KAPALUA, Maui — Davis Love III has enjoyed a love affair with Kapalua dating all the way back to 1985 when he was a PGA rookie just coming out of Q-School.

"Kapalua has always been good to me," Love said. "I've always enjoyed coming here. I've done well in the past. I have a lot of good memories."

Well, he can bank another memory with a birdie finish to tie for second place with Anthony Kim in the Mercedes-Benz Championship yesterday at the Plantation Course.

Love's 10-foot birdie putt completed a bogey-free 67 and 274 total with Kim as they finished six strokes behind Geoff Ogilvy, who became the eighth straight foreign winner of the PGA Tour's season-opening event.

"I putted well coming in. The last couple putts (at 13 and 18) kept me from finishing sixth or eighth. It got me into second so it's an exciting way to start the year and I'm looking forward to next week at Sony," said Love, who returned here after a two-year absence.

That putt at 18 was worth an extra $161,500 for Love, who earned $523,500 by tying for second instead of third with Sean O'Hair.

"Yeah, that made a lot of money," Love said. "But, more importantly, world-ranking points. Finishing second in this event will move me up a lot in the world rankings. I'm trying to get into the top 64 to get me into the (world) match play and get into the top 50 to get into the Masters. I'm working my way up there."

So Love didn't dwell on three birdie putts that didn't fall — a 12 1/2-footer at 10, a 2 1/2-footer at the par-3 11th and an 8 1/2-footer at 16.

"I hit some good ones that didn't go in. But the last two made up for it. I'll go into next week with a lot of confidence," said Love, who chipped in from just off the green at the 382-yard fourth hole for eagle-2. He also birdied the par-3 second and the par-5 15th, two-putting from 44 feet.

Love found himself on the leaderboard all week for the kind of start he envisioned to begin the year, he said. And what better place than at a course he knows well. This was his fourth top-10 finish in the Mercedes event since it moved here, besides winning the unofficial Kapalua International twice in the 1990s.

As he said, a lot of good memories.

Especially the first time he played at Kapalua Resort's Bay Course in 1985 before he even teed it up in his first PGA Tour event.

He played in every Kapalua International except one — in 1988 — when his father died in an air accident. Love and his wife, Robin, were here for the tournament that year but immediately flew back home when they learned that his father's plane went missing.

Winning his 20th tournament at Disney World last year was big, according to Love, not only because it gave him a lifetime PGA exemption along with three other active players — Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Vijay Singh — but also because it gave him a chance to come back here.

In terms of hospitality, "This place is one of the best on tour," Love said. "It's definitely a reason why a lot of us love it so much. And why Rory Sabbatini is here (and) he's not even in the tournament."

Love's love of Kapalua made tournament chairman Gary Planos' week: "He's been our biggest supporter."

He's also a staunch supporter of Hawai'i hosting the two PGA Tour events to open the season.

"I like coming back for the two tournaments," said Love, who will play in the Pro-Junior Skills Challenge tomorrow afternoon at the Waialae Country Club.

"It's always fun to go out there and play with the young golfers and do something to help the tournament," said Love. "I met Michelle Wie there when she was probably 13."