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WYNDHAM CHAMPIONSHIP

August 23, 2015

Davis Love III

GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA

Q. Thank you Billy. Davis, you were supposed to have walked off into that particular sunset a few years ago. This has got to feel absolutely amazing.
DAVIS LOVE, III: It is incredible. I'm just incredibly blessed. I've had a lot of people helping me coming back from two big surgeries and everybody helping me with my golf game and Jeff Weber hanging in there with me. Lot of people have asked why didn't Jeff go get a young guy. He hung in there with me, too. Lot of great support. Fun to hang in there and keep competing out there on the PGA TOUR.

Q. PGA championship, 21 wins. That's a Hall of Fame career. Congratulations.
DAVIS LOVE, III: Thank you.

Q. Davis, congratulations. What's it feel like to win on the PGA TOUR again?
DAVIS LOVE, III: It's hard to believe. It's been a long, whatever hour, hour and a half. I did a really good job starting it on No. 5, not looking at the leaderboard and I caught a couple glimpses of it but I knew I had to keep grinding out one hole at a time and one shot at a time.
When I walked off and had a two shot lead I was shocked. It's been a long -- I knew guys can make birdies coming in. It's been a long hour or so to think about it. I've been saying really all year that if I putt well enough to win on the Champions Tour I can win on this Tour because I felt like I was hitting it that good. This week I putted really well. Made some great putts today that won the tournament for me. I'm excited about the way I'm putting.

Q. Turned out the eagle at 15 was the winner for you. 12-footer. Talk about that hole.
DAVIS LOVE, III: Well, that hole has gotten me a bunch. I've been in the bleachers, in the sand, in the crowd, I was in a lady's lap I think last year.
I've driven it well on that hole and really I don't think I've ever made an eagle on that hole. To finally get one when I needed was great. The biggest thing was the putt. I had so much more confidence in my putting this week that the putt at 16 was just as big to make a par putt after hitting a bad shot into the bunker. Putting really saved me. I hit the ball extremely well all week and the putter just kept me in it.

Q. I don't know what your plans were for next week but I think you have to go to the Barclays.
DAVIS LOVE, III: I double-committed. I feel sorry for my friends at the Dick's because they were asking me to play, Mike Hulbert and Joey Sindelar wanted me to play. I'm going to commit to both. It paid off. I've always kept a positive attitude out here I can play out here and still compete and I got lucky this week and snuck another one in there.

Q. Davis, before we talk about what this win means to you, I want to go back to regulation. You were 5-under for your first 6 holes. At that point what clicked into your brain that you could actually be in this and win this?
DAVIS LOVE, III: Tiger and I were talking on the putting green, one of us needed to get going and win this thing and go to the Barclays next week and I bogeyed the 1st hole. I was a little disappointed but I knew I was hitting it good. Just to be patient.
When I eagled 5, I actually went in the restroom after I hit my tee shot on 6, "You have got to not look at the leaderboards and just play your game for the rest of the way in and don't pay attention to what's going on around you."
I did a really good job of that. I actually walked off 18th green and didn't know I had a two shot lead. Pretty unbelievable that I got a win but the way I did it, putted -- the putter really won it for me this week. I hit the ball really well but the putter really won it for me in the end.

Q. You mentioned having a conversation with Tiger here this morning. I want to go back to Tuesday when you and Tiger were out playing the 9 hole practice round. You said it was just as beneficial for you to be out there with him than him being out there with you. Why is that?
DAVIS LOVE, III: Playing one of the best players ever, you're going to learn something. Everybody thinks I'm just being nice trying to hang around with Tiger and help him out and I am, but part of it is I want to learn. He's really helped me a lot with prepping for tournaments and getting our teams ready for playing in team competitions and it really helped me.
He gave me a little nudge with my putting back at the PGA and kind of confirmed what Jack Lumpkin had been telling me and I really started putting good. I putted good at the PGA. I didn't hit the ball as well.

Q. He increased your confidence?
DAVIS LOVE, III: The old saying ,Harvey Penick line, hang around with good putters, guys that play well tends to rub off.

Q. You hit all the shots and won now for the 21st time on the PGA TOUR into your 50s. What does that say about your longevity?
DAVIS LOVE, III: I've been saying all year, people ask me about the Champions Tour. If I putt well on the Champions Tour I can win own the PGA TOUR. I did it this week. My ball-striking is fine. It's just as you've seen over the years, when I putt well I got a chance to win. I putted really well this week.

Q. You're going back plaque to The Masters and the FedExCup Playoffs. Simply put, what does that mean to you to get this victory on the PGA TOUR again especially to do it in the State that you were born in?
DAVIS LOVE, III: It means a lot here at Greensboro. They've always been good to me for a long, long time. Mark Brazil and Steve Holmes and Bobby Long have really turned this tournament around. It's thrilling to do it here where I played at North Carolina but to get a win after all that I've been through the last few years, so many people have stuck with me from my caddie, Jeff Weber, teachers, therapists, doctors, I've been through two really big surgeries and to bounce back from it I'm happy to just playing. I'm blessed. To win is a big bonus.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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