Love’s Game In Control, But Not His Destiny Finishes Second At 13-Under-Par

In the end, the hardestworking man in golf finally ran out of holes to play.

Davis Love III, who had entered nearly every tournament over the past six weeks trying to qualify for the Masters, got to Augusta by winning a playoff with four days to spare.

Then he put to rest his reputation for choking in the big tournaments with the best four rounds of his life: a 13-under 275 that would have been good enough to win 16 of the last 18 Masters and earn a spot in a playoff the other two.

“I was close to perfect,” said Love, who broke par every round and finished with a 6-under 66.

But he wasn’t perfect enough to catch Ben Crenshaw, who began the final round three shots ahead of Love and clinched a one-shot victory with birdies on two of the final three holes.

All Love could do was watch from a nearby cabin.

“It’s hard because you have no control anymore,” he said of playing five groups ahead of Crenshaw. “You’ve got to watch Ben Crenshaw putt 10-footers for birdie and you know he’s going to make them.

“It was just nice to have a chance. I could have played better but it also could have been worse.”

Love had six birdies on the day but bemoaned a trio of opportunities that got away. He missed a short birdie putt at No. 9 and also settled for par at the 13th, a 485-yard, par-5 that usually provides a great opportunity to make up strokes but gave him trouble the whole week.

Then at No. 16, Love had his only bogey of the day. His seveniron sailed over the green by 40 yards - “I still don’t know how it went that far,” he said - followed by a three-putt.

“I’ll think about that a while,” he said.

Love, who had never even had a top-10 finish in a major tournament, played five of the six weekends prior to the Masters trying to qualify. He took it down to the last shot by winning on the second hole of a playoff at the FreeportMcMoRan Classic in New Orleans, after squandering a twoshot lead to Mike Heinen in the final two holes of regulation.

After a draining seven weeks, Love conceded that his legs were getting heavy when he came up 18 the final time.

“Tromping up that hill to get my yardage and then back down and back up again,” he said, “it took a lot out of me.”

“He fought so hard to get here,” Crenshaw said. “That was emotional in itself. My wife and I cheered and roared that victory (at New Orleans). I know how much he loves this place. I wish it wasn’t him that was in second place.”

Love expressed similar sentiments, knowing what Crenshaw went through with the recent death of his coach and close friend Harvey Penick, who also happened to coach Love’s father in college. Crenshaw, in fact, called Love and told him he should skip Wednesday’s funeral and work on his game.

“If I had been beaten by another player, it would have been more disappointing,” Love said. “What Ben did for me probably gave me a chance to play well in the tournament.”

Love also was glad to put to rest all those questions about his poor play in major tournaments.

“I certainly won’t get any more questions about not finishing in the top 10 in a Masters,” he said with a grin. “At least I won’t have to answer that one anymore.

“I still think they’ll throw me in there in with Corey (Pavin) and Jesper (Parnevik) and the guys who’ve never won a major. I’ve got to build on it. I won’t leave here feeling like I played as well as I can play, but at least I know I can compete with Greg Norman and Ben Crenshaw and those guys.”

Crenshaw, who picked up his second green jacket, expects Love to win one someday.

“Davis was fabulous,” Gentle Ben said. “He’s going to win this. I think he’s going to win a number of green jackets. There’s no question about that. He’s so loaded with talent.”

Daly’s quiet exit

John Daly had a quiet - and relatively productive - week, finishing in 45th place with a 72-hole score of 8-over 296.

Daly had two under-par rounds, but hurt himself with a 75 on the first day and a fat 81 yesterday.

Said Daly: “It’s frustrating…I firmly believe you have to have some luck to win here. I guess this is where patience will have to come in.”

Daly had his normal large gallery and was on his best behavior. Unusually, he relied less on his driver than in the past. He averaged 297.4 yards to finish third in average drive length behind “Tiger” Woods and Davis Love III.

Off the board

Fred Couples, the 1992 champion, was just one stroke behind the leaders when the final round started, but he bogeyed four of the last eight holes, including three straight (11-13), and limped in at 3-over 75, the worst score among the leaders.

Phil Mickelson didn’t fare much better. He shot 1-over 73, and like Couples, had a double bogey on the front nine. Both also had eagles - Mickelson at the 13th and Couples at No.8.

Mickelson’s final score of 8-under 280 is the lowest score ever by a left-hander in the Masters, breaking Bob Charles’ mark of 286 in 1968.