Davis Love III and family carry on a long tradition at the RBC Heritage
Davis Love III will be playing alongside his son, Dru, at this week’s RBC Heritage. It’s yet another installment in the Love family’s long tradition at Harbour Town.
Davis Love III remembers coming to the first RBC Heritage when his father, Davis Love, Jr., was playing in the tournament. He was five, and his biggest memory was playing in the marsh mud. When he was older, he played the Junior Heritage at Harbour Town. In fact, he won the inaugural event in 1982.
Now, after decades as a professional, Harbour Town Golf Links is still one of Davis’ favorite places. His son Dru is also in the field this week, playing on a sponsor’s exemption.
“Here it’s more about family and enjoying the hospitality of Hilton Head and of Sea Pines,” Davis said to media before the tournament, adding that the golf course is one of his favorites. “For everybody else it’s a vacation. Dru and I have to go out and keep score, but it’s just a special week all around.”
Dru remembers very few things about coming to the RBC Heritage as a child.
“The only thing I remember from when I was young was going into that little hospitality house on No. 10 and getting milkshakes,” he admitted.
Now they are both playing the RBC Heritage as professionals, but they are in different places with their golf games.
Davis was out the last two months of 2017 and the first two-and-a-half months of 2018 after undergoing hip replacement surgery. His game has a lot of rust.
"“I think the expectations — he and I are on different ends of the spectrum on expectations,” Davis Love said about his and Dru’s games. “He’s trying to get on a hot streak this year and avoid Q-School. I’m trying to get on a hot streak and like Tiger, move from the thousands in the World Rankings back up to the top.”"
Davis Love III continues to lean on experience at Harbour Town
Davis, who will turn 54 this week, played three weeks in a row before the Houston event, trying to sharpen his game. His last tournament in 2017 was the one he hosts, the RSM Classic. Then he did not play until the Valspar, where he missed the cut. The next two events, Arnold Palmer Invitational and Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship in the Dominican Republic, he made it to the weekend.
"“I’m three to four weeks away from really being in tournament shape and feeling good about my game,” the Davis continued. “I feel like if I get a chance, if I start playing well, if I put myself in position on Sunday, I’ve done it so many is times here, so many final rounds around the lead, I’d like to have a chance.”"
Naturally, Dru is coming from a different place.
“I’m honored to be here. It’s my family’s tournament, his favorite (referring to his father), my mom’s favorite, sitting by the beach and the pool. And my favorite for watching golf,” Dru said. “I’m very excited to have a chance to play, get inside the ropes. I felt the same way at home at the RSM.”
When asked what was the key to winning five times, Davis cited an experience early in his career with Lee Trevino’s caddie.
"“I had Herman Mitchell, Lee Trevino’s caddie, to take my driver away from me the first few times around here,” Davis recalled. “And he would literally hand me the 1-iron and just walk away. And I didn’t have a choice. Or he’d just lean the 1-iron on the water cooler and forecaddie. And that was my club that I was going to hit.”"
What Davis meant was that Mitchell would leave him the 1-iron and leave the tee and start walking up the hole so there was no other choice except to play that club.
According to Davis, Mitchell once told him the only way to get the driver out of the bag was if Davis could remove it from the bag while Mitchell sitting on it. Mitchell was a hefty character, and there probably isn’t any golfer who could have done that.
“But then he let me hit it off of 18, coming down the stretch when I was into the wind and playing long” Davis recalled.
Dru Love learning from his elders at the RBC Heritage
Dru Love has yet to experience that kind of forced restraint, but he got similar advice this week.
"“I went over my Monday Pro Am with him (his father) and Mike Hulbert (former PGA Tour player), who’s played here a lot, too, and told them what I hit, where I hit it and what happened,” Dru explained. “They gave me five or six things that I should have done differently. Two-iron off 9 is still too much club. I have a 4-iron and then a 2-iron. Sometimes I’m even going to hit 6-iron off that tee. I didn’t realize that was the play until I talked to them.”"
Talking to his caddie, Barry Williams, he gained additional insight such as which side of the fairways he needs to be on for certain holes.
“You have to dice this course up,” Dru noted. “Sometimes left rough is better than right center of the fairway on some holes and other way around.”
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What would happen if both Loves were in contention on Sunday?
“That’s a tough one,” Davis admitted. “I’ll be pulling hard for him and a bunch of other young guys here that I watched come along. It would be thrilling for him to win one. He needs it a little more than me right now.”
“I can promise if we’re side-by-side coming down 18, he’s going to try everything he’s got to beat me,” Dru added. That got a laugh from the media.
“Definitely,” Davis responded, “but I’ll still be pulling for you.”
Next: RBC Heritage Power Rankings
The first RBC Classic was played in 1969, and Arnold Palmer’s victory did several things. It secured the place of Harbour Town and The Heritage Classic, as it was then called, on the professional tournament schedule. It made the golf course famous, featuring the view of the 18th hole lighthouse and 17th hole railroad ties.
It also made Pete Dye famous, because he was the designer who installed railroad ties and pot bunkers on the course. It gave Jack Nicklaus confidence in his design ideas because he consulted with Dye. For the Love family, it was the beginning of a golf tradition for the entire family for the week after The Masters.