David Duval

David Robert Duval (born November 9, 1971) is a professional golfer on the PGA Tour.

Duval was born in Jacksonville, Florida. The son of current Champions Tour player Bob Duval, he graduated from the Episcopal High School of Jacksonville. He was the U.S. Junior Amateur champion in 1989. He continued his amateur career at Georgia Tech, where he was a four-time All-American, two-time ACC Player of the Year, and 1993 National Player of the Year. After two years on the Nike Tour, he earned his PGA TOUR card in 1995. Success came quickly, as Duval qualified for the 1996 President's Cup and posted a 4-0-0 record. Between 1997 and 2001, he won 13 PGA TOUR tournaments, including the 1997 Tour Championship and the 1999 Players Championship, as well as the 2001 Dunlop Phoenix Open and the 2000 World Cup (with Tiger Woods) internationally. After Davis Love III won the 1997 PGA Championship and Duval finished the year with three straight victories, he held the dubious distinction of "the best player never to have won a major" until his victory in the 2001 Open Championship. He also tied for second in both the 1998 and 2001 Masters.

Other career highlights include achieving the number one spot in the Official World Golf Rankings in April 1999 and shooting a 59 in the final round of the 1999 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic on the Palmer Course at PGA West in La Quinta, California. Prior to 1999, only two other golfers in PGA TOUR history, Al Geiberger and Chip Beck, had posted a 59 in competition and no one had ever done so in a final round.

After his Open Championship win, Duval entered a downward spiral in form that saw him drop to 80th on the money list in 2002, and 211th in 2003, prompting an extended break from the game. Numerous reasons have been postulated for the decline, including back, wrist, and shoulder problems, private difficulties and a form of vertigo.

Many commentators believed Duval's career to be over, but he returned to golf in 2004 at the US Open, where he shot 25 over par and missed the cut. David has struggled since his return with his highest result a T13 at the 2004 Deutsche Bank Championship (with, given the championship caliber of the field, his recent T-16 at the U.S. Open representing a truly excellent result). He only made the cut in one PGA Tour event in 2005, but did finish in the top ten at the Dunlop Phoenix tournament in Japan. While Duval at his peak was viewed as aloof and distant and was not a fan favorite, now galleries sympathize with his plight and root for him to overcome his issues and to experience golfing enjoyment. Duval has had a successful start to the 2006 PGA TOUR season, making the cut in his first two tournaments, as well as a very respectable finish of T-16 at the U.S. Open Championship at Winged Foot Golf Club, where his second round 68 was good enough for a tie as the best round of the tournament.

[edit] PGA Tour wins

• 1997 (3) Michelob Championship at Kingsmill, Walt Disney World/Oldsmobile Classic, The TOUR Championship
• 1998 (4) Tucson Chrysler Classic, Shell Houston Open, NEC World Series of Golf, Michelob Championship at Kingsmill
• 1999 (4) Mercedes Championships, Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, The PLAYERS Championship, BellSouth Classic
• 2000 (1) Buick Challenge
• 2001 (1) The Open Championship

Major championship is shown in bold.

[edit] Other wins

• 1993 Nike Wichita Open, Nike Tour Championship (both Nike Tour)
• 1998 Fred Meyer Challenge (with Jim Furyk - unofficial event)
• 1999 Franklin Templeton Shootout (with Fred Couples - unofficial event)
• 2000 World Cup (with Tiger Woods - unofficial money)
• 2001 Dunlop Phoenix (Japan Golf Tour)

[edit] Results in major championships

DNP = Did not play
WD = Withdrew
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10

[edit] External links

• Official PGA TOUR biography page
• David Duval at Golf Stars Online Links to relevant sites, interviews, feature articles and similar.
• David Duval on About.com