fondest memory of not winning. Um Jose Maria um was kind enough to send me the leftover wine um from his his uh champions dinner the next year after he beat me. Um you know I I won my first heritage by Steve Jones hitting the ball out of bounds on 18 on Sunday and making a double bogey. Um Steve Jones won his U.S. Open by me bogeying the last two holes and not not even getting in a playoff. So turnabout is not quite fair play, but that's golf. Um it if you say what's your most disappointing moment in golf, it would be um not winning that US Open that Steve Jones won. Um certainly thrilled for him. He's a good man and uh and a good friend, but um that one's gonna be better. You know, obviously um major championships is what we live for. I keep telling these kids now, Justin Thomas, champion of the players. I keep telling them, you guys got to count it as a major, so I can pick up a couple more. Um I'm big uh of those wins. Um you know, growing up at Atlanta Country Club and watching Jack Nicholas win the first players' championship and then coming full circle and winning a couple myself. Yeah, that tournament, if you rank fields, it's PGA championship and players are the best fields in golf. Um I know the PGA championship um was for a long time the last major of the year, and people looked at it a little bit differently, but field strength, just throw out just golf tournaments with field strength. You want to win, you want to win PGA, you want to win the players' championship. Obviously, there's some tour events where everybody plays, um, and you want to win those, you know, tiger dominated world golf championships and majors, those are the best, and the players, those those are the ones that we want to win. And to to get three of them, um and then contend in a bunch of other, you know, w to me Pebble Beach is a major. So I have a lot of fun man, and just playing the open championship. I I came close a couple times and was in the last group or the end final groups, felt like I had a chance to win, but just to to play, I guess close to 30 open championships, um, the oldest tournament in golf, uh, I just love I just loved going over there and playing. And um every major had a reason why it was it was special and I I love playing at them.

Mike Gonzalez 3:53

What were some of your favorite open championship venues?

Davis Love III 3:58

What's my favorite open championship venue? Um it's hard not to go with St Andrews. You know, we played there more than any. I loved I love playing Muirfield though. Uh what a great golf course and a great place for an open. Um didn't play in Ireland, so I missed that one. So um, but you know, to be able to go to places like Troon and Turnbury and where there's so much history and so many great players have won. It's just an incredible tournament. But um if I could play one more, I'd want it to be at St. Andrews.

Mike Gonzalez 4:32

You talked about the schedule a little bit now of those top five events. Do you think they've got the schedule set up about right now with where everything's slotted those five months in a row?

Davis Love III 4:43

Yeah, I think the I think the PGA um it opens up the PGA to a lot more sites. Um, obviously at the end of the the major ship was the last one. Um it was hot all over the country and and they had to be very careful where they went. So I think they've got it right. Um, I look at it as there's one big tournament every month with the players and the masters. Um they've got them spread out nicely, and um you know it's there's there's so many great places to play. Um, I'm glad that the PGA has, you know, they can go Bermuda Greens, they can go bent grass greens. It it opens up a lot of doors for them. I know the the commissioner, um Jay, Jay Monahan, and the the ruling bodies in golf have all worked really, really hard to to get this schedule set and um you know just spread out the world golf championships as well and then then the playoffs. But I like the way the season's going right now, and and obviously we have a lot of golfers here in the year. Um I think they've got them in really good position.

Mike Gonzalez 5:55

Let me ask you about one other major championship experience. You were all on the other end of this deal because you weren't playing, you were caddying for your son Drew at the 2017 U.S. Open at Aaron Hills.

Davis Love III 6:12

Yeah, the most most nervous I've ever been on the first T of a golf tournament was the 50 T time first round of the U.S. Open at Aaron Hills, and um the great Bob Ford from Oakmont and Seminole is doing the announcing. And I just looked out and I saw this sea of three-foot-tall grass out there. Um and let's let's start in the fairway. And Bob introduces him and he stands up there and just hammers it right down the middle. Um, I think he I can't remember if he buried the first hole, but he was under par all day and was on the leaderboard. I've never been so nervous, partly because that's a 10-mile walk, us caddies figured out. Um major championship golf. And um I'm toting a big old ping golf bag around there. Um, I did not do a great job if I'd have pulled my Herman Mitchell experiences out. And so what Herman would do if if he didn't like driver, he'd just hand me a one-iron and not look at me and just walk away. He was the best daddy in the history of golf because he was a little large and he wanted to take the shortcuts. But there's a par five on the front, like seven. If I'd have just laid the two-iron on the ground and walked off, and Drew had hit two iron off that hole both days, he'd have made the cut. He missed uh missed by one. He'll tell you he three-putted the last hole in the ninth and whatever. But um bad paddying uh or bad strategy um cost him making the cut. But what a great experience. You know, he he got on a roll um several times as a as a college player and as a pro player, but to be able to go out there and see that he can compete. And we have you know 20 Drew Loves around here at Sea Island right now that could be out there on the tour playing. Hopefully, uh, hopefully I can pick up a bag next year on the PJ Tour and it'll say love on it.

