Two days before his 35th birthday, Davis Love III is hoping to give himself an early gift.
A green jacket.
After an up-and-down, 2-under-par 70 Saturday, Love stands just two shots behind third-round leader Jose Maria Olazabal.
``It was an interesting day,'' Love said. ``I rode the roller coaster of emotions. But in the end, I have a chance, and I guess that's all you want going into (today).''
The 1997 PGA Championship winner made birdies on Nos. 2, 7, and 8 that were offset by a bogey on the par-3 No. 6 for a front-nine 34. Love knocked a 7-iron to 4 feet for birdie on No. 10 and drained a 20-foot birdie putt on No. 11 to move to 7-under for the tournament.
After a bogey at No. 12, Love two-putted from 25 feet on No. 13 for birdie.
But on the par-5 15th, he started out poorly and things got worse. Love drove left and then was forced to lay up. From 80 yards out, he chipped on the front of the green, but the ball spun back in the pond. He chipped over in five and made a nice up and down for double bogey 7.
``When I stood over it, I said this is just right, this ball won't have much spin on it since I'm so close,'' Love said of his third shot. ``And when I hit it -- poof -- it was a sand divot. And if you know it's there, you play the shot different. But the bad shot on that hole was the drive.''
In nine previous Masters appearances, Love has finished in the top 10 three times, including a second-place finish to Ben Crenshaw in 1995.
``I hope experience pays off,'' he said. ``I've been close in a couple of majors, and I hope that helps.''
But for Love it's been a different experience with the rough in this year's Masters.
``Honestly, I think the rough, the first cut, has had more of an effect than I thought it would,'' he said. ``Obviously, with the greens as hard and fast as they are, if you missed the fairway at 17 at all, you're not going to hit the green. You'd have to land it short of the green and run it up onto the front and two-putt from 40 or 50 feet. So it's making -- I said I didn't think it would make that big a difference -- but I think it's made a stroke, probably.''
Last year, Love climbed back into the Masters mix with a third-round 67 that got him to even-par for the tournament, six shots off Fred Couples' lead. But Love ballooned to a 78 in the final round to finish in a tie for 33rd.
``I'm real, real close to playing well, and I'm going to try to keep doing things I've been doing this week,'' Love said. ``As Greg (Norman) said last night, the course doesn't owe you anything and past experiences don't mean anything unless you hit the shots. I'm going to try to do my best to hit golf shots like I did 80 percent of the time this week. I just hope it's about 95 percent (today).''
Thirty-five years ago, the late Davis Love Jr. brought home a crystal vase for finishing with a 69, the low score in round one of the 1964 Masters.
One day after Love Jr. finished tied for 34th in the tournament, on April 13, Davis Love III was born.
Roller coaster day has Love contending 
