Davis Love III played brilliantly at Pebble Beach, but he probably wouldn't have won without the luckiest bounce I've seen on Tour in almost 20 years

Courtesy of CBS

By Mike Perpich
One of Golf Magazine's Top 100 Teachers

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On Sunday at Pebble Beach, Davis Love III played some of the best golf of his life while winning for the first time in exactly two years. Love birdied the 8th, 9th and 10th holes, arguably the most difficult stretch of par-4s in the world; putted like Houdini; and made a heroic two-putt birdie at 18 for a four-under 68. But Love's one-stroke victory wasn't the result of good play alone. At the 12th hole Love got the biggest break since Roger Maltbie bounced a four-iron off a gallery stake to avoid catastrophe on the 17th hole at the 1976 Memorial, which he went on to win. Having birdied four of his last six holes, Love ripped a five-iron at the 203-yard par-3 12th. His ball landed on the back-left corner of the green and rocketed toward the thick rough and steep downslope behind the green. However, a wall of photographers had set up a few yards from the fringe, and Love's ball ricocheted off the left shin of Kent Porter (above right), a shooter for The Press Democrat of Santa Rosa, Calif. Love's ball caromed back onto the green, stopping four feet from the pin, from where Love holed out for birdie and a three-shot lead. Had his ball not hit Porter, Love would've been fortunate to get up and down for par. Walking off the green, Love handed his ball to Porter, who, smiling like a child on Santa's lap, said, "I'm not supposed to take gifts, but...."

Mike Perpich, 48, is the director of instruction at RiverPines Golf in Alpharetta, Ga., and one of Golf Magazine's Top 100 Teachers.

Issue date: February 10, 2003