CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- There have been plenty of good rounds. The 65 he shot in the first round of THE PLAYERS Championship immediately comes to mind.

Putting four of them together, though, hasn’t come easily for Davis Love III this year. And we’re not just thinking of the shocking 83 that sent him packing after two rounds at the TPC Sawgrass, either.

With the exception of that second-place finish at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship in February, the 18-time PGA TOUR champion is caught up in a most un-Love-ly year.

That’s why the 69 Love shot Friday at Quail Hollow Country Club in the Wachovia Championship was so encouraging. He’ll start the third round at 6-under par, four strokes off the lead held by the surprising Bo Van Pelt.

“Sometimes you get to pushing too hard for results, rather than just to go out and play and have fun,” said Love, who is looking for his first victory since the 2003 season when he won four times.

“I felt like the last two days I went out and played and had fun and enjoyed myself and got into playing golf.”

Love had only to point to the first hole for evidence. Rather than mull over an errant drive that strayed well right on the first hole, he stepped up and hit what he termed a “cute little cut shot” to the middle of the green and made the 25-footer for birdie.

“That's playing golf rather than analyzing golf swings and worrying about results,” Love said. “I think that's the difference in when I'm playing good and when I'm playing bad. I'm just out there playing when I'm doing well.

“When I'm playing bad, I'm trying to make the Ryder Cup team or trying to win The Masters and putting too much pressure on myself.”

Love’s golf admittedly wasn’t flawless Friday. But he compensated for those two bogeys on the front side with a closing 34 on the tight and treacherous track that players almost universally have deemed worthy of hosting a major championship.

The former UNC All-American put the finishing touches on his second straight 69 with a 12-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole. The workmanlike effort put the popular native son in contention in the city where he was born and briefly lived.

“I hit the ball pretty well except for a few shots and putted well and scrambled well a couple times,” Love said. “I made a couple mistakes off the tee with the wrong club being a little aggressive, but all in all, a lot like yesterday, (it was) just a good solid round.

“I played good golf, didn't look pretty the whole time, but got the job done.”

Now Love’s task is to continue to play relaxed as the pressure mounts on the weekend. The 1997 PGA champion is comfortable in the hunt, though, and he actually thinks he responds better to that challenge than when he tees it up on Thursday.

“The closer I am to the lead, I seem to narrow my focus a little bit better,” Love said. “You know, what I need to do is what I did the last two days, get myself in position to play a good round and to be near the lead, to challenge for a win, and keep doing it.

“It's not just this week. I think that's my problem is I've been focused on I've got to play well this week, today, right now, instead of trying to go out every day and do the same thing over and over and be patient and let it happen.

“That's my challenge for the weekend.”