Love takes a bite out of Tiger
By KEN FIDLIN -- Toronto Sun
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- It has been nearly four years since Davis Love III dared to admit a truth that others were trying to ignore. It was at the 2000 Bay Hill Invitational that Love, facing the prospect of a head-on match with Tiger Woods in the final round, all but admitted that he didn't think he could beat him.
"We've been matched a few times and he has beaten me every time," said Love that day. "If anybody starts beating you like that, you start asking yourself 'Can I beat him?'
"(Tiger) thrives on that. I think he expects that, coming down the stretch, he's not only going to play well but that the other guy is not going to play as well.
"We've just got to learn how to compete with him. Somebody has got to knock him down in the dirt and make him think that he can lose. But right now nobody is doing it."
The next day, Woods drove right over Love, like so much road kill, winning by four shots to begin his run of four consecutive Bay Hill titles, a streak that is still alive.
A lot has happened since that day, not the least of which is that Tiger has continued to dominate the game like nobody else. Even now, he remains the gold standard by which all other performances are measured.
But the intimidation factor is no longer what it once was. That isn't to suggest anyone takes Woods for granted, but he has at least proven himself mortal by failing to win any of the past six major championships.
Yesterday, Love and Woods were paired in the third round of the $5 million US Target World Challenge, a tournament near and dear to Tiger's heart. They both began the day at two-under par, just a shot off the lead. At the end of the day, Love had tied the competitive course record at Sherwood Country Club, with a round of nine-under-par 63. Woods shot even-par 72.
"I don't know if I could have done that a few years ago against Tiger," Love said. "Now this isn't a major championship but I still feel more comfortable being out there with Tiger than I once did. It helps to be confident and playing as consistently well as I have this year.
"But it's also an attitude that I've developed about playing the golf course and not trying to beat a particular person. More than that, I have become better friends with Tiger. Don't get me wrong: he still wants to beat you every time he's out there. But I just have more of a comfort level out there now."
Love's red-hot round was two shots better than K. J. Choi's 65 and those two will go head to head in today's final pairing, with Choi three shots behind in pursuit of the first prize of $1.2 million. Harrington is three more shots back, one ahead of Mike Weir and they will be in the second-last pairing in the field of 16.
Weir shot 69 yesterday but still came off the golf course disgusted with his putting. He resisted the urge once again to putt with his wedge, as he did on the 18th hole on Friday.
"But I thought about it," he said. "I'm just playing horribly. I made an eight-foot putt on the first hole and that was my longest putt all day."
Weir must have been forgetting the tricky downhill 35-footer he nailed for birdie at the eighth but there was no denying that was an exception.
"I felt like I had to hit it close enough for a tap-in to make anything."
Love, on the other hand had it all going. Every cup looked to him the size of a sewer pipe.
"I felt like I was going to birdie every hole," he said. "And I almost did.