Mike Gonzalez 8:18

Well, let's let's jump ahead now, if we can, and talk more about uh some of the team play that you participated in. Uh you were humble in saying that you were uh very adept at picking good partners, and I guess that's partly uh uh to your credit, but uh there are plenty of times when you didn't get a chance to pick your partners. That was picked by the captains. You mentioned World Cup. That was uh uh good stretch from 92 to 95 with Freddie as your as your captain at uh four different venues. Uh you did participate in the Alfred Dunhill Cup in '92 at the old course with uh Fred and uh Tom Kite.

Davis Love III 8:53

Yeah, that was a lot of fun, uh, except for how cold it was. Um, one of our matchups came back to me and said, Fred's putting with his cart gloves on. I go, but oh yeah, he's winning. I said, Well, don't worry about it. Um But to there's two of two of my best partners, and we got to go over there and play some great golf courses um around St. Andrews, and um that that was a lot of fun. Um I wish we would have won, but um yeah, and then in Ryder Cups and Presence Cups, I played with so many different guys, so many different partners um that um I think that's one thing we learned through our playing, Steve Scherzer, Jim Furick, Zach Johnson, Captain. We learned through our playing a bunch of Ryder Cups that um having a system to pick your partners and get guys comfortable when you send them out there. I got paired out of the blue with with Ben Crenshaw one time, and I was like, oh no. You know, you would think that was comfortable, but I was nervous playing with Ben because he's such a great putter. I got just got to get him on the green and he'll make it. And like putting Phil and Tiger together. Well, if they're ready for it and they plan way ahead, they could work it out. But last minute getting thrown in with a few guys. Um I messed up Chad Campbell um at Oakland Hills. I I I got nervous um in the beginning, hit a couple bad shots. He got nervous because I'm not supposed to be doing that. And um sometimes it's just hard to match guys up. So I was just more comfortable. Please put me with Kite or Fred and let us go.

Mike Gonzalez 10:37

There you go. Yeah.

unknown 10:38

Yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 10:39

Well, you you participated in several President's Cups uh as a player, I think uh six different teams, uh uh captains like Irwin, Graham, Palmer, Thompson, Nicholas Thompson, Venturi Thompson, Nicholas Player, Nicholas Player. I mean, some just some iconic captains to be playing for in those teams.

Davis Love III 10:58

Yeah, it was great, starting with the very first one. Um I played six in a row. Um, every captain was somebody I looked up to or a friend. And um, you know, to get the play for Arnold Palmer, you know, Kim and Jury will go down in my generation as one of the great captains ever. He walks into the first team meeting and goes, You're playing with him, you're playing with him, you're playing with him. All right, y'all go practice. End of discussion. Um I walked out and um looked at one of them, I go, what just happened there? And he goes, he made the pairing of the week. And um I always remembered that, and that's what players want. They they just want to go play and be prepared. So we've brought that up several times about being decisive and and picking groups and letting guys get ready. You know, Stricker knew before he got to whistling straits who was playing with who and how they practiced it the week before. Um being prepared. So I I hated that that I had to go lobby to play with Tom Kite. Like it's obvious that Tom and Davis should play together. Um, so we learned a lot back from that, and um I was just thrilled to be on those teams, so I would play with anybody, but um, you know, I I'm certain I'm certain that I wasn't the best partner sometimes because I got nervous.

Mike Gonzalez 12:25

But you know, the the experience you had playing team competitions at this high level, both uh in the President's Cup and the Writer Cup, I think you played on six teams in either competition. You must have had a lot to draw on when it came time for you to lead the U.S. team.

