Davis Love III came off of his first missed Major Championship since 1990 by firing a five under 66 to tie for the lead at the Verizon Heritage with Justin Leonard and Lucas Glover.

Five time champion Love wasted no time getting down to business. He birdied his first two holes and four of his first seven. "I had a good day." said Love. "I hit the ball fairly well most holes. Hit a few bad shots and made a few nice saves in the middle of the round in 8 and 9 and 10, kept the round going. Didn’t make a five."

2002 Champion Justin Leonard also got out and hot early. With a lone bogey at three, Leonard birdied four holes on the front and two on the back for a pair of 33’s. Leonard teed off early in the morning when the chill is still in the air, but avoided the gusty winds that picked up later in the day.  Justin Leonard said, "For me it’s pretty easy to get in the mindset of coming here and kind of leaving some of the baggage from last week behind and get over here and relax and play a great golf course."

Lucas Glover spent last weekend watching every second of the telecasts and pining to be back in Augusta. "I played the last couple of years, and not being in this year was obviously a disappointment. But watching it on TV and even when I used to go as a kid, you get home and go putt, that’s just the way that place is and the way the tournament is, you want to be there." Glover must have been motivated a bit as he came out and steadily worked his way out from behind a couple of early bogeys to lead the tournament. Thursday was Glover’s first sub-70 opening round at Harbor Town in six starts there.

Ten other players including Charles Howell III, Camilo Villegas, Stuart Cink, and Anthony Kim are lurking just one stroke back heading into play on Friday. With sunny skies projected Friday and Sunday, we should be in for a great finish from Harbor Town. Davis Love III summed up the weekend nicely, "it’s got to pay off eventually. Keep sticking the tokens in the machine, eventually you’ll get it right."