Love, a Sea Island, Ga., resident who turns 33 today, always said no.

``People knew of all these notes he left behind and that I had a bunch of them and so did my brother, Mark, and they thought there was a book there immediately,'' Love said.

``I've been putting people off because I didn't want to do it,'' Love said. ``Finally, Simon and Schuster came to me and said, `look, we'd really like to do the book. The time is right. It's far enough away where maybe you'd want to do it and it's still fresh in everybody's mind that they remember your dad.''

Love agreed to do it with Sports Illustrated magazine's Michael Bamberger, an author of two critically acclaimed golf books.

But Simon and Schuster was wrong about one thing: His father's death is never far from Love's mind.

As Love writes in Every Shot I Take, published earlier this month, ``People forget. I don't, my family doesn't; the accident is still horribly real, probably more real today than the day it happened.''

Davis Love Jr. played in two Masters Tournaments, tying for the first-round lead in 1964. At the time of his death at age 53, he was a nationally known golf instructor.

There were no survivors when the plane, which carried Love; Jimmy Hodges, a fellow instructor; John Popa, the director of golf at Sea Island Golf Club; and Chip Worthington, the pilot; crashed into a swamp near Jacksonville, Fla. There was poor visibility that night and the investigation indicated that the plane was caught in the turbulence created by a commercial jet that had aborted a landing at Jacksonville International Airport.

Love devotes a heart-wrenching 14 pages in the 204-page book to the chapter simply entitled ``The Crash.''

``There are a lot of sad parts in my book, but that's the way it happened,'' Love said.

Asked to describe the book, Bamberger said ``it's a memoir.

``It's a memoir of Davis' father and how he learned golf and life from his father. Golf and life were competely intertwined for Davis Love Jr. and Davis Love III.''

Davis Love III had many emotional days as he and Bamberger went through the notes, both on golf and life, that Davis Love Jr., kept on legal pads.

``Anytime Davis has a serious conversation about his father, he's moved to tears, whether they form or not,'' Bamberger said. ``His father is always right on the edge of his skin, ready to come out.''

``It's a good story not only for golfers but for parents to deal with their kids,'' Love said of his book. ``As good a teacher and golfer as my dad was, he was an even better father. If you read the book, you'll have to get something that will help you in golf, but that isn't really the point.''

The point is to show the love that existed between a son and a father was too soon gone.

``It's good for me and my kids (8-year-old Alexia and 3-year-old Davis IV) to get it down on paper,'' Love said. ``It'a a great legacy for my family. It's good for my mom (Penta), for her to have something to hang onto for the rest of her life. Michael Bamberger did a great job getting out the story I wanted to get out.''

Indeed, if it wasn't for Bamberger, the book might have never been written.

``I told Simon and Schuster I wouldn't do it unless Michael Bamberger would do it with me,'' Love said. ``That was kind of my excuse to get out of it. I love his books, but I figured he wasn't going to write a book with somebody else. I was shocked when he said yes, but then again I was excited because I knew the book would come out the way it should.''

``I was just flattered to know that Davis wanted to do it with me,'' Bamberger said. ``I think any of a number of guys could have done this book with Davis. I do think Davis needed a little jump start. Davis takes his responsibilities seriously and once he signed a contract, he was going to do the work necessary to get the job done. I think he felt all along that this was something he wanted to do for his family's sake.''

In Every Shot I Take's acknowledgments, Love writes, ``Michael, you told me `have a son, plant a tree, and write a book.' I am honored to have worked with you and finished the list.''

Love also writes, ``For Alexia and Davis IV, the true joys of my life, let this book tell you more of the grandfather you would have treasured.''