Davis Love III 12:43

Yeah, for sure. You know, they um they give you a binder when you show up as a player and you just flip the page Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. And after a few teams um of each one, I told my wife Robin, I said, we we better keep these playbooks down the road. We may we may be in this role as captain. Um so yeah, I learned a lot. Just today, I was thinking, I need to call Julie Crenshaw and talk about the bowl that she had made as a gift for the Ryder Cup at Brookline. Little squirrels on the bottom of the bowl. I gotta come up with something for the Presence Cup this year. Um, but I learned from past captains, and you know, obviously the more I played, the more I realized I may get to do this. So I better I better be ready. But that's what Ryder Cup or Presence Cup is one upping the last captain. Maybe maybe doing one more thing for the players than the last captain did. So yeah, we were taking notes, and um that's I love it. I love being a part of it. I'd be the all-time cart boy for Ryder Cup Presence Cup if they'd let me. I want to go help the team and watch the team play and and be be in support of team.

Mike Gonzalez 14:01

Yeah, of course, uh our listeners know you've had your your turn at at the at the helm of the Ryder Cup team, but uh as you had alluded to, coming up this September, September 19th through the 25th, you'll be leading the U.S. President's Cup team at Quail Hollow.

Davis Love III 14:16

Yeah, and um one thing you want if you're if you're uh playing a playoff football game or basketball game or Ryder Cup or President's Cup, you want a home game. You want home field advantage. And I don't think a better home um than Charlotte. Um fans are passionate about all sports, including NASCAR. Um they they love their golf. Quail Hollow PGA event, the Wells Fargo, uh the PGA Championship have been incredibly attended. Uh they're completely sold out on sponsorships already for Quail Hollow. So I think our guys are gonna be blown away by the support they get, and we're gonna need it. I mean, Trevor Emmelman is building off of Ernie L's great captaincy in Australia, where they came really close to winning. Um, their team is a lot more organized and and um and passionate about team building, about being their own identity instead of just being the international team. They're uh they're growing their their brand and growing their um team camaraderie. So we're gonna have to watch out, but I'm excited to do it. Um I was hoping that Tiger was gonna kind of be all-time captain on the President's Cup for a while, but I have a feeling you'll see him either in the cart with me or right along with me, um, guiding that team. And Zach Johnson's gonna help and Freddie. So we're gonna have a good um we're gonna have a good game plan and excited about President's Cup in Charlotte.

Mike Gonzalez 15:52

Before we dive into the Ryder Cup, in terms of your personal experience uh this week, Zach Johnson uh per the rumors was just announced as the upcoming Ryder Cup captain uh in going to Italy. He's not gonna have home field advantage. Uh I saw a Twitter took a post by Mark Calcavecchia reminding um uh the new incoming captain that he was Italian, if that made any difference in his selection. Uh but uh why don't you comment a little bit on about uh about uh his being named writer cup captain?

Davis Love III 16:25

Well, I think I think Zach flies under the radar a little bit um to golf fans, but you know, the guy's won the Masters, the Open Championship. He's been a solid competitor for a long time on the tour, but he's a two or three time PGA tour board member. He's um a voice of reason um and and a leader in the locker room. Um he has a wide range of of friends. Um you won't find anybody that has anything bad to say about Zach Johnson. Plus, he's been in the team room, as you said, as a player a bunch, and now he's been assistant captain, both rider cups and presidents cups. Um, he's dialed in. Um, you know, there's some there's some bigger names that are gunning for the hum games coming up, like New York. Um, but Zach Johnson, like me, just wants to be on the team. And he said, Yeah, I'd love to do Italy. And a lot of that's coming from the inside now. Um, it's Tiger Woods saying, no, I don't want to be President's Cup captain. Davis should be President's Cup captain. It's Steve Stricker saying, hey, Zach's prepared. He he tells the PGA of America what he saw Zach do in um at Whistling Straits and how he how the team rallies around the assistant captains and and we pass that on. Ultimately, obviously, Jay Monaghan or Seth Wall from the PGA of America are making the decision, but we're we have a lot of input now. So it was no secret to us that Zach was going to go to Italy. Um, I'm just hoping that he passes over me and um brings in the next generation because that's what we we did with Zach. Obviously, we moved Tom Layman off and brought Zach Johnson in. Um, now you see that Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas are on the committee, the Ryder Cup committee. I have a feeling you'll see them down the road as Ryder Cup captains. Yeah. You know, Zach's gonna take it and run with it. He's excited. We've been talking about this for a year or two. Um, this is not new to us. We're planning way ahead, and uh, it's fun to be involved with it.

