Courtesy: BBC.com

Davis Love is possibly the best golfer in a prolonged slump since David Duval tanked for various reasons seven years ago.

Last June in a run-up up news conference for the Canadian Open, Love was asked about the new (at the time) FedEx Cup and the impact it was having on tour.

He said that for players like him whose games weren't in top form, it meant playing every week to make enough points for a shot at the pot of gold.

He was then asked if he intended to play in the Canadian Open. After all, he'd just spent a year and a half re-designing some of the holes at Angus Glen to make the course a halfway tough challenge for the pros.

In short, he said he hoped to. Several weeks later, he bowed out citing fatigue.

In September, he tore ligaments in his left ankle and was done. No big FedEx finish, no run for the pot of gold.

Now, seven months on, he's back playing golf but about as well as he was before his injury.

And he's in danger of ending a streak that is most impressive. Love holds the record for the longest run of appearances in consecutive majors - 70 in all - going back to the 1990 U.S. Open. During that run, he's won a single major - the 1997 PGA Championship, along with that unofficial "fifth major", the Player's Championship twice.

But his formidable streak is about to come to an end with the Masters in two weeks' time unless Love wins the Houston Open this week. Wins it, mind. No runner-up or top five. He has to win it.

Given that he's missed three cuts in six starts and has a best finish of T24 at Pebble Beach in February, Love's chances of even seeing the weekend at Houston are slim, never mind winning there.

He will be 44 years old this month. Coming back from an injury is a long road for a professional golfer; at the age of 44, it could be impossible for him to regain his previous form.

Love may be pondering a spot in the queue for the Champions Tour but that's still at least four years away.

He can at least fall back on his design work, in the meantime.