Love Blog: As always, U.S. Open demands it all

Davis Love III is at Oakmont for his 19th U.S. Open. And like the 18 he entered before, Love said the 107th U.S. Open will demand patience and the right mindset. "At my age, if I get it just for a minute, I'll be fine," he said.

Editor's note: Davis Love III is playing in his 19th U.S. Open this week. His best finish was a tie for second at Oakland Hills in 1996, and he was sixth two years ago at Pinehurst No. 2. Love filed this edition of his blog for PGATOUR.com on Wednesday after playing a final 18-hole practice round with Joe Durant and spending several more hours putting and hitting balls.

OAKMONT, Pa. -- I'm looking forward to this week. I've been hitting the ball good and I've been working hard on it. It just hasn't been happening for me, so I think I've just got to be a little more patient with myself, which is good for the U.S. Open. It will force you to be patient. Experience helps because you know it's not going to take 10 under to win here. You can't let anything surprise you. You can't put pressure on yourself. It's easy to say and hard to do, but you always see that whoever stays the most patient and makes the most par putts seems to win.

I think Oakmont suits somebody who is there mentally more than anything. I don't think it suits a particular game. I saw where Geoff Ogilvy said, "You don't prepare your game for the U.S. Open, you prepare you for the U.S. Open," and I think that's the best it's been said in a long time. It doesn't really matter how great you're playing. It's how great you're thinking and how patient you are. You let yourself hit some good shots and make some birdies and make some putts, rather than saying, "Well, I'm putting for par and chipping out of the rough on every hole and you're so frustrated." So whoever stays the most patient is the one who wins. It's always been that way. It's just gotten more and more that way, too. That's why you see Retief Goosen or guys like that win and stay around the lead a lot because they are very patient. They don't get flustered. They are happy putting for par and they make a lot of par putts. I think it takes a top player playing well, but it also takes a very patient top player.

You just have to get in the right mindset. You say, all right, here is my plan, I'm going to stick with it. That's why my brother, Mark, is out caddying for me this week. I want him to help me try to get a little more organized and methodical and hopefully keep me a little more focused and patient. But you know, what comes first? The chicken or the egg? Do you get patient because you hit some good shots or do you hit some good shots because you're patient? So you've just got to go out and be very accepting and confident. If you're scared you're going to miss the fairway and be in the rough, if you're scared you're going to three-putt, if you're scared you're not going to make a par putt, then you're not going to play well.

So you have to go out with a good attitude and it's got to get better as you go along rather than go out with a good attitude and get frustrated. You see a lot of guys go from the putting green to the first tee ready to go and gradually the U.S. Open wears them down. It's whoever can keep it going the longest -- or even if you get better every day. If you shoot 78 the first day, if you get better every day, you can stay in the tournament. I feel like I'm close. I feel like I'm going to have to overcome more mentally than physically going out on the golf course. At my age, if I get it just for a minute, I'll be fine. It's a matter of just capturing it. It sure will be fun if I can.