Tim Crow, the president of Sahalee Country Club, offered a ceremonial welcome for the 80th PGA Championship, and then turned his attention to its defending champion.

"About 45 years ago, I played a golf match against Davis's father in the Colorado Junior Championship, a tournament that he won,'' Crow began. "I followed the father's career, as I do now his son.

"So Davis ... it's been a long trail winding between connections for me with the Love family.''

That's how it goes for Love, the son of a highly regarded teacher who died in a plane crash in 1988. He always dreamed of winning the British Open, but it was only appropriate his first major come at the tournament that club pros hold in the highest esteem.

"I went to the PGA Championships with my dad as a kid,'' Love said. "He just thought that was the greatest thrill of his year, just to qualify for that tournament. And then for me to win, the son of a lifetime PGA member ...

"It really hit home with me how important that was, not just for me, but for my family, and for PGA members all across the country.''

The image is still one of the most memorable -- if not emotional -- in golf history. Love finished off wicked Winged Foot with a birdie on the 72nd hole and raised his soggy visor over his head as the sun broke through to unveil a rainbow that seemed to cover all of New York.

"If I win one major or a hundred majors, that's going to be probably the highlight of my golf life.''

Not that Love is willing to stop at one.

He has been so consistently good for so long that it's hard to believe he's only 34. Since he won his first tournament as a 23-year-old, he has only gone winless three seasons on tour -- and two of those were immediately after his father died.

Still, Love had never really come close to winning a major until he finished second to Ben Crenshaw at The Masters in 1995, then blew a chance to get into a playoff at the 1996 U.S. Open when he three-putted from 20 feet on the 72nd hole.

Any questions whether he could close the deal ended at Winged Foot with a performance that may have been even more impressive than Tiger Woods's record-setting victory at Augusta National a few months earlier.

Woods's 18-under 270 for a 12-stroke victory was about destruction of the field. Love destroyed a course that was set up like a U.S. Open -- tight, shaved fairways and rough so thick it sometimes showed only a few dimples on the ball.

A score of even-par was thought to be enough to win, but Love turned rounds of 66-71-66-66 for 11-under 269 and a five-stroke victory over Justin Leonard.

"Tiger had an incredible score at The Masters, and my score, if you take those par 5s and not convert them to par 4s, I had a very similar score,'' Love said. "It was an incredible week for me.''

Now comes the encore.

Love already has won this year at the MCI Classic, his fourth victory at Hilton Head, S.C. But his season was slowed with the kind of back problems that have ailed good friend Fred Couples, and Ernie Els.

He missed the cut at the U.S. Open, but proclaimed his back in good shape at Royal Birkdale and made a small run on Sunday before finishing eighth in the British Open. He is as competitive as ever, especially when he hears "PGA Champion'' attached to his name on the first tee.

Now, it is a matter of adding more hardware to the trophy case.

"You still get nervous when you tee it up, but the anticipation and the lead-up to is a lot more fun and exciting, rather than getting panicked and nervous,'' he said.

"I've planned my whole golf career trying to win a major championship, and then to have that dream come true at Winged Foot has been a great experience.''

Like just about everyone else, Love isn't sure what to expect at Sahalee, where 100-foot trees that creep into fairways only 30 yards wide made every tee shot critical.

Love no longer feels the pressure to win his first major, but there will be the pressure and distractions of trying to repeat. No one has won back-to-back PGA Championships since Denny Shute in 1936-37, and no one has ever successfully defended in the stroke-play era.

"Sahalee is going to be a test of golf that we haven't seen before,'' Love said. "It's going to be a little bit of that uncertainty. But I know every time I play, I have a little more confidence because of my win at Winged Foot.''

August is the driest month in the Seattle area, but rain is never far away. And if Love can become find himself hoisting the Wanamaker Trophy once again, a rainbow might not be too far away.