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Love suffers Players exit after shooting 83

(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-03-25 10:57

Twice winner Davis Love III spectacularly tumbled out of the Players Championship after slumping to an 11-over-par 83 in Friday's second round.

Davis Love III of the U.S. chips on to the ninth green during the second round at The Players Championship golf tournament in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida March 24, 2006. Love dropped 11 strokes to finish the round at four over par with a score of 148 also making him miss the cut for the final rounds. [Reuters]

The experienced American started another blustery day at the TPC at Sawgrass in a share of the lead with playing partner Jim Furyk but ended it missing the cut by four shots.

Champion on the Stadium Course in 1992 and 2003, Love ran up an ugly quadruple-bogey nine at the last for a 36-hole total of four-over 148.

"The conditions were tough," the 41-year-old told a PGA tour official after declining to speak to reporters. "I just kept missing fairways.

"It seemed like if I hit the fairway, I hit a good shot and missed a putt. And if I missed the fairway, I made bogey or a double.

"I kept saying: 'If you're two or three under par, you're going to be right in the golf tournament.' I just didn't hit enough good tee shots to give myself a chance to scramble."

Having opened with a sparkling, blemish-free 65, Love's tournament exit evoked memories of Australia's Rod Pampling in the 1999 British Open at Carnoustie.

Pampling famously missed the halfway cut after following a first-round 71 with an 86 in strong winds.

Love became the first player on the PGA Tour to miss the cut after sharing the first-day lead since fellow American Brian Kortan at the 2004 U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee.

Furyk sympathised with his good friend's nightmare experience at Sawgrass.

"Davis had a rough day and didn't shoot anywhere near the score that he could have," Furyk said after moving one shot clear with a 71.

"He played so well yesterday and hit a lot of good shots today. It kind of jumped up and got him today.

"What I admire most is that he handles himself so well. The way he handled himself on the golf course, you wouldn't know whether he shot 65 or the round he shot today."