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David's domination Duval a heavy favorite at the BellSouth Classic
Posted: Thursday April 01, 1999 01:00 PM
By Benjamin Berman, CNN/SI A time bomb. That is the easiest way to describe David Duval's golf game, which has officially blown up. He has taken over what was once a golf circuit filled with parity. Every week he's a favorite and in any week he may turn the event into a battle for second. Over the last 18 months nobody has been hotter on the PGA Tour than Duval. With 10 Tour wins over that stretch, Duval is the best player on the circuit. A Player to Watch in every event, Duval should have a great opportunity again this week at the BellSouth Classic. "He was close for a long time. The when he did break through, we said he will probbably win a bunch. We didn't predict 10 of 33, but we said when he gets one, he will play well," Davis Love III said about Duval. "He is confident, physically fit. He knows what he wants to do and how to prepare." The Tournament Players Club at Sugarloaf is a course designed for the big hitters. The BellSouth Classic moved to Sugarloaf in 1997 and both winners are two of the Tour's longest hitters -- 1998 winner Tiger Woods is now No. 2 in driving distance, and 1997 winner Scott McCarron is No. 3. There's only one thing better on this course than a long hitter and that's a long and accurate hitter. And guess who's No. 1 in total driving? Based on his No. 8 ranking in driving accuracy and length, Duval is far and way the top overall driver. The reason the long drivers fare well at Sugarloaf is because the par 5s are very makeable in two strokes, setting up several eagle opportunities throughout the week. However, precision is also important as the course features several holes in the woods. With the need for a complete game at Sugarloaf, Duval is the obvious choice. Statistics don't lie and in Duval's case they explain everything. No. 1 in overall statistics, Duval is also tops on Tour in scoring, birdies and putting. And he's No. 2 in greens in regulation.
Now throw in the x-factor: Duval has had success in the past at BellSouth. He has held the lead through 54 holes at this tournament on three separate occasions. In 1992, as an amateur, Duval finished tied for 13th. He tied for third in 1996 and tied for 2nd in 1997. "When I came here on the occasions of finishing second or third or whatever it might have been ... most of those days I played okay and I think you learn from it," Duval said about the BellSouth Classic. "I should have won, I could have won. Someone out-played me that day. Whatever it might have been, you learn through that, you can handle the situation, and you can perform. And that is what I took from it the most." The BellSouth offers special importance this year because it falls the week before the Masters. Some players have taken the week off to rest, but Duval has taken the opposite approach. After taking most of March off, Duval returned to the Tour last week at The Players Championship as Sawgrass. As if he needed them, Duval is using the two events before the Masters as a tune-ups for Augusta. "I think this course [Sugarloaf], if you are going to play, it is a great place to play for Augusta, you have big undulating greens that will be quick," Duval said. "I think it is a fine place to get ready. Last year, I didn't play the week before the tourney. "It depends on the schedule as much as anything. I think for me to come here it is good, because I like to come here, I like to play here. If it was somewhere else I didn't like to play, it wouldn't be good for me to play the week before." It appears that even after a month off, there was little rust left in Duval's game. Once again his skills shined, this time on the most difficult course the players have seen in '99. Not only did he win for the third time this year at Sawgrass, but he proved once and for all that he is the Tour's top player. Duval shot 69s in the opening two rounds at Sawgrass and amidst the Sunday pressure on top of the leaderboard, he shot a steady 73. His 213 total was good for two-stroke victory. "It took nerve to skip three Florida tournaments in a row because he wanted to be ready, then to pull it off," Love said of Duval's improbable win at TPC. "He was just very comfortable with himself and with his game and it showed." With so many victories in such a short span and $2,148,300 in earnings in seven events in 1999, Duval should be getting use to star status on Tour. However, success is nothing new. "Anytime you win, it helps the next time, it builds your confidence," Duval said. "... the more you do the more often you will do it the same way in another event, each time you win there is something different that you have done. You might have done something you might not have had to do in the past, put it in the library for the future." After winning his final three events in 1997 and finishing second in earnings with $1,885,308, he had a historical year in 1998. The marvelous season was punctuated with victories at the Tucson Chrysler Classic, the Shell Houston Open, the New World Series of Golf and his second straight title at the Michelob Championship. Duval also dismantled the PGA record books financially last year. He led the Tour with an all-time record of $2,591,031 -- a mark he will undoubtedly dismantle as he is half a million dollars short just three months into the season. He hasn't missed a gimme in 1999 either. Duval's other two wins this year came in the first three events, both in historical fashion. At the PGA's first event of the year, the Mercedes Championship, Duval destroyed the field. His tourney-record 266 total was good for an astonishing 9-stroke victory. Two weeks later at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, Duval did the unthinkable. Trailing by seven strokes going into the final round, he fired a final-round 59 -- the first ever in the final round and only the third 59 in PGA history. Sure, David Duval is a Player to Watch every week. And, sure, most weeks he is a favorite. However, as frightening as this may seem, the course at Sugarloaf may be one of the designs best suited to his game. Look out this week: Duval may not only win again. He may obliterate the field -- again.
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