Associated Press
Thursday, May 11
IRVING, Texas -- Winless in his last 53 starts on the PGA Tour, Davis Love III decided to stop being so obsessed with beating Tiger Woods or anyone else and start concentrating on playing good golf.
The first round of the Byron Nelson Classic on Thursday proved to be quite a test.
On a brutally tough day of hot, whipping winds that bewildered Woods, Love holed a 40-foot chip and a couple of 30-foot putts for a 4-under 66 on the TPC at Las Colinas to share the lead with Blaine McCallister.
Among those two strokes back were two-time U.S. Open champion Lee Janzen -- no stranger to tough conditions -- and Sergio Garcia. Masters champion Vijay Singh was in a large group at 69.
"I hung in there real good. I did everything I could to shoot a good score," Love said.
It took everything he had.
Gusts were up to 38 mph and blew sideways, the kind of wind that makes fairways look like tiny strips of land and requires near flawless contact to keep the ball on line. The better proof was on the scorecards.
Only 17 players managed to break par on Las Colinas or Cottonwood Valley, compared to 103 scores under 70 in the first round a year ago.
Woods, who opened with a 61 last year, was 12 shots worse this time. Baffled by approach shots that sailed over the green, he took a double-bogey from the bunker on No. 14 and played the last five holes in 5-over for a 73.
It matched his worst score in relation to par this year, and put him in jeopardy of missing the cut for the first time in 48 PGA Tour events.
"With the wind blowing this hard, mis-hit shots are going to be magnified to the point where you hit it in some places you probably shouldn't be," Woods said.
Asked what he would work on after his round, Woods said, "Probably my right thumb on the remote. In this wind, it really makes no sense to hit balls."
David Duval had one of only four birdies on No. 18 for an even-par 70. All in all, a decent day, especially compared to some of the other horror stories.
Justin Leonard, a favorite among his hometown gallery and the 88-year-old tournament host, failed to record a birdie in his round of 80. Five others were in the 80s, although none has ever won a British Open.
The field averaged a 73.7 on Las Colinas and a 72.4 at Cottonwood Valley, both playing as par-70 layouts.
Love surged into the lead with a birdie on No. 15, one of only two on the day. The real shot in the arm -- and maybe in the first round -- was on the par-5 16th, which played dead into the wind.
Love watched Brandel Chamblee hit a wedge that reached the back of the green in flight, blow back 10 feet above the hole and then spin back 40 feet away. He tried to play a low chip with his wedge, but pulled it to the left.
From there, he lobbed up a chip that hit the pin running fast and fell for birdie.
"I thought it was very good strategy," he said.
Love and McCallister are each coming off disappointments. For Love, it stretches over two years dating to his last victory in the 1998 MCI Classic.
McCallister only has to look back four days to the final round of the Compaq Classic in New Orleans, where he bogeyed the 18th to fall into a playoff, missed a 4-footer to win on the first extra hole and eventually lost to Carlos Franco.
"That hurt," he said. "But I came here with another goal, and that was to play well and I'm off to a good start. I'm excited about that."
Love also came to Dallas with another goal -- play well and let winning take care of itself.
That hasn't been the case lately. Love keeps finishing second, six times since his last PGA Tour victory.
"Everybody's goal is to win, but I was pushing a little too hard," he said. "It became more than a goal. I've been going backwards rather than forward the last couple of months because I have been trying way too hard."
What helped change his thinking was two weeks off, and playing a few holes with his 6-year-old son. On a nice afternoon that fathers spend with their sons, Love hit four shots, all of them perfect.
"I said, 'You've got to go back out there and play like that.' Sure, play to win, but not get obsessed with beating Tiger, beating David Duval. Just play golf and have fun," Love said.
Even on a difficult day, even with a three-putt bogey to finish his round, Love managed to do just that. If he can keep it up for 54 more holes, there might reason to really celebrate.
Divots
Singh and Jesper Parnevik still had enough energy left to play tennis on the indoor courts of the Four Seasons Resort after their round.
Notah Begay III usually putts right-handed and left-handed with his blade model, depending on the break. On Thursday, he used a Ping Anser with the cavity back and putted only from the right side. He had a 75.
Hal Sutton said he might not play in The Memorial because his left Achilles' tendon has been giving him trouble the past two weeks.
Because of a forecast for the heat index to be in the 90s, caddies were allowed to wear shorts on the mainland for the first time this year.
Defending champion Loren Roberts took time out before the tournament to visit the J. Erik Jonsson Community School with his wife. The school involves children and parents in an urban educational program.
Thursday, May 11
IRVING, Texas -- Winless in his last 53 starts on the PGA Tour, Davis Love III decided to stop being so obsessed with beating Tiger Woods or anyone else and start concentrating on playing good golf.
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| Davis Love III had six birdies and two bogeys on the more difficult TPC at Las Colinas. |
