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David is Goliath Duval wins TPC by two strokes, takes over No. 1 spot
Posted: Monday March 29, 1999 01:01 AM
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- He had a wedge in his hand and ice in his veins. David Duval stood on the 17th tee, staring at an island green that looks like a tiny target when The Players Championship is on the line, the lead is only one stroke and the margin of error is next to nil. Even more was at stake Sunday. Three holes earlier, he learned his father Bob had won a Senior Tour event and they had a chance to become the first father-son combination to win tour-sanctioned events on the same day. A victory finally would make Duval No. 1 in the world ranking, even sweeter coming at the tournament he grew up watching but never dreamed he would win. "All I tried to do was grab the club and hit it," Duval said. The ball descended from the bright blue sky and landed 6 feet away. With remarkable cool that has become his trademark, he made the birdie to secure a two-stroke victory over Scott Gump and to finally leap past Tiger Woods as No. 1 in the world. "What a wonderful week," Duval said. "I'm very proud of myself how I played." Duval closed with a 1-over 73 to finish at 285, the highest winning score in the Players since it moved to the TPC at Sawgrass in 1982. Gump, who hit in the water with an 8-iron on the 17th for double bogey, answered with a birdie on the 18th for a 71 to finish second at 287. Nick Price was third at 288. Fred Couples had the best round of the day, a 4-under 68 that he finished before Duval even reached the second green. That shot Couples from a tie for 40th into a tie for fourth with Hal Sutton at 289. Duval's victory came just two hours after his father won the Emerald Coast Classic on the other side of the state near Pensacola. "It has turned into a dream year already, and it's only March," said Duval, who won for the third time this season. No one else has won more than once. The victory only confirmed Duval as the world's best player, and what a place for the coronation. Duval grew up near the TPC at Sawgrass, even played as a marker when he was 18. Cheers greeted him at every turn, and while he left the galleries holding their breath at times, he pulled through for the biggest win of his career. "I've got to thank you all," Duval said to the crowd. "I don't know if I could have done it without you. I felt the vibes, and it was a wonderful day." Woods, who could have kept his No. 1 ranking by finishing sixth, made a bogey on the last hole for a 75 to finish at 3-over 291, tied for 10th. He had been No. 1 for 65 weeks, including the last 41 in a row. "To win a big one like this, he deserves to be No. 1 in the world," Woods said. Duval becomes just the third player to ascend to No. 1 without having won a major. Ian Woosnam and Fred Couples was No. 1 right before each won the Masters. "Why don't you give him the green jacket?" a fan cried out during the trophy presentation on the 18th green. Duval has never cared for the world ranking, and that didn't change with his name on the top of the list. "It's nice to be ranked No. 1, but it's not a concern of mine," he said. Winning is. Duval's 10th victory in his last 33 tournaments did not come easily, nor was it expected. The Stadium Course was set up like a major, with the nasty rough of a U.S. Open and supersonic greens like Augusta National, even though officials put additional water on them overnight.
"I have been watching this tournament for 15 years," Duval said. "I don't know if I ever thought I was going to win here. I thought it was going to be a very, very difficult thing to do." It was. He was tied for the lead at 2-under and in a fairway bunker, blocked by a tree and 101 yards from the green on the par-5 ninth. He could play safe and sideways, or go at the green. "I just said, 'It's time to play golf,'" Duval said. The shot barely cleared an opening in the trees and found another greenside bunker. Duval stepped up and holed the shot to take the lead for good. Three holes later, he knocked in a 15-foot putt from off the green to get to 4-under. When Scott Hoch failed to save par up ahead on the 13th, Duval had a three-stroke lead. That proved to be important, because not even Duval was immune from dropping shots on a course that played 3.4 strokes over par. And it loomed even larger when Gump birdied the 18th to get to 1-under. Duval missed the green at No. 14 and had to make a 6-footer to save bogey. On the next hole, he failed to save par from a bunker. His lead was down to one stroke when he stepped to the 17th, the hole that drowns so many hopes. Duval was impervious to the pressure. "It was a huge shot, obviously," Duval said. "But it was very important to make the putt. With a two-shot lead, there's a lot of things I can do on the last hole and still win." His approach on No. 18 went through the green into the rough, but he chipped to a foot to set off the celebration. Duval won $900,000, which pushes his season earnings to just more than $2.1 million. That's about $500,000 shy of what he won all of last year. It also completed a hat trick of the PGA Tour's three most elite events - the winners-only Mercedes Championship, the Tour Championship for the top 30 money-winners, and The Players Championship, traditionally the best field on tour. This year's field was the third-strongest in golf this decade, and it seemed only fitting that a new No. 1 would emerge from the pack.
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