CASTLE ROCK, Colo. (AP) – Davis Love III tied a PGA Tour record with three eagles Friday and increased his lead at The International.

Love, who held a 5-point lead after the first round, boosted his advantage to as much as 25 points during the second round.

Adding 17 points to the 19 points he earned in the opening round, Love had a 36-hole total of 36 points under the modified Stableford scoring system used in this event.

Asked if he has ever had back-to-back rounds like this, Love said, “I don’t think so. These are two pretty incredible back-to-back rounds. Everything is going just right.”

He eagled three of his first 10 holes – worth 5 points apiece – and threatened to run away with the tournament at Castle Pines Golf Club.

“Davis is doing something unbelievable,” said Sergio Garcia, who had 10 points. “We’re pretty much playing for second at the moment.”

Added Darren Clarke, who had 9 points, “If he keeps doing what he’s doing the rest of the tournament, no one will catch him.”

With half of the field having completed the second round, Love had a 17-point lead over Vijay Singh and journeyman Kent Jones, both at 19. Singh had a 15-point round Friday and Jones 14.

Charles Howell III had 18 points through seven holes Friday, and Bob Tway had 18 points through nine holes. Retief Goosen had a 36-hole total of 17.

The scoring system gives players 8 points for a double eagle, 5 points for an eagle, 2 points for birdie, zero for par, minus-1 for bogey and minus-3 for double bogey or worse. Beem won last year with a four-round total of 44 points, including 19 on Sunday.

Three eagles in a round ties the Tour record, accomplished 12 times previously – most recently in 2001 by Mathew Goggin in the Invensys Classic at Las Vegas. Love was one of the previous record-holders, doing it in the Hawaiian Open in 1994.

It’s the first time a player has posted three eagles in a round of this 18-year-old tournament. Love’s point total was also a 36-hole record for the event.

“Yesterday, I was talking about making 10 birdies and no eagles,” Love said, “and today I got all the eagles. On our first nine, Greg (Norman) was laughing at me, how many putts I was making.”

Then I started hitting them close and didn’t have to putt.”

Starting at No. 10, Love birdied the 10th and 12th holes with 20- and 15-foot putts. He then reached the par-5, 623-yard 14th hole in two and made a 30-foot putt for eagle.

After missing the green at No. 16 and taking bogey, he eagled the par-5 17th, hitting a 4-iron to six inches.

He added another eagle at the 644-yard first hole, firing a 3-iron to eight feet. A six-foot birdie putt followed at No. 2.

At that point he had 39 points, and his next closest pursuers had 14.

Love finally faltered at the par-5 eighth hole, where he took a double bogey and lost 3 points. He pulled his drive into bushes, took a drop that remained under some limbs, and couldn’t advance his next shot very far.

“I wanted to get in the 40s,” Love said. “It was just unfortunate the way I finished.”

AP-ES-08-08-03 1754EDT