Mike Gonzalez 18:32

And based on the performance we saw with uh Steve Stricker at the helm at Whistling Straits, Sach's got to be really excited with the talent that's come up and uh uh sort of emerged at that uh last Ryder Cup.

Davis Love III 18:46

Yeah, the the team is incredibly talented. You know, he won't get the same 12. I won't get the same 12 at the President's Cup that we had at Hazel Team, or I mean at uh Whistling Straits, but we'll get a bunch of them. And then, you know, Sam Burns nearly missed the the Ryder Cup team last year, and he's on a roll. Um, there's a bunch of young guys that are um gonna knock some veterans out, but I get six picks. I know Zach won't want six picks uh next year for the for the Ryder Cup, but I can um I can kind of dial in my team with six picks. So um I think though, once we run through the majors and the World Golf Championships, the familiar names will pop back up there at the top. We'll get a um a very similar-looking team to what we had at at Whistling Straits for Stucker.

Mike Gonzalez 19:37

We'll have you recount some of your experience as a player, Davis. But uh, you know, as you began your Ryder Cup experience in 1993, uh that sort of came at a time when the tide had turned. The European players back in the 80s had been added to the mix uh beyond just the GBI players. And uh it was a competition now, as you got into it. It was a real competition.

Davis Love III 20:02

I jumped in at um kind of the wrong time when they were adding a bunch of um big players. I had to play against Sevi Balesteros and Jose Maria, the Spanish Armada over at the Belfry in '93, and obviously Langer. Um they started adding more and more um guys like Stenson. And um, their their team has been getting better and better. Um, our team has not performed the way they wanted to, but um certainly Europe's gotten better and better, and same thing as the rest of the world team in the President's Cup. Um I think um we're we're it's just gonna get tougher and tougher for us. That's why we have to be prepared um and be ready for um the eight countries we put we're playing against. And um it when you when you start cherry picking, I wish they'd go back to Great Britain and Ireland, then maybe we'd have a a little bit of an advantage. But we're on half the world at a time um in these these international matches. So um, you know, we got a bunch of great players and it'll always be competitive, but um, it's surprised that Europe started winning and and got on a roll.

Bruce Devlin 21:17

I think uh looking from an outsider on this, uh Davis, I think I think that they now, you know, you you basically play in the rest of the world or except for Asia, but uh I think there's more interest now that they've become, you know, the the the guys have become uh more competitive to against the American players. And uh I think there's more interest in it now than there ever was.

Davis Love III 21:44

Oh, for sure. You know, I I always say that nobody cared about the America's Cup yacht race until we started losing it. And I said, how can how can the United States lose a boat race? And same thing with the Ryder Club until we started losing. And people wanted it back, it creates more and more fan interest. Um, like the Atlanta Braves baseball. You know, we've been waiting a long time for a world. Yeah. And the excitement around that season was incredible. And that's what happened with the Ryder Cup. Fans and the players want the cup back. And it just grows and grows. Now, obviously, television coverage and the internet and social media, it just gets bigger and bigger. And every time I go to the Ryder Cup, I go, well, it can't be. This is as big as it's going to get. And then the next year it's even bigger. So I think it's going to be incredible. Um, you know, hopefully I'm I'm a spectator and I can go around and watch, maybe get an inside the ropes pass. But um, I I think it's gonna be like Paris, it's just gonna be incredible. This is the biggest golf thing, obviously, ever happened in Italy. So um bringing in Europe um was a great move. Um might have made us lose a few times, but it's a great move for the Ryder Cup, and it just continues to grow.

Mike Gonzalez 23:05

So once once we get to Italy, it will then be 30 years since your first Ryder Cup. And uh, you know, being your first one, I'm sure, other than you beating Constantina Roca to secure that win for the U.S. side, what were the other memories of your first one?

