Love changes everything

Davis Love emerged from a mediocre recent period with a five-under-par 67 in the third round at the Wachovia Championship at Charlotte.

The 19-time PGA Tour winner has not had a top-10 finish in nearly three months and, though he still ended the day a significant eight strokes from the lead, the 43-year-old was happy simply to compile a good round.

Not that he thinks he has been struggling with his game.

“I’ve been hitting it good, just not scoring,” he said. “There’s a big difference and even today I made three bogeys. It’s just nice to have some putts go in.

“Apart from two bad drives (at number three and number 16), I hit the ball well all day and I was more aggressive with my swings and my putts. I’m just happy to be playing better and building towards next week.”

By next week, he was referring to the Players’ Championship in Ponte Vedra, Florida, generally considered the biggest tournament outside the four majors (not counting the Ryder Cup).

Love, who lives in nearby Sea Island, Georgia, is a two-time winner of the nearest thing he has to a hometown event.

The Sawgrass TPC has been lengthened slightly since last year, but Love expects the same formula will be needed for success.

“Somebody that drives it straight and putts good (will win),” he said. “That’s the biggest thing down there. You can’t scramble a lot on a course like that.

“It’s like the US Open. You’re going to be beat up. You can shoot a really good score if you’re in the fairway all the time, but if you’re scrambling, you can shoot a really big one too.”