It was another victorious moment for Georgia’s golf royalty on Sunday as Dru Love survived a five-hole playoff to win the Georgia Amateur Championship at Sea Island’s iconic Seaside Course.
Love is the son of Davis Love III, former PGA champion and two-time Ryder Cup captain. The elder Love skipped this week’s PGA Tour event so he could caddie for Dru, who will be a junior this fall at the University of Alabama.
The win did not come easily. Love lost a two-shot lead with two holes remaining and tied for first at 8-under 272 with Sean Elliott of Sandy Springs and Greyson Sigg of Augusta. The result was the championship’s first playoff since 2002.
Elliott was eliminated with a bogey on the first extra hole when he flew the green and couldn’t get up and down to save par. Love and Sigg each made par and matched each other with pars over the next three holes. Love finally prevailed when he dropped a 35-foot birdie putt on the fifth playoff hole.
When the ball rolled in, Dru Love couldn’t wait to hug his dad.
“For him to be there to give me a hug as soon as I made that putt, it was pretty special. Not many people get to do that,” Love said. “He was supposed to be at the John Deere playing. He came home, hopped on the bag for me and we got a win.”
He admitted that having his father around for four days providing a calming influence.
“He helps me be more relaxed and it’s really easy to trust him,” Love said. “He’s played a little bit of golf in his life and when he has an idea on something, you kind of have to stick with it.”
A year ago Robert Mize, the son of 1977 Masters champion Larry Mize, won the championship. The previous three times that Seaside hosted the tournament, it was won by Charlie Yates, Dan Yates Jr., and Danny Yates, all three members of the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame.
It looked like Love was going to go wire-to-wire to win the championship on his home course. But he blocked his tee shot on the 17th hole, a 192-yard par 3, and scrambled to make a double-bogey. He parred the 72nd hole to finish at even-par 70.
Sigg, a junior at Georgia, was in the final pairing with Love. Sparked by a birdie on the 17th hole, Sigg shot a 67 to earn a spot in the playoff. Elliott, a junior at Dalton State, charged into the playoff with a final-round 64, which matched the low score of the week.
Finishing one shot out of the playoff at 273 were Trey Rule of Eatonton, who just finished his career at Mercer, and Zach Healy of Peachtree City, a junior at Georgia. Rule shot a final-round 66, which included a hole-in-one at the 12th hole. Healy finished with a 68,
Love was consistent all week and said he probably hit only four or five poor shots throughout the tournament. His biggest save in the playoff came at the 17th hole, where he missed the green left and lobbed his approach to about six feet away, where he made the curvy par putt to remain alive.
“I knew that was the tournament right there if I didn’t make it,” he said.
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