PNC CHAMPIONSHIP

December 20, 2025

Davis Love, III

Dru Love

The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club

Quick Quotes

Q. You guys had a great first round today. Tell me what was working out there, especially on 18? That set you at 12-under to be at the top of the leaderboard right now.

DRU LOVE: A lot of room for improvement. I think we predicted with Lauren Thompson that we would start slow and find a groove somewhere and finish strong. That's what we were hoping for. Had a lot of good putts go in and couple misses and a couple bad drives.

So there is room for improvement, but we're right where we need to be.

DAVID LOVE: Yeah, I think we made some long putts that kind of saved it for us; missed some short ones. Dru hit a lot of good shots and I hit a couple good ones that we didn't capitalize on. I made a couple long putts that kept us in it.

So, yeah, it's hard to believe when you go to tee off in the family fun little tournament that you got to birdie every other hole and then you'll probably lose.

So I was thinking 24- or 25-under and we needed to get off to a good start today. We didn't last time we played here. Did not get off to a start the first day. At least got off to a better start and saw some positives.

We just drove it bad really on a couple par-5s, put ourselves where we had to scramble around for birdies rather than putting for eagles. I'm used to putting for eagle. Had a short eagle putt on 3. We knock that one in, maybe we would've rolled a little bit better on the par-5s.

All in all, good start.

Q. When you're not satisfied with some of those holes, who is kind of lifting the other one up and kind of keeping you going and staying in that headspace?

DAVID LOVE: Well, both. He's apologizing for a bad drive, but then I hit one right behind him. So it's on both our shoulders to be a little bit more aggressive off the tee.

And strategy, I should hit first off the tee on the par-5s; it's as simple as that.

So we got to do a little bit better job tomorrow. I'm playing forward of him, so I should go ahead and hit -- we did it on a couple short holes, but we need to do it on the par-5s. I need to free him up a little bit more. I need to be a better caddie and team leader. I'm not the long hitter anymore. I got the long hitter and I got to use him to my advantage.

Q. Did you guys have plan going in who is going putt first and second, maybe getting drives first, or is that something you're now going to rethink as you go into tomorrow?

DRU LOVE: I think few holes to rethink. We kind of did whoever felt comfortable goes first kind of thing sometimes today and seemed to work on most of the full shots on the fairway.

Like I said, strategize a little better off the tee I think. We both hit some really bad putts going second, so I don't really know if it helps or hurts going second. We'll be a little bit more decisive tomorrow on the tee shot ones and probably same strategy on the second shots and putts.

Q. Was it fun getting back in competition at this tournament after what, seven, eight years off?

DAVID LOVE: Yeah, a lot of fun to be back. We talked a lot about it. There was a year or two that Dru, within the rules was not eligible to play and a couple years that I was hurt. It's nice that a couple spots opened up for me and whoever else got slipped in here.

You know, we got to thank Tiger Woods for a lot of stuff. Hate that he's hurt, but we slipped in here because a couple guys that were stars of the show last few years around the here. We are glad to be back. Dru has been working with us and been talking about do you think we'll ever get back in.

We had a big ski trip planned this week with the granddaughters because we didn't think we were going to get in. We got a last-minute invite and we're very excited to be here and want to take advantage of it.

Q. Along those same lines, after the seven-year hiatus was it tough or easy to slip back into PNC Championship mode?

DAVID LOVE: We talked about that a little bit. Things have changed a little bit. All the different tee boxes. We used play from the same tee box when we played. Things have changed a little bit. Obviously it was father/son for a long time and now it's a little different feel.

So things around the resort have changed. Things around the tournament have changed. It's grown up and gotten bigger.

But for us, it's still dad and son playing golf. We dropped right back into it. I think Dru is right, we just had to think a little bit off the tees a little bit. Just depends on the tee up. It's easy if -- we didn't want to get in DJ and Cass' way. I would go up and hit and Dru would hit and then DJ and Cass would have to -- we didn't want to do a whole bunch of that.

I think we'll have (indiscernible) a little bit tomorrow.

Q. (Regarding canceling the family ski trip.)

DRU LOVE: Bringing three little girls to Orlando is never a hard thing to do. They're always in to go to Disney World and Sea World and Universal is close by, and the awesome Lazy River. We're going to go on the yellow slide later.

DAVID LOVE: And the stadium.

DRU LOVE: Oh, I'm going.

DAVID LOVE: It's a pretty dang good second choice. And the snow, if you're a skier and snowboarder, the snow out west is not the best right now, so we're going to hit it later.

Q. (No microphone.)

DAVID LOVE: Yeah, first time for the three granddaughters and daughter in law. So, yeah, new generation to see the father and son. I got little ones that were like Dru but they're grandkids now.

Q. (No microphone.)

DAVID LOVE: This one right here.

DRU LOVE: I would love to caddie for Eloise. I was a nervous on a few of those shots today. I could be a really good caddie.

DAVID LOVE: Start working with her.