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Golf's Greatest Players - David Duval

Golf's Greatest Players - David Duval

David Duval : One of the golfing greats, perhaps best remembered for his round of 59 in 1999

A profile of American golfer David Duval, a winner of a Major Championship and former World Number 1

David Robert Duval: born on November 9, 1971, is an American professional golfer and one of the finest in the history of the game. He is a former World No.1 Golfer who competed on the PGA Tour. David Duval collected 13 PGA Tour tournament wins out of 20 total wins, including a Major title at 'The Open Championship.'  These successes were achieved between the years 1997 and 2001.

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Duval earned his PGA Tour card in 1995, after he was crowned two-time ACC player of the year, player of the year for 1993, and also winning the Nike Tour twice between 1997 and 2000. He finished all four seasons being nominated among the top 5 of the PGA Tour money list and was the leading money winner and scoring leader in the year 1998. Despite all these impressive stats, he improved on them by winning the 1997 Tour championship as well as the 1999 players’ championship.

After winning the 2001 Open Championship, Duval saw his game hit rock bottom, due to injuries and several medical conditions, his performance declined drastically, and he never won again on the PGA Tour.

The decline made him lose his tour card in 2011. Following this decline, he became a golf analyst and commentator because of the love he has for the game. Currently, Duval works for Golf Channel and NBC.

Early life/ Background of David Duval

David Duval was born and bred in Jacksonville, Florida. His father 'Bob Duval' was a golf club professional and a golf instructor too. His mother 'Diane Poole Duval' alongside Bob was a member of the FSU Flying High Circus during their time in college. David had an elder brother 'Brent' and a younger sister Diedre. David learned a lot about golf from his father Bob, who worked at Timuquana Country Club.

David didn't have a smooth ride while growing up. When David was 9, his brother developed aplastic anemia which led to David volunteering to donate bone marrow to restore Brent's health. Unfortunately, the transplant wasn't a successful one, and led to the tragic death of Brent as a result of septicemia.

The incidentt broke the family down, and their father being unable to cope, moved out of the family home. Bob later reunited with his wife and children in 1982 after a year of intense counselling, and he continued to give golf instruction to his son (David). Just as David was kicking off with his professional golf career in 1993, his father left again, but this time permanently.

Amateur Career

In 1989, Duval graduated from the Episcopal High School of Jacksonville, Duval was also the winner of the U.S. Junior Amateur champion in that same year.

As an amateur, he was one of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets men's golf team, and he was a four-time first-team All-American. As previously stated, David Duval was a two-time ACC Player of the Year and the National Player of the Year in 1993. He led an official PGA Tour event known as the BellSouth Classic (which he would win as a professional), while he was still in college.

Duval’s Professional Career

Duval won the Nike Tour twice in his two years' stay and earned his PGA Tour card in 1995. He qualified and posted a 4-0-0 record for the 1996 Presidential Cup, but was unable to win the PGA Tour until he won the Michelob Championship at Kingsmill in October 1997. In that same month, he won two extra tournaments and also the 1997 Tour Championship.

In 1998, Duval led the PGA Tour money list, and also clinched a victory in the Vardon Trophy and Byron Nelson Award for lowest scoring average. He won a total of 13 PGA Tour tournaments from the year 1997 to 2001, including the 1997 Tour Championship, 1999 Players Championship, 2001 Open Championship, and also the 2001 Dunlop Phoenix on the Japan Golf Tour and the 2000 World Cup (with Tiger Woods) internationally. His winning speech at the 2001 Open was said to be “delightfully modest and heartfelt" by British commentators. 

Other highlights of his career came in 1999 when achieved the number one spot in the Official World Golf ranking and shooting that famous 59 in the final round of the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic on the Palmer Course at PGA West in La Quinta, California in the same year.

Career Achievements

Professional Tournament Wins : 20

PGA Tour Wins : 13


No
   
Date   
   
Tournament   
   
Winning Score   
   
Margin of
   
Victory   
   
Runner(s)-Up   
   
1   
   
Oct   12, 1997   
   
Michelob   Championship at Kingsmill   
   
−13   (67-66-71-67=271   
   
Playoff   
   
Grant   Waite, Duffy Waldorf   
   
2   
   
Oct   19, 1997   
   
Walt   Disney World/Oldsmobile Classic   
   
−18   (65-70-65-70=270)   
   
Playoff   
   
Dan   Forsman   
   
3   
   
Nov   2, 1997   
   
The   Tour Championship   
   
−11   (66-69-70-68=273)    
   
1   stroke   
   
Jim   Furyk   
   
4   
   
Feb   22, 1998   
   
Tucson   Chrysler Classic   
   
−19   (66-62-68-73=269)   
   
4   strokes   
   
Justin   Leonard ,David Toms   
   
5   
   
May   3, 1998   
   
Shell   Houston Open   
   
−12   (69-70-73-64=276)   
   
1   stroke   
   
Jeff   Maggert   
   
6   
   
Aug 30,1998   
   
NEC   World Series of Golf   
   
−11   (69-66-66-68=269)    
   
2   strokes   
   
Phil   Mickelson   
   
7   
   
Oct   11, 1998   
   
Michelob   Championship at kingsmill (2)   
   
−16   (65-67-68-68=268)    
   
3   strokes   
   
Phil   Tataurangi   
   
8   
   
Jan   10, 1999   
   
Mercedes   Championships   
   
−26 (67-63-68-68=266)    
   
9   strokes   
   
Billy   Mayfair, Mark O'Meara   
   
9   
   
Jan   24, 1999   
   
Bob   Hope Chrysler Classic   
   
−26   (70-71-64-70-59=334)   
   
1   stroke   
   
Steve   Pate   
   
10   
   
Mar   28, 1999   
   
The   Players Championship   
   
−3   (69-69-74-73=285)     
   
2   strokes   
   
Scott   Gump   
   
11   
   
Apr   4, 1999   
   
BellSouth   Classic   
   
−18   (66-69-68-67=270)   
   
2   strokes   
   
Stewart   Cink   
   
12   
   
Oct   1, 2000   
   
Buick   Challenge   
   
−19   (68-69-67-65=269)    
   
2   strokes   
   
Jeff   Maggert, Nick Price   
   
13   
   
Jul   22, 2001   
   
The   Open Championship   
   
−10   (69-73-65-67=274)    
   
3   strokes   
   
Niclas   Fasth   

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