After two rounds, Davis Love leads by two strokes with 1-under-par 141.
By BOB HARIG
Published July 19, 2003
SANDWICH, England - As much as he tried not to think about hoisting the Claret Jug, let alone talk about it, Davis Love could not help himself Friday at Royal St. George's.
He is playing well enough to dream about the Sunday ceremony.
On another wind-swept day at the British Open, Love emerged as the only player to complete 36 holes under par and took a two-shot lead into the weekend.
"I've gone and listened to (Open official) Sir Michael Bonallack hand over the trophy to several players and call them the champion golfer of the year. And I don't think there's any line in sports like that," Love said. "That's a very special moment in sports and history that's never really changed for a long, long time. And it would mean a lot to me to be standing up there."
For now, Love stands alone at 1-under 141 after shooting 1-over 72 at Royal St. George's. S.K. Ho, an unknown from South Korea playing in his first Open, shot 73 and tied Denmark's Thomas Bjorn (70) for second at 143. First-round leader Hennie Otto of South Africa followed his 68 with 76 and was tied for fourth at 144.
But the story, again, was the course.
A day filled with sunshine and shirtsleeves is rare at the Open, but it was deceiving. The wind, gusting to 20 mph, coupled with high rough and perplexing pin placements made for plenty of adventure on the 7,106-yard layout.
"If you finish under par, more than likely you're going to win this golf tournament," said Tiger Woods, who shot 72 and was four back at 145. "This golf course right now is very testy, no doubt about that.
"It's a lot of fun if you go out there and you get rewarded for shooting a round in the 60s. You guys watch us play the (PGA) Tour every week, and if you don't shoot 67 or 68 every day, more than likely you're going to get passed. This week is different. It's a major championship, and that's the way it should be. If you shoot a round in the 60s, you've played one heck of a round of golf."
One player did that during the second round: defending champion Ernie Els. He shot 3-under 68, 10 strokes better than Thursday. Els, in danger of missing the cut when the round began, pulled within five of Love. There were only nine scores under par.
The cut came at 8-over 150 and claimed a handful of golf's big names, including U.S. Open champion Jim Furyk (152) and major championship winners such as Mark Calcavecchia (151), Lee Janzen (151), Justin Leonard (151), Jose Maria Olazabal (151) and Bernhard Langer (152).
Love, 39, the fourth-ranked player in the world, has been part of that group since 1997, when he won the PGA Championship at Winged Foot, his only major title. He figured to have added a slew of them by now, but he has been an underachiever in golf's biggest tournaments. He has 13 major top 10s in addition to his PGA win.
In his past six Open appearances, Love has finished outside the top 20 once and has two top 10s. That came after a run of six missed cuts during his first 10 Opens.
"It took me a while to get the hang of any major golf, like a lot of people," said Love, who has three victories this year, including the Players Championship, and 17 career wins. "You can tell at the major tournaments it takes more mental fortitude than it does physical. You have to learn that and get experience. Obviously there are some special players who get it real quick. Some of us take a while to learn how to do it. I'm still learning, and that's been the progression of my career."
Woods has learned the best, winning eight majors since turning pro in 1997. He has gone four in a row without winning one, and was trying to overcome a costly mistake again on Friday. During the first round, it was a lost ball at the first hole. During the second, a four putt at the 12th.
"Technically, it's a three putt," said Woods, who putted from off the green, "but I hit it four times. Either way, it's not good. I just hit two poor putts back to back."
At the time, Woods was a stroke behind Love. But the double bogey dropped him three back, and another bogey at 17 left him trailing by four heading into the weekend.
Love, meanwhile, was trying not to worry about Woods. He got to 4 under on the front nine, then hung on through the final nine, holing some key putts and getting a fortunate bounce at the 14th, where his ball hit an out-of-bounds stake and stayed in play.
"You need to have a clearer and clearer head as you go along, not a jumbled-up head," Love said. "I think it keeps you from looking at the leaderboard, keeps you from thinking about other players. That's the task. That's why this tournament is going to be so hard to win."
And if he does? It's a question Love doesn't want to think about, a task nearly as difficult as the course.
"It would mean a lot," he said. "Obviously it was the goal for the year, to win majors. We'll get into that in depth if we have to later."
