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Special delivery Despite his failures, Duval remained steady
Sports Illustrated senior writer Jack McCallum touches on a Hot Button issue each Monday on CNNSI.com. After you read Jack's take, give us yours. This will come as no revelation to most of you, but we sportswriters get it wrong from time to time. I think we had it wrong about David Duval; at least I did. During his phenomenal run a few years ago, when he dominated everyone on the PGA Tour except Tiger Woods, we failed to see a human being behind those Oakleys. Duval seemed to be a man who was either denied the personality gene or one who had been given a surplus of the arrogance gene. He didn't walk as much as he strutted with a square-shouldered self-possession, his face a blank mask. He didn't talk much and didn't say a helluva lot when he did. Furthermore, when it came time to really prove himself on the course -- in a major -- Duval didn't do that either.
Or maybe he always was and I just didn't get it. You discover more about a person when he fails than you do when he succeeds, so we had plenty of opportunities to learn about Duval. As his failures in majors piled up, as Woods turned back the much ballyhooed Duval insurgence with impunity, Duval never changed. We came to realize that he is the classic hard case, a tough nut to crack, a man not given to revealing much about himself. Reticence is not a federal offense but it is often considered one by people in my business. On the other hand, when Duval did talk he was a straight shooter, a blunt man who seemed congenitally unable to offer up the guarded answers of a Woods. Then there was the manner in which he handled the endless comparisons to Tiger. He never took umbrage at the questions, never answered them with anything but his normal candor and, in fact, along the way became Woods' friend. Before Sunday's final round, Duval was asked endlessly about his numerous failures in majors (which include four good chances at the Masters, two at the U.S. Open and one, last year at St. Andrews, in the British). He said that while he was disappointed that he had never won a major, he did not consider himself a failure just because he hadn't. At the same time, he admitted how desperately he wanted to have his name inscribed on the claret jug. I've heard a lot of insincere gibberish offered up by athletes but I believed Duval. In fact, I wish I had written this appreciation before he became the British Open champion, because his victory is not the point of this. Even if he had fallen short again, I would have felt the same grudging appreciation for Duval as a man. Duval's victory adds considerable spice to one of those normally deplorable trashsport matches. Next Monday, the team of Woods and Annika Sorenstam will take on the pairing of Duval and Karrie Webb. That's four of the most competitive athletes on the planet playing in the same foursome. Beyond that, it's suddenly become quite interesting out there on the Tour, hasn't it? On a landscape devoid of a preying Tiger, we wait to see if someone can mount a serious challenge to become the world's No. 1, something that would've been unthinkable six months ago. My best guess is that Woods will soon return to form, that the back-to-back humblings he experienced in the U.S. and British Opens will re-ignite his competitive fire. But it's no longer going to be Woods against the field. I think the guy in the wraparounds, having gotten that major monkey off his back, will be right there. And if he fails to rise to the challenge, well, I think he'll be the same guy he always was. That might be more important. Sports Illustrated senior writer Jack McCallum writes about a Hot Button issue every Monday on CNNSI.com. The opinions expressed here are solely those of the writer.
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