Davis Love III 23:24

Well, just Tom Watson really is is the biggest memory, you know. All of a sudden I'm on Tom Watson's Ryder Cup team. He made a little speech in the Concorde Lounge in New York. We're getting ready to take off to fly the Concorde over. He goes, guys, we're going on a great adventure, and it seemed so grand at the time. I'm on a Ryder Cup team. Tom Watson's the captain, we're flying the Concord to take on the Europeans. Um, what an incredible uh step in my career. So, and then you know, I get paired Tom Kite three matches. We play Sevian and Jose Maria all three matches. Um, and then it comes down to the rookie on the team has to make a putt on the last hole to clinch it. So it's just an incredible week for me. Um it set um set me up for the rest of my career. You know, from then on, I wanted to be on the Rider Cup team. I wanted to be a captain, I wanted to be a part of the Ryder Cup forever. And um as a kid, I didn't pay any attention to it at all. I didn't come out on tour thinking Ryder Cup. It grew, it grew on me as the Ryder Cup grew. Um, and then to see my mentor and one of my best friends, what it meant to Tom Kite. And then for him to be the captain, um, passing it on to me, the the passion for the rider was a big part of what Tom Kite did for me uh out on tour.

Mike Gonzalez 24:54

Bruce, we've probably talked to most of the 1999 team. That's of course the Brookline team uh that played for Ben Crenshaw, sort of a magical one that most U.S. fans remember uh in in some parts just because of Justin Leonard's uh putt there on 17. I I jokingly referred to him as as Justin Francis Leonard because that's what Ben said he started calling him, uh conjuring up images of Francis Womet after that famous putt. Uh you have your first three matches. You beat John Vandeveld six and five in singles that last day. What are your memories of that Ryder Cup?

Davis Love III 25:30

Well, it was uh it was all over the place. You know, um Ben did some like all captain sits in Washington during the week and pairings around, and um, we were we were playing poorly and we were getting beat on our home soil. And Ben had told us all week something's gonna happen on 17. And then his little talk to the players in the locker room Saturday night, then he goes to the media room and famously wags his finger. I have a good feeling about this, and then he put all of us that were um the power of the team out first. Some of us drew guys that hadn't played a match yet. You know, poor John had sat around all weekend, built a big lead, and then sent out to um to take on you know the longest guy on the team, and um a guy that was kind of on a roll. It was kind of an unfair match. But uh we had David Duvall, Tom Lehman, Tiger, um, myself going out early and trying to get get some momentum, and we got it. But if it wasn't for Crenshaw holding us a little bit and then believing in us, um that Sunday never would have happened. And then I'll I'll never forget him on his hands and knees on 17 Green after Justin's putting um telling us, I told y'all something was gonna happen right here. And um, you know, his history of the game, his his understanding of uh of what it things that had happened at that golf course or in the course of the Ryder Cup um was really inspirational. So um he may have he may have jumbled around some pairings, but he pulled it together on Saturday night. I that's where I messed up in 2012. I didn't have a great Saturday night speech, and we ended up being on the other end of that four-point swing. Um, but yeah, I'll always remember Brookline as uh one of the highlights of my Ryder Cup career.

Mike Gonzalez 27:27

Well, you got a chance to captain a couple of times. We talked about all that experience as a player you were able to draw from, uh draw on. And uh Bruce, you and I have now had 12 Ryder Cup captains on our show. So we've talked a lot of Ryder Cup history, haven't we?

Bruce Devlin 27:44

Yeah, and it's uh it's it's it's very, very interesting. And I know uh I've spoken, you know, people that that listen to the podcast they're really excited about hearing about the Ryder Cup and what the guys did as captains and what they did as players. Uh, I think all that all that intricate information is something that they don't get uh out of a regular telecast.

Davis Love III 28:07

Yeah, the behind the scenes stuff in the team room, you know, the the biggest um disappointment I've had with the the coverage golf, especially in the Ryder Cups, is writers or people thinking that the Americans don't care. Um we care way too much. Hal Sutton wanted to win that Ryder Cup so bad, um, he was so fired up about it, and then to have it cave in on him um and controversy, it's not because the players don't care. We're trying too hard. We we lost 97 Baldurama because Davis and Tiger and Justin Leonard didn't get any points, not because of anything Tom Kite did. I was trying, yeah, I missed every putt. Leonard Texas Longhorn, Tom Kite's his idol. He he was the the open champion, and he he didn't get any points. I mean, it's it's it's just disappointing that people don't don't see how much we care. We love playing for our country, playing for our captains, and it got in our way. That was a big part of what we did in the 2016 team. Me and my assistant captain, Bob Rotella, we preach to these guys, you guys have never played together. You have no record. You need to just go out and show off in a home game and play your game, and that's plenty good enough. And um, if we can get guys like they do in the presence cup to just go out and relax and play, they're gonna have a really, really good chance of winning. And um if we failed at all any time in Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup, it's because we're trying too hard, we care too much.

