Love Is Left Feeling Like a Million Bucks

Question: How long has it been since Davis Love III won a tournament?

Answer: II years.

He’s sort of hard to overlook, always wearing those shirts with the horizontal stripes, a cap jerked down to ear level and carrying himself in a gait so stiff he seems to have a titanium spine.

Love was the third guy in a two-man race when Sunday’s final round began at Sherwood Country Club, but he wound up alone at the top, beating Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia and winning the Williams World Challenge.

Love, who hasn’t won a PGA Tour event in 30 months, had six birdies and an eagle and led by at least two shots over the last six holes. Love’s 64 gave him a 22-under 266 that was worth $1 million and a two-shot victory over Woods.

For a guy who sought treatment for an ailing back Wednesday, winning again felt good, Love said.

“It’s been a while,” he said. “It’s not a 150-player field, but it’s a pretty strong field.

“No matter what you call this tournament, you’ve got Tiger Woods, Sergio Garcia and Freddie Couples on the last day and there’s a million dollars at stake, that will get your attention.

“Obviously this is not the last nine at the Masters or the U.S. Open, but it’s pretty serious golf.”

Serious enough that Love came from four shots down on the fifth hole to lead by two after 11, a streak helped by a birdie-birdie-eagle stretch from nine through 11.

Woods closed with a 69, but struggled with his putting. He three-putted three greens. Here’s another important statistic: $500,000 for second place.

“It just didn’t work out,” Woods said.

It didn’t work out for Garcia, either. He led each of the first three rounds, but made double bogey at the 17th on Sunday and fell into third place with a 73.

“Unfortunately, it wasn’t my day,” said Garcia, who earned $350,000 nonetheless.

It was Love’s day. Of course, there’s nothing official about the Williams World Challenge, except that the money is real and you can spend it like crazy. Even so, a win is a win, especially in Love’s domain. Since Love’s last PGA Tour victory, the 1998 Heritage Classic, Woods has won 18 PGA Tour events and 23 worldwide.

This is not a PGA Tour event and Woods never wants it to become one, but Love can take something tangible away from his victory . . . something besides the $1 million, which seems reward enough.

“It’s nice to shoot a 64,” Love said. “It’s just the excitement. It’s good to win.”

Love said there are several reasons players experience winless streaks, but he blamed his on trying too hard.

No matter what happened, there was little room for complaints. Mark O’Meara closed with a 72 and finished last at three-over-par 291, but his payday was still $120,000.

And while Sherwood proved to be an entertaining, if not a particularly challenging course for the pros, the Jack Nicklaus-designed layout still took a couple of hits because of its quirky seventh hole. That’s the hole with the huge boulder right in the middle of the fairway.

“I know where Mickey Mouse lives,” Hal Sutton joked. “Right under that rock on the seventh fairway.”

Sutton was next to last.

“Next year, I’m going to play Sun City instead,” he joked. The South African event runs concurrently with the Williams.

Paid attendance Sunday was 14,186 and brought the seven-day total to 38,714.

“We had great weather and a great tournament,” Woods said. “I think Davis probably feels the same way, you know.”