If Davis Love III is to avoid the kind of back-nine collapse he had at the Honda, he should take a page out of fellow Tar Heel Dean Smith's playbook

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By Ron Gring
One of Golf Magazine's Top 100 Teachers

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Over the first 63 holes at the Country Club of Mirasol, Davis Love III had nines of 33, 33, 32, 33, 33, 32 and 32, putting him at 24 under par and one stroke ahead of Justin Leonard. Then Love mysteriously fell apart, shooting a one-over 37 coming home and losing to Leonard by one. How could a player of Love's caliber disintegrate so quickly on a wide-open course with no wind and soft greens? It appeared that crunchtime pressure forced him out of his process, leading to a series of awful shots, including a chunked four-iron on 15, a thin eight-iron at 16 (which led to a crucial bogey), a hooked drive into a hazard at 17 (above) and a pushed nine-iron at 18. Love, who played at North Carolina, has 15 Tour wins, but he has come unglued down the stretch before, notably at the tournaments he wants to win the most -- the majors. He could steel himself by tailoring his practice sessions to replicate the pressure he feels when a title is on the line. That's how legendary Tar Heels basketball coach Dean Smith taught his teams to thrive under the gun. Addressing the recent Golf Magazine Top 100 Teachers' summit in Pinehurst, N.C., Smith told us about a game in which the Tar Heels were down 18 points with only a few minutes to play. Yet during a timeout Smith told his players, "Isn't this great? Let's go out and have a blast!" Playing loose, the Tar Heels went on to win in overtime. If Love had a fearless attitude like that, I'd make him one of the favorites next month in Augusta.

Ron Gring, 45, teaches at TimberCreek Golf Club in Daphne, Ala., and is one of Golf Magazine's Top 100 Teachers.

Issue date: March 24, 2003