Mike Gonzalez 29:47

Well, there were uh uh couple of memories of you as a captain, one good, one not so good. And and uh, you know, just briefly going back to 2012, uh I I misspoke earlier, I think, uh when I when I referenced Sevy uh in his passing. He actually passed, I think, the year before this particular Ryder Cup, and uh and and his presence was felt, uh, his image was on the bag for the Europeans. Of course, his uh fellow countryman uh Olafaball was leading that uh European team. And uh that was just uh an incredible Sunday. No matter who you were rooting for, it was just an unbelievable sort of Sunday.

Davis Love III 30:22

Yeah, so many um things flipped their way, like Roy actually showing up on time. Um I still want to know what all that led to him being late. But um, you know, and Sergio chipping in out of a flower bed when it could have been an could have been a a pickup and and we win the hole, and and he chips it in and we lose the hole. Little things happened at the 17th hole, the par three, guys making putts across the green, or our guys hitting a good shot and and um and making bogey. Um it just everything happened wrong. And a lot of it was because that I put out Bubba and Webb first, um, because they asked to play first so they could play fast. If I had gone, no, no, no, no, we're gonna put Tiger Woods out first and intimidate them, and we're gonna put our power guys, we'll put Mickelson, um, all our big guns out first, um, it probably would not have turned out the way it did. You know, obviously Tiger could have lost in the first match just as easily as Bubba or Webb. But I think we um we, I made a made a big mistake not having a plan for Sunday. We had a great plan for Friday, Saturday, and it worked. Um, you know, even to sitting Tiger Woods out was part of the plan. Sitting Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley out Saturday afternoon was part of the plan. Well, that part of the plan worked. We were four up going into Sunday. You can't ask for anything more. Um, sure, people will say, Well, yeah, you could have been five up. Yeah, we could have been, but four is really good. Um, I didn't game plan for Sunday. We flipped that around at Hazeltine. We had a plan for every day. We knew when we showed up there what we were gonna do. Um, my assistant um reminded me of that every day. Um, they said, Look, you got to make the decision, but this is what we said we were gonna do. Let's stick with it. And um, we had a really good Friday, Saturday, and then we had a really good Sunday on top of it. Um the plan worked. Obviously, Patrick Reed and Phil Mickelson made a pile of putts, or we wouldn't have won. But we had a game plan to get them prepared, and Phil always says it best. We just want to be in a put in a position position that we can play our best. And I think 16, um, 17 presence cup was stricker. Um every year since then, we've put them in the best position they could to win. Now, we didn't win in Paris, but it wasn't because of preparation. Just we got we got hit by a golf course and a team that was um better suited and better prepared on that golf course. And we're gonna have to really fight to figure out what to do in Rome. We don't we don't know that golf course. So that's Zach's challenge right now. Is he thinking practice rounds, you know, almost two years out.

Mike Gonzalez 33:18

Davis, what's interesting. What sort of impact did the passing of Arnold Palmer have five days before the start of that 2016 Writer Cup?

Davis Love III 33:28

Well, it was it was a big impact. It it doesn't matter when it happened, that that was going to be a big loss to to golf and to so many people. Um, we brought um his or they sent um his golf bag to put on the first tee. Um, we thought about him, talked about him all week. Um, I remember the first time we got together as a team, Monday, middle of the day, we walk out um to the golf course and get in the locker room and we're gonna grab some lunch, and everybody says, Well, I'll have a tea, I'll have water, and then get around to Ricky Fowler. And he goes, I'll have an Arnold Palmer. And we all changed our order. Oh, I'll have an Arnold Palmer. And Ricky and the team really made it. We're not gonna win this for Arnold Palmer, but we carried his memory with us in everything we did. We go up on the tee and touch the bag. Um, week 4-0 the first the first morning. Our team was really ready to go and and felt that presence. And you know, we carry that with us all the time, you know, signing autographs, um, being a part of an international team, um, making good decisions on in a board meeting uh on the tour. It it always goes back to what would Arnold do? What would Arnold and Jack say? And uh that was those is a huge emotional impact on our team. And it could have gone the other way, you know, it could have been a bummer, but we turned it into a positive.

Mike Gonzalez 34:54

So as we sit here today, we've got the Bahill Arnold Palmer Championship going on. How much do you miss uh not being there this week?

