ESPN.com - Golf Online - Love takes three-shot lead

Associated Press
Sunday, February 25

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. – Not long after slipping on his rain gear and hitting his first tee shot through a cold, steady rain, Davis Love III knew exactly what he had to do Saturday in the Nissan Open. Get in the lead, and stay in the lead.

It took him longer than he imagined, but he got the job done.


	Davis Love III drives off the ninth tee on Saturday.

With rain dripping from the brim of his hat, Love rammed in a 40-foot birdie putt from just off the 17th green and opened up a three-stroke lead on soggy and suddenly long Riviera Country Club.

By the end of the day, he was in an ideal spot -- out of the rain, and in the lead at 10-under 203 with no guarantee another round will be played.

"It was in the front of my mind that I had to play as good a round as I could to get ahead and be ahead in case something happens tomorrow," said Love, who had a 3-under 68 despite struggling with his driver late in the round.

The forecast calls for more rain on Sunday. When -- or if -- the final round gets under way, Love will have a three-stroke headstart on Corey Pavin, Dennis Paulson, Robert Allenby and Craig Barlow as he tries to win for the second time in three weeks.

Tiger Woods was five strokes behind, a deficit that looms even larger at Riviera.

"In bad conditions, it's a bigger lead than on other courses," Love said.

At least everyone knows for sure who they are chasing. When Love made the turn, he was tied with Michael Muehr and 25 players were within four shots.

Thanks to a great par save on the 11th and an unlikely birdie on the 17th, Love gave the rest of the field a tough task -- catching the hottest player in the game. Love won three weeks ago at Pebble Beach and a week later lost in a playoff at Torrey Pines.

"The guy who controls his nerves and stays patient usually comes out on top. That's why Davis is there," said Allenby, who bogeyed the 18th for a 69 and was at 206.

Pavin returned to his old swing coach four weeks ago and took a big step toward returning to his old form. He put on a magnificent putting display for Woods and had a 67 to give himself a chance for his first victory since 1996.

"My putter was really working well," said Pavin, who took only 22 putts. "It made up for a lot of things today."

Paulson had a 68, while Barlow had a 70. Another stroke back at 207 were Muehr, Nick Price and Jeff Sluman. Seventeen players were within five shots of the lead.

Nothing went according to plan for Love. He was in perfect position to take the lead with a drive that nearly reached the green on the 315-yard 10th hole, but his pitch took a bad hop off the downslope and rolled through the green to the fringe. Love made the 20-foot birdie putt from the fringe.

He was in serious trouble on the par-5 11th with a drive way left against the net of the practice range. He pitched out, hit 3-wood left of the green and his fourth shot 20 feet from the hole, but made the par putt.

Another errant drive on the 12th led to a bogey, but Love hit his best drive on the difficult 13th for a birdie to get back on track.

Woods made 15 straight pars in his round of 69, but his position was hard to define. He has not been particularly sharp all week, has never challenged the leaders and picked up no ground on Saturday. And yet, he was only five strokes out of the lead.

He is one good round away from being in serious contention, maybe even winning. But that has been elusive so far this week.

"On this golf course, you really do have to play well to shoot a good number," Woods said. "If I go out there tomorrow and hit the ball well, and give myself some chances, hopefully the putts will fall and I'll get right back in this tournament."

He saw a bunch of putts fall on Saturday, but only because he played with Pavin.

Despite watching Woods belt it by some 50 yards most of the day, Pavin compensated with the shortest stick in the bag, his old Bulls Eye putter. He one-putted the first eight holes -- only two of those for birdie.

"It was a wonderful putting display, fun to watch," Woods said after Pavin rolled in a 12-footer for par on the final hole.

Pavin hasn't had this good of a chance to win in about two years, and it helps being on a course where every fairway is like a walk down memory lane. Pavin was a back-to-back winner of this tournament in 1994-95.

The best reunion of all took place four weeks ago, when Pavin returned to swing coach Bruce Hamilton after a six-year absence. He has worked on bringing more power into his swing, which can only help. Pavin is dead last in driving distance, and played the 576-yard 17th hole with a driver, 3-wood, 4-iron and a birdie putt from 40 feet.

But he has proven his entire career that he can score without the long ball.

"It's always exciting to be back in the hunt," Pavin said.

And at the end of a rainy day, he knew exactly whom he was hunting.

Divots
For a guy who is making $54 million in endorsements alone this year, Tiger Woods was in need of a penny when he got to the first green Saturday and no coin to mark his ball. Corey Pavin loaned him a ball marker. ... Although Kirk Triplett missed the cut, that wasn't the end of bucket hats at the Nissan Open. Davis Love III wore one over his Titleist cap on the first two holes. ... Someone belched right as Tom Pernice was getting ready to hit his approach shot on No. 3. The culprit was a man drinking a 24-ounce can of beer and smoking a cigar. It was a little after 9 a.m. ... Even though Corey Pavin has access to Riviera when he played at UCLA, he never came over much. "I played 13 holes before it got dark because play was so slow," he said.