Love has high praise for PGA Tour rookie Champ
ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – Separated on their birth certificates by 31 years, Davis Love III and Cameron Champ nonetheless walked alongside each other in Thursday’s first round of the RMS Classic at Sea Island Golf Club.
At the end of 6,907 yards on the Plantation Course, the two were separated by just one spot on the first page of the leaderboard.
On a windy, chilly day where the thermometer never hit 60, Love, 54 years young and a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, turned in a 5-underpar 67 while Champ, the 23-year-old new kid on the block who is turning heads with his outrageous power, signed for a 68.
Playing together for the first time, Champ took Love down memory lane to the days he was one of the longest players in the game.
“That driver, and the 1-iron or what- ever his longest iron is, no 3-wood, that was pretty cool because that was me in 1986,” Love said. “The power is incredible. It’s just impressive to see. He hit a couple that were just astounding how far they went. He can flight the ball. He’s got a very good short game. You can tell why he’s going to be successful.”
The two were looking up at Charles Howell III, who hit every green and fairway in regulation and toured the Plantation Course in 64 shots to grab a twoshot lead over J.J. Spaun and defending champion Austin Cook, who both played the Plantation Course.
Brian Harmon and Peter Uihlein each shot 4-under-par 66, the lowest score on the Seaside Course, which is the tougher of the two layouts used for the tournament. Joining Love at 67 was Aaron Baddeley.
Love grew up at Sea Island and is the unofficial mayor of the area, where he lives, hosts the RSM Classic, is partowner of a restaurant, owns a paddle board shop and helps raise millions for charity with his foundation and the tournament. Yet he still makes time to work on his golf game.
The winner of 21 PGA Tour titles, including the 1997 PGA Championship, knows the golf ball doesn’t know how old he is and believes he can still win on the PGA Tour despite knowing he could try and make hay on the Champions tour these days.
Love, who had his hip replaced last year, said his time is coming where he’ll move full time to the Champions tour, but that time hasn’t arrived just yet.
“I’ve been hitting the ball pretty well. If I make some putts, I can shoot some good scores, and today I did,” Love said. “I made a couple 20-footers, had a chipin, made a couple nice par putts for saves and kept the round going.
“I would like a shot at playing a full season without being hurt. I played 16 tournaments last year and 15 the year before combined on both tours, so I haven’t really played my normal 23 or 24 or 25 events. I would like to do that this year and just see how I play. If I can play, I’m going to play at least through the (PGA Tour’s) West Coast and then kind of make a decision.”
Champ had to change his schedule after he won the Sanderson Farms Championship this year. That victory, his first on the PGA Tour, earned him a spot in the Tournament of Champions in Maui in January and a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour.
After making a double-bogey 6 on his first hole when he missed the green with a sand wedge in his hand, Champ turned his round around with four birdies and an eagle in six holes in the middle of his round.
“Prior in my golfing career I probably would have went very south from there, but we had 17 holes and plenty of golf to make it up,” Champ said. “And playing with Davis was a lot of fun. I definitely watched him on TV over the years and in high school, so it was definitely a joy to play with him and see his game. It was good to play with him.”