While the most of the golf world’s attention this weekend was on the
BMW PGA Championship in Europe or the Byron Nelson Championship in
Dallas, many of the top players in the world were grinding it out at
the Qualifying Tournament for this year’s Open Championship. One of
those players was Davis Love who was looking to keep his streak of
consecutive Championships alive. Here’s the report from Jeff Rude at Golfweek…
By JEFF RUDE
Golfweek Senior Writer
PLANO, Texas – The streak lives on. Davis Love III will be going to the British Open for the 23rd year in a row.
But it wasn’t easy. Nor did it come without a long wait and a worry.
Playing in the first group off, Love shot 10-under 132 in the
36-hole International Final Qualifier-America and then sat in the
clubhouse sweating out whether he’d be one of the eight to advance. As
it happened, the 1997 PGA champion made the cut on the number even
though he wasn’t all that happy with his play at the Queens Course at
Gleneagles Country Club and was expecting the worst.
“I’ve been sweating it out since (caddie Joe LaCava) said on the
last hole that he didn’t think we’d get in,” Love said when play
finished around 8 p.m. Monday at a par-71, 6,856-yard course that
played short because of hard turf. “We thought it would take 11 under.
But a lot of guys ran out of gas on the last nine.”
Afterward, LaCava laughed about his gloomy forecast. “I really didn’t think it had a chance,” he said.
Love, ranked 54th in the world, was buoyed by a stretch of seven
consecutive 3s in the afternoon round – one for eagle, three for birdie
and three for par. But as he waited for about two hours, he bemoaned
his play on the par 5s other than No. 16, which he eagled twice. He
approached the par-5 eighth twice with wedge and went par-birdie, and
he parred the 10th twice, once with a 5-iron approach.
“From where I drove it, I should’ve shot lower,” said Love, the only major champion in the 78-man field.
But it was good enough to get him to the 138th Open Championship,
July 16-19 at Turnberry in Scotland. It’s a course Love says he has
played more than any other in the British Open rota, counting corporate
outings and casual rounds. He says he once tied the course record
there, playing with PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem, but he’s unsure
whether it was 62 or 63.
The Open is a tournament Love long has called his favorite. He said
he was proud of not only continuing his streak but getting through a
36-hole qualifier walking at age 45. “It’s a hard thing to do,
especially the older you get,” said Love, whose best Open finish was a
tie for fourth in 2003. “So I’m excited. I’ve played well there so many
times but haven’t finished well. That’s why I’m anxious to get back.”