Davis Love III 35:04

Well, I've had a uh another little disappointing run. Um I missed a champions tour event on the passing of um our dear friend and my teacher, Jack Lumpkin. Um, been a little stiff in the back and missed Honda and Bahill. Um, Arnold gave me a hard time. I finished second there, some too. Uh Arnold said, You really need to win this sword. It would look good in your house. And I said, Yeah. Lost in a playoff to kite one year. Um, so tournaments like that, where I feel like I'm um a little bit part of Arnold's family. Um doing so much with him over the years. I played his last nine-hole practice round at the Masters. Um, you know, he was so good to me, to my dad, to my family. I hate missing it. Um, I keep saying that this is my last year on tour. This is my last year on tour. Uh, I'm gonna play one more Bahill, you even though they have four-inch rough. I'll try to play one more time around. Obviously, a few more times, places like Pebble and Hilton Head. But um, gosh, that that tournament will live on Arnold, the umbrella and the legacy for a long, long time.

Mike Gonzalez 36:16

You know, as we've talked about uh throughout this podcast, you are still playing, you're still active on the senior tour. You're you're down for the count uh temporarily here. But uh uh if we move beyond golf, uh and Bruce, I'm sure this is something you're anxious to compare notes on because you've both uh done a lot in golf course design.

Bruce Devlin 36:38

Yeah, that's uh that's uh I know it's a a passion of Davis as well as mine. I'm I I suppose, you know, I've been asked, you know, why why did you s why did you not play as often? Well, I tell you, there's a great thrill in taking a raw piece of land and and building a golf course that people like to play on, don't you think, Davis? Yeah, it's it's an incredible process.

Davis Love III 37:03

And I learned a lot from guys like Fazio, Reese Jones when they came to Sea Island to build golf courses and um and then sitting with Ben Crenshaw as he started his career, um, watching him start building golf courses. I've had great mentorship, and then Pete Dye was a family friend and um took me under his wing as well. So I I love being a part of the creative process. I really, really enjoy the heavy equipment. Um, when I grow up, I want to be a golf course shaper, not a not a designer. Um I'm learning um how to run everything. Uh I love being on the site. And like you say, you walk center lines through the woods of a piece of property, and then a year later you've got green grass and a golf course. It's an incredible. Um, I have a good team around me that knows what they're doing. Um Roos, you and I probably like completely different designs, but we know how to play golf and we know the amateur game that we have to we have to build for people that don't play very well, not for Bryson and um both ends of the spectrum. So I I love it. Um I'm getting more and more into it. Um obviously I'm gonna have like Bruce, I'm gonna have more and more time to do it. So um, and it's another thing I do with my he runs our company and we have fun playing in the dirt.

Mike Gonzalez 38:26

I would say that great shapers made both of you guys look really good.

Bruce Devlin 38:35

Yeah, they're they're an intricate part of the whole deal, that's for sure.

Mike Gonzalez 38:40

So, how many courses have you done, Davis?

Davis Love III 38:44

Well, we've done over 30 courses, probably an even mix of of new courses and renovations. Um, right now in the golf industry, tons of people are playing golf and people are realizing, hey, we we need to upgrade. Um, I'm not seeing um a rush to new courses, but certainly a rush to renovate, whether it's just doing tea boxes or new irrigation systems. Everybody is seeing a um an uptick and and play and an interest in golf. And then the the renovation um restoration business is is really taking off. We have four projects going right now, and tons of people calling. So um I'm excited about the next five or 10 years in golf and then also in the golf design business that um um maybe people realize that outside's a really good place to be after this pandemic, and uh and golf is just one of the things. I mean, for a long time around here at Sea Island, you couldn't get a tea time, you couldn't buy a bicycle, everybody was playing pickleball. Um, they're all outside, which yeah, my granddaughters. No, the sun is shining. We're going out and playing in the yard, or we're going to the golf course, or we're going to ride horses, we're doing something outside. And I think if there is a silver lining to the to the pandemic, it made people realize that um outside sports um is is great and that golf is a great way to get out, not only and enjoy a sport, but but spend time with your family.

Mike Gonzalez 40:17

So, Davis, there's a couple of questions we always like to ask our guests as we sort of wind down our conversation. And uh, Bruce, I'll let you start with the first one.

Bruce Devlin 40:28

Well, the first one, Davis, is if you knew what you know now when you first started on the tour, what would you have done differently?

