Davis

Love III

DL3 has plenty of ties to the area, course, and event. He’s a longtime member of the “Sea Island Mafia”, helped renovate the Plantation Course, and is currently the tournament host. His late WD will allow Scott Brown a spot in the field. Brown has four top 20s in eight tries at Sea Island.

Stricker and Webb will join Zach Johnson and Fred Couples, who had already been named as assistants. Stricker, said Love, “is really no surprise with his recent Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup captaincy wins. Keep his streak going and keep him involved in the team.” As for Simpson, Love added: “He’s a leader in the locker room, in the team room and he’s a connection for -- Fred and I don’t play a whole lot out here on the regular Tour, we’re on the Champions, so Webb’s going to be a great resource because he knows the players a lot better than us.” Love is making his 25th start at the Wyndham, where he’s made 15 cuts with three wins among his seven top 10s. He won most recently in 2015, opening and closing with rounds of 64 to finish at 17-under 263 and beat Jason Gore by one stroke. At 51 years, 4 months, 11 days old, and Love became the third-oldest player to win on Tour. He also won in 1992 and 2006. This season, Love has made six PGA Tour starts with one made cut, finishing 68th at the RSM Classic in November. He missed the cut last week at the Rocket Mortgage Classic.

It has been a long year for Love III between injuries and his house burning down late last March, but things appear to be on the up. When asked about his expectations for the week, the Presidents Cup Captain this summer at Quail Hollow said, “Well, my expectations are certainly better than my wife’s, Robin’s, who thinks I’m going to withdraw again. I’ve had a long year with a hip replacement and had a bad thumb through some Champions Tour events, ended up not finishing the first playoff event in Richmond, but I’m feeling very well. I’m an old and creaky golfer. Randy Myers has had me in the gym a lot the last couple weeks trying to get ready. Jack Lumpkin says I look pretty good on the driving range. Monday and Wednesday Pro-Ams were key for me getting some time on the golf course and trying to keep score. But I’m hitting the ball pretty well and I know my way around these golf courses, and if I can block out everything else that’s going on, I might maybe be competitive. I don’t have any huge goals, but just want to enjoy the week. And obviously missing it last year was tough. I know I’ll probably get a pretty good pairing on Thursday, Friday with some fun guys, so I’m looking forward to it.”

Love led the American squad in 2012 and 2016, and he’ll serve as an advisor this fall to Stricker, whose allotment of captain’s picks was increased to six last week. Love told reporters at the RBC Heritage that he would simply go down the list and round out his roster with the top 12, avoiding difficult conversations with top players left out and minimizing blame if a rogue pick didn’t pan out. Stricker will still have more than two months to flesh out his own strategy before picks are due. Love, meanwhile, is returning to action at an event he has won five times prior and making his first start since his Georgia home burned down. The 56-year-old opened with a score of 1-over 72.

Both players offer plenty of Ryder Cup experience, with Love serving twice as a captain (2012 and 2016) plus a stint as an assistant two years ago in France. Johnson played on four straight teams from 2010-16 before serving as an assistant for the first time in 2018. They will join 2018 captain and current assistant Jim Furyk in the team room for Stricker, who is making his first run as Ryder Cup captain after successfully guiding the U.S. to victory in the 2017 Presidents Cup. With the matches less than five months away, the roster of assistants for both teams is beginning to formalize. European skipper Padraig Harrington had previously named Robert Karlsson as his first vice captain, and last week added former world No. 1 Luke Donald.

Richard Rogers of News 12 and NBC 26 in Augusta shared photos of the scene. He confirmed there were no injuries. Brent Martineau of CBS47/FOX30 shared a statement from Love and his family, “While everyone in our family is saddened at the loss of our home that was filled with so much laughter and incredible memories, we’re very blessed that everyone is safe and unharmed.” Love would go on to say they are proud members of the St. Simons Island/Sea Island community and plan to remain there for many more years. This is terrible news at a time when things are already tough due to the COVID-19 crisis, but at least no one was harmed in this fire.

He’ll be paired with Phil Mickelson tomorrow, which should make for a fun finale, especially since guys like Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh are lurking within striking distance as well.

Davis has been as consistent as anyone this week, and should be in line for a top-ten finish this week.

DL3 played very well at the PGA last week and has a ton of experience in Akron. He could easily win it this week, and we expect him to do no worse than a top-ten finish. This year, is seems like he either finishes in the top 25 or misses the cut. He likes Firestone though, and should do well.

The 21-time winner appears to be making preparations for the RSM Classic, which he is set to host in his hometown of Sea Island, Georgia in just under a month. Love did not advance in the Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs on the PGA TOUR Champions and will elect to play in this weeks alternate field event instead. The 55-year-old has also indicated that he will play in the Mayakoba Golf Classic in a few weeks as well. Love played in 15 events across both levels last season, still making the bulk of his appearances on the PGA TOUR with nine. All this news comes on the heels of the announcement that Love will be joining the broadcast team at CBS. So without speculating too deeply one could assume this is the beginning of a rather limited schedule moving forward for the major champion.