Love’s Scorecard: 7 Under in 6 Hours : Golf: He makes the best of a long, sloppy day with a 65 at Poppy Hills, one shot better than Faldo.

Things it takes six hours to do:

--Drive from Los Angeles to Monterey.

--Find a parking place in Carmel.

--Make a dinner reservation at the Lodge.

--Play the first round of the AT&T; Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

It was a slow day Thursday at Pebble Beach, Poppy Hills and Spyglass Hill, where some of the world’s best golfers played at roughly the same speed as mud hardening.

When it was finally over, Davis Love III’s 65 at Poppy Hills was the day’s best round, one shot better than Nick Faldo, who took more than six hours to finish on the same soggy layout.

How long was that round?

“Long,” Faldo said. “What’s the time now? Still Thursday? One of the amateurs, Rudy Gatlin, said it best: ‘I think I’ve had a birthday out here.’ ”

Actually, it could have taken a lot longer. Mix 180 amateurs with winter rules that allowed players to lift, clean and place their balls--only in the fairway at Pebble Beach but through the green at Poppy Hills and Spyglass--and you’ve got one long day.

The rules were made necessary because so much rain has drenched the courses, which would have been virtually unplayable otherwise.

But, as a result, players could tee their balls in the rough, which was a huge advantage.

Peter Jacobsen, who shot 67 at Spyglass, knows an advantage when he sees one.

“If I could play lift, clean and place my whole life, I’d be in the Hall of Fame,” he said.

As it is, Jacobsen is tied for third place with unheralded 28-year-old Kawika Cotner, who shot 67 at Pebble Beach.

Cotner is a Hawaiian-born Texan who played golf at the University of North Texas, counts Byron Nelson as a neighbor and is playing his third PGA Tour event.

“I just kind of cruised,” he said.

Fuzzy Zoeller, Loren Roberts and Kenny Perry are tied for fifth after shooting 68, one shot ahead of Hal Sutton, Howard Twitty, Dave Stockton Sr., Fred Funk and Guy Boros.

Roberts made the most of his day at Poppy Hills, which he concluded in rousing fashion by rolling in a 108-foot eagle putt on No. 9, his finishing hole.

“The longest putt I ever made,” he said.

The keys to Love’s round were the par fives at Poppy Hills. He birdied four of the five and considered himself fortunate.

“It was kind of a battle,” he said. “Everyone just rolled their pants leg up and slogged it out. There are a lot of funny things that can happen when it’s that sloppy.”

A funny thing happened to Perry, who took advantage of the rules on No. 4 at Spyglass.

He hit an eight-iron over the green into the ice plant. But he was allowed to move the ball a club length out of trouble, then chipped to four feet from the hole to save par.

“Otherwise, I might still be in there hacking at the ball,” he said.

Cotner had not even seen Pebble Beach until he walked it with his caddie Wednesday. So he came up with a plan for playing the course.

“My caddie told me where to hit it and I did,” he said.

Mike Reid hit it in the wrong place on the first hole at Pebble Beach. His drive landed in the rough, but he couldn’t find the ball. So Reid took a one-shot penalty and went back to the tee to try it again.

It probably was an omen. Reid finished at 77, the same score Hale Irwin and Arnold Palmer managed at Poppy Hills.

The way things went Thursday, anyone upset with his score earned some free advice: Do a slow burn.