PONTE VEDRA BEACH (Florida), March 31: Davis Love III produced the round of his life to win the Players Championship by six strokes on Sunday.

Love shrugged off difficult conditions to shoot a spectacular eight-under-par 64 in strong gusty winds at the Sawgrass TPC. He pulled away with five successive mid-round birdies and had no trouble surviving the treacherous finishing holes en route to a total of 17-under 271.

“I certainly know it’s the best round of golf I’ve ever played, especially under these circumstances,” said the 38-year-old Love, who collected US$1.17 million for his second Players Championship victory and his 16th on the PGA Tour.

Love won his first Players Championship in 1992.

Fellow American Jay Haas (72) and Irishman Padraig Harrington (72) finished tied for second on 277, with Australian Robert Allenby (65) and American Jim Furyk (69) another shot back in a tie for fourth.

Fred Couples, who played with Love, watched in awe.

“That’s the best round I’ve ever seen by far,” Couples said. “He did not miss a shot. You can’t do that for 18 holes, and he did it. I certainly never thought someone could shoot 64 in these conditions.”

“There’s no legislating for what Davis did today,” Harrington added. “He just kept going, pouring it on, getting further and further away. You could only feel inadequate if you judged yourself against that 64.”

Tiger Woods eagled the second hole to jump onto the leader board, but he was never a factor after double-bogeying the fourth hole.

“Given conditions like this, you have to hit the ball well and I wasn’t able to do that for all 18 holes,” said Woods, who found water three times in an uncharacteristically wayward display.

Woods shot a 72 on Sunday and finished tied for 11th at 282, his worst finish on tour since last August.

When Allenby, playing three hours ahead of the leaders, fired a 65 to finish at 10-under 278, it was not inconceivable that the Australian would win.

But in the end, Love just blew away the field. Even though he has now won 16 times on the PGA Tour, the stark truth is that a player of his ability should have won more often — something he admits.

“You can say I’m not a good closer, or I should have won more,” he said. “I agree. I’ve been trying to get better. We all talk about playing Tiger down the stretch. I was chasing my own potential today, and I think that’s the big difference. I was trying to win a big tournament, and I wasn’t concerned with anybody else.”

Love, who started the day two strokes behind co-leaders Haas and Harrington, made his big move with five successive birdies starting at the eighth hole, taking a stranglehold on the prestigious event.

He extended his lead with an eagle at the par-five 16th despite a poor drive before surviving the treacherous, water-lined final two holes.

It certainly was a change to watch Love execute brilliantly under pressure, while Woods struggled to cope with the conditions. Woods climbed onto the leaderboard when he eagled the par-five second, but his charge ended when he double-bogeyed the fourth after dunking his approach shot in the water.

Woods also hit balls into the water at the 11th and 17th holes. But he vowed to be back in sync for the Masters in two weeks.

“My game is fine. I know what I need to do,” he said.

Woods will be the heavy favourite at Augusta, but Love’s chances cannot be hurt by the huge confidence-boost he received here.

“I can do anything I want as long as I’m prepared for it,” he said.

Leading final round scores (US unless stated):

271 — Davis Love III 70, 67, 70, 64.

277 — Jay Haas 68, 70, 67, 72; Padraig Harrington (Ireland) 67, 68, 70, 72.

278 — Robert Allenby (Australia) 70, 71, 72, 65; Jim Furyk 73, 68, 68, 69.

279 — Chad Campbell 72, 66, 71, 70; Darren Clarke (Britain) 71, 70, 67, 71.

280 — Kirk Triplett 72, 70, 71, 67; Scott Verplank 71, 72, 68, 69.

281 — Fred Couples 67, 71, 69, 74.

282 — Mark Calcavecchia 73, 68, 72, 69; Brad Faxon 73, 69, 71, 69; Briny Baird 76, 68, 68, 70; Tiger Woods 72, 70, 68, 72; Duffy Waldorf 70, 72, 68, 72; Jeff Maggert 71, 70, 68, 73.

283 — Stephen Ames (Canada) 73, 69, 71, 70; Adam Scott (Australia) 69, 69, 74, 71; Bob Tway 68, 73, 69, 73; Craig Perks (New Zealand) 68, 69, 70, 76.

Other international players:

284 — Stuart Appleby (Australia) 71, 72, 71, 70; Niclas Fasth (Sweden) 68, 73, 71, 72; Geoff Ogilvy (Australia) 71, 68, 72, 73; Tim Clark (South Africa) 69, 72, 69, 74.

285 — Mike Weir (Canada) 72, 71, 69, 73.

288 — Glen Hnatiuk (Canada) 71, 72, 71, 74; Nick Faldo (Britain) 74, 68, 72, 74; Justin Rose (Britain) 72, 71, 69, 76.

289 — Shigeki Maruyama (Japan) 76, 65, 74, 74.

290 — Per-Ulrik Johansson (Sweden) 73, 70, 75, 72; Carlos Franco (Paraguay) 71, 71, 72, 76; Jesper Parnevik (Sweden) 76, 68, 69, 77; Bernhard Langer (Germany) 72, 70, 71, 77.

292 — Paul Lawrie (Britain) 71, 73, 74, 74; Esteban Toledo (Mexico) 74, 69, 72, 77; Peter Lonard (Australia) 73, 68, 71, 80.—AFP/Reuters