Davis Love III wins Wyndham Championship; Tiger Woods falls short

Report by Anand Datla

August 24, 2015: The Associated Press report from the Wyndham Championship summed up the story pretty well. “Davis Love III’s long victory drought is over. Tiger Woods will have to wait a while to get another chance,” wrote the writer telling the story of this tournament in two simple lines. And so it was too, with Love climbing up to victory in the final round and Woods slipping just a tad at the end.

Love became the third oldest winner on the PGA Tour with a brilliant 64 in the final round. That helped him edge past Jason Gore for a one shot victory. “Any victory now is going to be really sweet when you’re over 50,” Love said.

The crowds had been spectacular all week, with hordes of people thronging the Sedgefield Country Club to watch Tiger Woods chase down a spot in the FedexCup events.

That was not to be, as he struggled to make an impression on Sunday. Starting just two shots off the leader, Woods struggled to get his challenge off the ground. A lone birdie on the front nine wasn’t going to be enough, but a triple bogey at the eleventh sounded the death knell to his desire for a prolonged season.

Eventually he managed an even 70, but that was four off the pace and only good enough for T10. That left Tiger at 178 on the FedexCup ranking list and essentially done for the current season. Just to be fair though, Woods did spectacularly well this week to give himself an outside chance of making it into the top 125 and make the playoffs.

“I gave myself a chance, and I had all the opportunity in the world today to do it,” Woods said. “I didn’t get it done.” We will see him again at the Frys.com Open in October, the first event on the PGA TOUR’s 2015-16 season. “This is my offseason right now,” he added, accepting his situation with grace.

Victory on the PGA Tour is not the first thing that occupies the mind of someone over 50. But at a little older than 51 years and four months, Love joined Sam Snead and Art Wall as the men who beat time, winning after they turned 50. But Love can proudly say that he has done what no other man accomplished in the past 40 years.

The last of those aged triumphs came in 1975 when Wall won the Milwaukee Open in 1975 at 51 years, 7 months, 10 days. Snead did his trick ten years earlier in 1965 when he won his eighth Greensboro title at Sedgefield when he was 52 years, 10 months.

The last of Love’s 21 career victories came at the 2008 Children’s Miracle Network Classic in Florida. “To have your name thrown out there with Sam Snead at any point is incredible,” Love said. “For some reason, this tournament has been good to guys in my age group.”

An eagle on the par-5 15th sealed it for Love, though he would have to wait for a while to find if he had done enough for victory. He moved to 17 under at the hole and that was how it ended, with the field separated by a good two shots.

There were four men behind Love – Gore (69) finished at 16-under for second place. Scott Brown (68), Charl Schwartzel (66) and Paul Casey (67) were all tied in third at 15-under 265.

Both Gore (166th to 98th on the list) and Love (186th to 76th) ride this week’s performance to soar into the top 125 and secure their places in the playoffs. Schwartzel was lying 125th before the week and his finish in T3 will help him move inside the top 100.

After making six straight pars, Woods mistimed his tee shot at the par-3 7th hole to dissolve the ball into the gallery by the green. He made a two putt from there for his first bogey of the round. And then his round went awry when he struggled to keep his ball on the green,eventually three putting for triple bogey at the 11th hole.

“I just wasn’t able to get any kind of roll early,” Woods said. “I had my chances to get it going. I just never did.”

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