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 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.
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 father was killed in a 1988 plane crash.
Love played ice hockey as a kid. As he stated, "I was a right wing, but I could skate backward, so they made me a defenseman."
Love attended Glynn Academy in Brunswick, Georgia for high school and 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.
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.
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 pts (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 |
Japan Golf Tour wins (1)
Other wins (13)
Major Championships
Wins (1)
Results timeline
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 of major championship performances
- Starts - 82
- Wins - 1
- 2nd place finishes - 3
- Top 3 finishes - 3
- Top 5 finishes - 7
- Top 10 finishes - 19
- Longest streak of top-10s in majors - 3
Results in World Golf Championship events
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.
PGA Tour career summary
| Year |
Wins (Majors) |
Earnings ($) |
Rank |
| 1985 |
0 |
0 |
N/A |
| 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 |
1,220,519 |
35 |
| Career* |
20 (1) |
38,546,069 |
5 |
- Complete through June 22, 2009.
United States national team appearances
Amateur
Professional
- Dunhill Cup: 1992
- World Cup of Golf: 1992 (winners), 1993 (winners), 1994 (winners), 1995 (winners), 1997
- Ryder Cup: 1993 (winners), 1995, 1997, 1999 (winners), 2002, 2004
- Presidents Cup: 1994 (winners), 1996 (winners), 1998, 2000 (winners), 2003 (tie), 2005 (winners)
Trivia
- Gave Michael Jordan his first set of clubs in college.
- Played ice hockey as a kid.
- Marks his golf ball with a 1965 or 1966 penny, and uses white tees.
- One of the last PGA Tour players to switch from wooden persimmon drivers to metal woods.
- Good friends with Fred Couples.
- Titleist-sponsored PGA Tour member.
- Has been sponsored for many years by Polo Ralph Lauren.
- Was given a custom-built "American Chopper" motorcycle by his wife Robin for his 40th birthday.
- Has a portion of I-95 named after him. In 1998, the segment of I-95 which extends in Georgia from the McIntosh County line to Highway 341 at exit 7A and B was designated the "Davis Love III Highway."
- Davis Love holds the second longest ever officially recorded drive in competition play in history with a massive drive of 476 yards at the 2004 Mercedes Championships. His drive was 39 yards short of Mike Austin's record.
- He also has a restaurant named after him in his hometown of St. Simons Island, Georgia, called the Davis Love Grill.
See also
References
External links
United States
