| |
 |
| |
Davis Love III |
Love shoulders load at Castle Pines
By Joe E. Cervi, Rockiesgolf.com columnist CASTLE ROCK, CO. -
Davis Love III almost didn't come to Castle Pines this week.
After the first round of the 1999 Sprint International, Love admitted missing this tournament would have been a huge mistake. Love, the 1990 International champion, finished with 14 points Thursday in the modified Stableford scoring system and was among the leaders in Colorado's only PGA Tour stop. David Toms led the field with 16 points. Love was two back, followed by Australian golfer Steve Elkington and Denver's own Mark Wiebe, each at 13 points. Rick Fehr was four off the pace at plus-12, while Mark O'Meara and defending champion Vijay Singh were both at plus-11. Rain and lightening forced suspension of play several times and not all golfers were able to finish the first round. They will do so today, and then play the second round as well. Love, who loves Castle Pines and the tournament's scoring format that rewards aggressive play, didn't commit until the last possible minute -- 30 minutes after Friday's play at the PGA Championship. Despite making more than $1.6 million this year, Love has battled through nagging injuries. "I have had some kind of shoulder problem the last couple of weeks and I have been kind of iffy," Love said. "(At) the PGA (Championships), I didn't do very good because I couldn't hit the long shots very good. Long irons, especially. "I've been really holding off, committing (to tournaments). The reason I hadn't committed months ago was because I wondered if my back or hip was going to be (well enough) to climb the hills." Playing in pain -- Love said his arm tingled any time he hit a full shot -- he made three birdies right out of the chute. The first was a gift three on the tough 10th hole -- a 485-yard par-4 over water. "When you start on the back 9, you want to get through No. 10 and get to the par-5s," Love said. "I actually made three birdies right out of the box and I never really did much after that. I still hit the ball pretty good, but it seemed like I was a half-club off a couple of times." Love, 9th all-time in earnings at Castle Pines ($330,585) also birdied Nos. 14, 15 & 16 in a row. Love managed 14 points without birdies on Nos. 8 & 17 (both reachable par-5s). His only birdie on the front nine came at the 644-yard par-5 first hole. "I smoked it on No. 8," Love said. "You know that little ridge that goes across (the fairway), it hit that ridge and kicked dead left into the rough. I would have had a 6-iron into the green but I had to hit 4-iron out of the rough." Toms, 51st on the PGA Tour money list, parlayed an eagle and six birdies into a whopping 16 points. Elkington, the 36th-ranked player in the world, continued his string of playing well in the International. He is among the tournament's all-time leaders in points and earnings.
"I have a good record here. I have not won the tournament, but I have played well here and it seems like I know the course well and feel pretty comfortable about things," Elkington said. Elkington withdrew from the PGA last week because his caddie, "Gypsy" Joe Grillo, fell ill before the tournament. "He is doing fine now," Elkington said. "He had an asthmatic seizure. He passed all the stress tests and his heart is fine." Jimmy Johnson, a friend of Elkington's, is on the bag this week. "(Johnson) caddies up here actually because Gypsy has asthma so he doesn't caddie here normally anyway," Elkington said. Wiebe, a Denver resident who is 88th on the PGA Tour money list this year, made seven birdies Thursday. His 13 points were a nice surprise, especially to him. "I'm a little surprise by my ball striking," Wiebe said. "I make Jim Furyk look good when I'm off. But I'm not surprised with my score because I knew I was putting well coming in. I felt very confident." Despite winning twice on the tour (1986 B.C. Open, 1994 Oldsmobile Classic), Fehr had to go back to qualifying school in 1998. He finished 15th at Q-school and is trying to make the most of the tournaments he plays in 1999. "I didn't finish up as well as I would have liked to," said Fehr, who made a bogey and two pars on his last three holes. "I gave myself a lot of good birdie putts, and I made a lot of them. That's the name of the game here."
|
