For 17 holes on Thursday, Davis Love III looked like the first-round leader of the Heritage tournament at Hilton Head, South Carolina. Then he double-bogeyed the 18th in a wet, cold, howling wind. But Love suffered no such late letdown yesterday, as he shot a five-under par 66 to vault into first place.

At eight-under, Love was one shot ahead of Ernie Els, at the tournament's midway point. Els, paired with Love both days, shot a 67 and matched his partner shot-for-shot until the par-four 9th, their final hole of the day, when Love birdied to take the lead.

Their scores, posted early in the day, stood up as heavy afternoon rains again struck Harbour Town, combining with unseasonably chilly temperatures to make getting decent scores even more challenging. Three players including first-round leader Dan Forsman were at five-under, trailing Love by three shots and Els by two.

New Zealand's Frank Nobilo and Brad Fabel stood at four-under, while Sweden's Jesper Parnevik was among five players at three-under. Masters champion Vijay Singh shot a second 70 and was at two-under.

Love, a four-time Heritage winner, jump-started his round at the par-four 16th, when he fired a nine-iron shot from the fairway into the cup for eagle. He followed that with a satisfying birdie at 18, and added two more birdies on his final nine.

"I've holed one from the fairway at 15 before," Love said. "I was thinking maybe I'll knock it in, or get it close. Then on the very next hole, it hops in the hole. It dove in there like a rabbit."

Els, who said he "just kind of followed" Davis around, had five birdies and suffered his only letdown at the par-three fourth, where he hooked his tee shot into a water hazard. Still, he salvaged bogey with a 12-foot putt, then birdied twice more for his 67.

"I'm in really good shape right now," Els said. "I'll take another two rounds like that. It would probably win the tournament." Britain's Nick Faldo missed the cut after a 73.