Davis Love III Still Shooting for PGA Tour Record Starts

Davis Love III had some thoughts at the RSM Classic about some of the changes in golf since he turned pro 35 years ago.

"“When I started, golf really wasn’t even on Sports Center, and it wasn’t that big a deal, and now, you know, Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy and obviously Tiger Woods are superstars in the world of sport, not just in golf,” Davis Love III said."

Davis Love, now 55, has played both the PGA Tour and the PGA Tour Champions in the last few seasons. Recently, he’s been shooting for the Mark Brooks record of 802 PGA Tour starts, and right now, he’s not sure he will make it.

"“I had a plan at the start of last season that I was going to play full seasons on the PGA Tour last year and this season and would break that record,” Love explained. “I had another surgery this summer that stalled that game plan. So, it’s going to be getting harder and harder to break Brooksy’s record, so he may be safe now.”"

Davis Love currently stands at 769 as of this week. His new job with CBS in 2020 will curtail his ability to enter some tournaments, but he intends to play around their schedule.

"“The last three years I have been looking at the CBS versus the NBC versus the PGA Tour versus the Champions Tour block of tournaments,” he admitted."

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While the surgery kept him off the course for a while in 2019, he’s in comeback mode now.

"“I’m hitting the ball pretty well on the driving range and in practice,” he said. “I just haven’t been shooting very good scores either on the Champions Tour or the regular Tour.”"

Love also knows he will have to pick tournaments that suit both his game and his age. Places like the Sony Open, Greensboro, Hilton Head, where he has won five times.

In addition, as he’s matured on Tour, many youngsters have come along who hit drives farther than he does. While he’s still really long, he’s not comparatively long the way he was when he debuted as a pro.

In 1986, his first full season on the PGA Tour, his driving distance average was 285.7 yards, and he was No. 1. Fifteen seasons later, Love’s driving distance was about the same, 288.7, and he was No. 3.

By 2005, Love had increased his driving distance average to 305.4 yards, and he had dropped to 8th. Five years later, his distance had decreased to 297.7, and he was 17th.

In 2015, he averaged 294.7, and he was 56th. This season, Love’s average of 294.6 means he’s only 182nd in driving distance. And that means that the edge he had for years, being able to get closer to the greens for second shots, has evaporated. It is also the tale of how many young players are hitting tee shots more than 300 yards in length. In the recently completed PGA Tour 2019 season, 50 golfers averaged 300 yards or more off the tee. Averaged.

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It doesn’t mean Love can’t still make another 33 starts to tie Brooks’ record, or that he can’t beat it, but it is definitely going to take work on his part. If he can enter 11 tournaments a year for three years, and one bonus event, the record is his. Will he or won’t he?

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