GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) – Davis Love III won on the course he redesigned, shooting a 6-under 66 on Sunday for his second victory in the Chrysler Classic of Greensboro.
A native of Charlotte who played at North Carolina, the 42-year-old Love had three straight birdies late in the round to seal his 19th PGA Tour victory and first since 2003. He finished at 16-under 272 and earned $900,000.
Jason Bohn (66) finished two strokes back at 14 under, and Eric Axley (67) and Steve Flesch (68) were another shot behind.
Love, a six-stroke winner in the 1992 tournament, redesigned the Forest Oaks Country Club course three years ago to change and lengthen the layout to 7,333 yards.
In recent years, any inside information he might’ve picked up didn’t seem to help. He missed the cut in 2003 and ’04 and withdrew last year.
This time, he began the final round sharing the lead at 10 under. He opened his round with two birdies and overcame his lone bogey of the day – on the par-4 seventh – with birdies on Nos. 13, 14 and 15.
His last birdie gave him a two-stroke lead, and he then closed the round with three consecutive pars. After tapping in his 2-foot putt on the par-4 18th, he hugged his caddie and tipped his cap to his homestate crowd.
Love, passed over as a captain’s pick for the U.S. Ryder Cup team, had seven birdies and a bogey Sunday en route to his first victory since the 2003 International.
Bohn started the day at 8 under and had six birdies during his final round, including two straight on Nos. 13 and 14 to move to 14 under. But he closed with four straight pars.
“It doesn’t surprise me that one of the marquee players on the tour is shooting good numbers,” Bohn said.
Axley had a three-stroke lead at 15 under with five holes to play, but made two late bogeys – one on the par-4 14th when he hit his tee shot into the trees, and another on the par-3 17th when he missed an 8-foot par putt.
“I was trying to play aggressive and make some birdies, but I didn’t feel safe by any means at 15 under,” Axley said.
AP-ES-10-08-06 1818EDT
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.