HUMBLE, Texas (AP) -- Davis Love III's streak of major championship starts will end at 70.

Love had to win the Shell Houston Open to qualify for next week's Masters and stretch the longest active run of major appearances. He shot a 1-over 73 on Sunday to finish at 5 under, 11 shots behind champion Johnson Wagner.

The 43-year-old Love will sit out a major for the first time since the 1990 U.S. Open. He tore ligaments in his left ankle last September, spent more than four months rehabbing and has struggled to recapture his old form, missing three cuts in seven starts in 2008.

"I'm close to playing good," he said. "I'm just not getting it done. I don't know if I'm ready for Augusta or not. I'm not really playing good enough to compete right now, so I probably don't deserve to play."

But Love said he's far ahead of the recovery time that doctors set for him. He wouldn't have returned so quickly if he had already secured a spot in the Masters.

"Because I was trying to get back in the Masters and getting back to playing well, I worked really hard," he said. "I've done really well and that's going to serve me well the rest of the year. But the Masters was definitely my motivation."

In 1995, Love won in New Orleans the week before the Masters to earn an invitation. He arrived in Houston this week with lower expectations, admitting that another dramatic victory was unlikely given the state of his game.

He was happy with his performance in Houston, shooting 69s in the first and third rounds. He was 2 under through eight holes on Sunday, then hit a bunker shot over the green on the par-3 ninth en route to a double bogey. He hit his tee shot in the water on No. 15 for another double.

"I've got to look at the positive, that I'm back playing, that I'm healthy, that I've bounced back from this injury," he said. "I've got a lot of great tournaments coming up. I might miss the Masters, but that doesn't mean I can't win the U.S. Open."

Love said he's going turkey hunting, then will the following week at Hilton Head, where he's won five times. He hasn't decided if he'll watch the Masters on TV.

"It'll be hard not to watch it," Love said. "But when I wasn't in the Presidents Cup or the Ryder Cup, it wasn't much fun watching. I don't know, it depends who's playing well. I've got a lot of turkeys to chase."

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