David Duval Stages a Comeback
David Duval became a professional golfer in 1993 after graduating from Georgia Tech University. At Georgia Tech, he was an All-American golfer for four years and the National Collegiate Player of the Year in 1993. Duval played on the Nationwide Tour for two years until eventually playing full time on the PGA Tour in 1995. Once on the PGA Tour, success came quickly for Duval with eight top 10 finishes in his rookie year. In 1997 Duval won his first tournament on the PGA Tour. By 1999, Duval had several more victories under his belt and moved past Tiger Woods to become the #1 golfer in the world. By the time Duval won the British Open, he had accumulated 13 PGA Tour victories between 1997 and 2001.
When he was at the top of his game, Duval appeared to be a stone-faced, calculating, golf assassin. Hiding behind his Oakley sunglasses, Duval seemed cold, distant, and perhaps a bit arrogant. The fans could not warm up to him since he seemed so aloof. Duval did not enjoy the spotlight and success only made this worse. While the life of a PGA Tour star seems glamorous to many, Duval grew disenchanted with the constant travel, large crowds, and media attention. Early in 2002, Duval and his fiancÃ?© broke up after eight years together. Traveling the tour by himself for the first time proved lonely. An unhappy Duval, battling wrist and back injuries, did not win in 2002 for the first year since 1996. By 2003, with his career struggling, Duval took a break from the game and filled his hours with fishing and snowboarding. Duval’s absence from the PGA Tour led many to believe that he was walking away from the game for good.
Then in 2004, Duval finally played again in the U.S. Open after being away from the tour for seven months. He failed to make the cut. David Duval still has not won a tournament since his British Open victory back in 2001. Off the golf course, Duval found happiness by getting married in 2004. With his personal life in good shape, Duval finally seems at peace with his collapse and is better prepared to stage a comeback. In the past year he has even appeared in a commercial for Nike in which he pokes fun at his struggles on the golf course. In the commercial, Duval swings a Nike driver and breaks a car window which sets off a car alarm. The voiceover says, “Best contact you’ve made all year Duval!”. In 2005, Duval only made the cut once in 20 PGA Tour starts. He finished tied for 60th place at the Valero Texas Open.
In 2006, however, Duval is beginning to show some signs of his previous success. He has finished in the top 25 in three tournaments so far this year. His greatest success this year was in the U.S. Open at Winged Foot Golf Club in New York. Duval ended his streak of missing the cut in 11 consecutive majors by finishing in a tie for 16th place at the U.S. Open. It was his best finish at a major tournament in nearly five years. Even more telling was the fact that he was in contention to win the tournament at arguably the toughest golf course on the PGA Tour. His crisp iron play and solid putting were straight from the David Duval of old. Perhaps more interesting is that Duval is suddenly a fan favorite. With his fall from the top, Duval has become a flawed and sympathetic figure much like John Daly. Unlike the cold, calculating champion he was in 2001, Duval is now seen as human and fans are embracing him.
To be accurate, Duval is still a long, long way from reaching the success that he once had. He is currently ranked #303 in the world and is 148th on the money list. His consistency is not there yet, having missed eight cuts out of the sixteen tournaments he’s competed in this year. However, his success in 2006 shows that his talent is still there and that on any given Sunday he can still play with the best. A Duval win this year would be truly special for both him and his new found fans. Given the hard road he’s traveled, a win in any tournament would arguably be the greatest win of his career.
