Davis Love III Details Heart Surgery, Plans to Return to Golf This Summer

Davis Love III underwent surgery last week and is now recovering at home, with eyes on breaking a PGA Tour record.

Davis Love III recently underwent heart surgery to replace a leaky valve. / Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images

During the final round of the Farmers Insurance Invitational broadcast, Jim Nantz broke surprising news. 

Davis Love III underwent surgery last week at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, to “replace a leaky valve that was detected about 10 years ago.”

“I went in healthy,” the 1997 PGA champion told Nantz, “and I came out healthier.”

Afterward, Love, 60, detailed his procedure to Golfweek. 

“The doctor told me it’s not an emergency but let's do it before the spring. I said, ‘Let’s do it the first date you have open,’” Love recalled. 

The World Golf Hall of Famer then went under the knife last Tuesday and is now recovering at home. 

“Cow parts in my thumb and heart now,” he wrote. “Hopefully hit it farther and no mooing!”

Love has endured a slew of injuries over the past few years: two hip replacements, spinal fusion, wrist ligament damage and right thumb surgery last April. At the RSM Classic in November, Love also revealed he will need surgery on his left thumb. 

He made only three starts on the PGA Tour Champions in 2024; however, Love had planned to return in 2025 with his eye on Mark Brooks’s record for the most PGA Tour starts ever. Brooks has 803; Love, 790. 

“I still want to break that record of Mark Brooks and I still want to play good on the Champions Tour, which I haven’t done yet,” Love said at the RSM Classic. “So yes, I’ll try to play some on both if I can get a little bit more ball speed and putts to go in.”

Now, after his heart procedure, that’s still the plan, even though Love will be sidelined for at least another 12 weeks. 

“I’m grateful for (the Mayo Clinic doctors) and their teams’ expertise and care, and I am motivated to prove them right and get back to playing golf by this summer!" the 21-time Tour winner said in a statement.