The Associated Press

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. - Davis Love III provided the charge everyone expected from Tiger Woods and delivered a performance as dominant in The Players Championship.

Love pulled away with five straight birdies and closed with an 8-under 64 to match the best final round by the winner in the 30-year history of the tournament known as the fifth major.

It was the second time Love has won The Players Championship.

Love finished at 17-under 271 and won by six strokes over Jay Haas and Padraig Harrington, who shared the lead going into the final round but never stood a chance against such a birdie barrage.

Haas, 49, trying to become the oldest winner of The Players Championship, closed with an even-par 72, and his tie for second earned him enough money to move into the top 10 on the money list and qualify for the Masters.

Despite two eagles, Woods hit three balls into the water for a 72 and a tie for 11th, the first time since the British Open that he failed to finish in the top 10.

LPGA KRAFT NABISCO: Patricia Meunier-Lebouc had to overcome an out-of-bounds tee shot on the third hole with some steady play in the final holes to deny Annika Sorenstam's bid to become the first LPGA player to win the same major championship three years in a row at Rancho Mirage, Calif.

After she was done, Meunier-Lebouc took the traditional victor's plunge into the pond next to the 18th green. She could celebrate because she handled the pressure of being in contention in a major championship for the first time so well.

Meunier-Lebouc birdied the 13th hole to take the lead, then parred her way in before a meaningless 3-putt bogey on the final hole gave her a 1-over 73 and a one-shot win over Sorenstam.

WETTERICH WINS FIRST: Oak Hills High graduate Brett Wetterich, 29, shot a 2-under 70 to win the Louisiana Open, his first career win on the Nationwide Tour.

The former PGA Tour member tied a tournament record by finishing 24-under 264, three strokes ahead of runner-up Ken Duke.

Wetterich collects $85,500 and gains fully-exempt status on the Nationwide Tour through 2004. The check was the second largest of his career, topped only by the $101,500 he received for finishing in a tie for eighth at the PGA Tour's 2002 Honda Classic. He joins locals Frank Lickliter II, Doug Martin and Steve Flesch to win on this tour.