It's a Lovely Round in Spite of Weather

By MIKE PENNER

April 9, 1999 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

AUGUSTA, Ga. —

The anticipated Masters showdown between David Duval and Tiger Woods began in the rough--or “the second cut,” as they refer to the five o’clock shadow that now frames the fairways at Augusta National--with Woods turning lyrical, carding an eight on No. 8, and Duval going nautical, plunking his tee shot into the drink that borders the 13th fairway.

Thus, Thursday’s first round was punctuated by two delays--one because of the weather, which forced play to be suspended for 85 minutes and then finally called because of darkness at 7:50 p.m. with four groups still on the course, including Duval’s.

The other, of course, was the finger-drumming wait for Duval and Woods to get their acts together, preferably some time before the last group tees off Sunday.

Duval, the world’s current top-ranked player, and Woods, the man he just displaced, merely scuffled together. Duval bogeyed three consecutive holes on the back nine to squander a share of the lead at three under par before retiring for the day at one under after 17 holes.

Woods, nearly floored by his triple bogey on No. 8, had to rally with consecutive birdies on 12, 13 and 14 just to break even at 72.

That opened a spot atop the leaderboard for the man now named after his world ranking, Davis Love III, and two others who also came in at a three-under 69, ex-UCLA Bruin Scott McCarron and Masters rookie Brandel Chamblee. Nick Price was also three under on the 18th hole when play was halted.

That’s right: Davis Love, The Third. He’s there, right behind Duval and Woods in the rankings, although recent events are deceiving. Love, second to Ben Crenshaw at the 1995 Masters, finished tied for 33rd here last year and has won one tournament--the 1998 MCI Classic--since 1997.

“I’m the quietest No. 3 in the world there’s ever been,” Love said with a self-deprecating smile. “I haven’t won since Hilton Head last year on the tour and have just been quietly hanging in there.”

That can be a positive thing at the Masters, sneaking in quietly. While Duval arrived in Augusta to be skewered by the media for being dull--what, a PGA tour pro?!--and Woods fended off questions about losing his No. 1 ranking and what he intended to do about it, Love sat back and basked in the shadows beyond the interrogation lights.

“It’s nice,” Love said. “I came in here and talked to one or two people on Tuesday and Wednesday and hit some balls . . . It’s been nice not to be in demand. It’d be nice to be in demand Monday. But it’s nice not to be--you know, the last few years, they’ve brought me down here on Tuesday and Wednesday and [asked] why haven’t you won this tournament and when are you going to win.

“So, it’s nice to avoid that.”

Yet, after Thursday’s 69, it was the same old same old for Love.

Reporter: “Davis, I have a question. Last night, a person asked me, ‘Why doesn’t Davis Love win more?’ And I’m, like, ‘I don’t know.’ ”

Love, deadpan: “He doesn’t shoot low enough scores.”

Reporter: “Well, I didn’t want to be smart with an answer, but what do you think about that? Do you wonder why a person with your skills doesn’t win more often?”

This was a more delicate version of the so-why-do-you-fold-in-the-clutch question, but Love seemed to appreciate the gentle tone, seeing as how he consented to answer.

“I’ve been wondering that a lot this year, yeah,” Love replied. “But there’s a lot of good players out there and I haven’t been playing as well as I would like, but there’s a lot of reasons. We could talk about it for a long, long time.

“But to answer your question, I do feel like I should win more. But I bet you there’s 100 guys playing this week who feel like they should win more too.”

Love earned a share of the early lead by avoiding the big blowup, bogeying only one hole--the third--before getting birdies on Nos. 10, 11, 16 and 17.

That was more than Woods or Duval could say. Especially Woods, who turned the 550-yard, par-five No. 8 into a wilderness-survival excursion, playing a six-iron into the trees, then hitting another tree as he tried to punch out, the ball pinging back into the beautiful azaleas. Result: Unplayable lie; approach shot around the pine cones and up into the wind, carrying it up and over the green; chip on; two-putt for an eight.

That was one for the Masters photo album: Woods’ name, in big black letters on the leaders’ board, right next to a bright green 8.

Somewhat remarkably, he left the course 10 holes later at par.

“I just had to hang in there and be patient,” Woods said. “In the past, when I’m two over [after eight holes], I would try and be aggressive right away. Now I say to myself to be patient. I have a lot of holes left. I had 64 holes left.

“At worst, I should have made a double bogey at No. 8. But on a tough day like this, you know you can get it back.”

Duval, too, was preaching the patience game after his ragged first 17 holes, including the tee shot that took the plunge on No. 13.

“A round of golf doesn’t involve [only] nine holes,” Duval surmised. “There are 18 holes involved. You’re going to run into some bad stuff. You have to outweigh it with some good stuff.

“To win a tournament like this, you’re going to have to deal with it.”

MASTERS

LEADERS

Brandel Chamblee 35-34--69 -3

Davis Love III 37-32--69 -3

Scott McCarron 35-34--69 -3

Colin Montgomerie 37-33--70 -2

Jose Maria Olazabal 36-34--70 -2

Justin Leonard 36-34--70 -2

Jeff Sluman 37-33--70 -2

Andrew Magee 36-34--70 -2

Lee Janzen 35-35--70 -2