Davis Love III 40:41

Um a lot. Um I I've mentioned it before. I think I could have prevented a lot of issues. Um now we know so much more about golf training, how to my dad didn't want me to lift weights. He made me quit playing basketball because the team was lifting weights. It's the complete opposite now. You lift, you stretch, you get stronger, you protect yourself from injuries. So fitness, and then I I think I would be more um committed to my teachers, which sounds simple, but um I would lose track of what Jack Lumpkin wanted me to do because I was distracted at home doing other things, or I would not call Rotella um as often as I should. So I think being more intentional with my team, like we talked about before, and and more with fitness. I just see these guys, like y'all were saying earlier, these guys are committed, these young players are all in to doing everything they can. Um so I've learned a lot and um I'm still applying it, but I would, I would, I would basically I would work a little harder at every aspect of my game.

Mike Gonzalez 41:57

So the other question is this, Davis. We're gonna give you one career mulligan. Where do you take it?

Davis Love III 42:04

Oh, my mulligan is a hundred percent um Saturday night of the 2012 Ryder Cup. Um, we sat around basically celebrating, trying to pick out who was gonna get the last point. Um Darren Clark pulled me aside later that night, um, Sunday night. Um took me outside and go, what were you thinking? You knew we were gonna load the boat. Why didn't you guys load the boat early? Send your best players out. Why is Tiger Woods in the last position? And that's I I will never forgive myself for that. Um was a captain heir. Um we had the same thing happen in 16. Um we had Patrick Reed and Jordan wanting to go in a specific slot. They said we're gonna play, we want to play 3-4 because that way we'll get Roy McElroy. We said no, you're going first. Sorry. And sure enough, Patrick Reed got Roy McElroy first. Um I didn't I didn't have a plan that that Saturday night in um in Chicago, and I'll always uh always be disappointed in myself for that. But um came back and made Hazletine even sweeter, pulling those guys pulling it off and and getting a win on home soil.

Mike Gonzalez 43:25

Well, as we sort of wind down with you, Davis, uh you have been honored with some of Golf's greatest awards uh for our listeners uh that uh perhaps aren't aware of all the background. Davis Love, winner of the 2008 Payne Stewart Award, the USGA's Bob Jones Award in 2013, uh recognized by the World Golf Hall of Fame, being inducted into that uh hall in 2017. Uh one of the most popular players on the tour, uh great man, great gentleman. As you think about uh listeners who are listening this perhaps 50 times. Years from now, Davis, how would you like to be remembered as a golfer?

Davis Love III 44:05

Well to sum all those awards and accolades up. My dad would be the most proud that I that I got the Payne Stewart Award or the Bob Jones Award or um was on the board of the tour five times, which you're elected by your peers, you're not appointed. And obviously getting in the Hall of Fame is based on your record, but he would be more proud that I upheld the traditions of the game that he believed in. Um that um I built a a PGA tour event to give money back to charity. He would be more proud of those things than any golf shot I ever hit. So um I'd like to be remembered that I did what my dad told me to do, and what Arnold Palmer told me to do, and what Jack Nicholas expected of me. Um as a as a tour player and and as a a leader and uh as a um an older statesman in the game that that um I tried my best to do the right thing in my whole career.

Bruce Devlin 45:14

Can we uh just say how much we've appreciated you being with us, Davis? You've been very, very kind with your time. You've told us a lot about who you are as a person, and not only as a great player, but as a person as well. And it's been our pleasure to have you. And uh we wish you the best that we can uh for the rest of your life.

Davis Love III 45:38

Well, thanks for having me on, and and um Bruce, you've been an inspiration to so many players, and taking on this task of getting our stories out there and down for posterity is uh is another great task. So thank you for everything you've done for the game. And uh I look forward to seeing you on a bulldozer on a golf course sometime soon.

Bruce Devlin 45:59

That'd be nice, Mike.

Mike Gonzalez 46:01

Yes, Davis, thank you. It's been an absolute pleasure. I appreciate the way you you wrapped it up, and uh, we wish you well getting your hip back and getting back on the tour.

Davis Love III 46:10

Thank you.

Mike Gonzalez 46:12

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, and tell your friends until we tee it up again for the good of the game. So long, everybody.

Intro Music 46:33

Whack down the fairway. It went smack down the fairway. When it started just like just snitch offline. It headed for two, but it bounced off nine. My cat is as long as you're still in the state, you're okay.