David Duval: Can He Make A Comeback?

[Duval_Fan]

Hello everyone!

The name is obviously a giveaway but I am a big fan of Duval's... around 1999 no-one had a better golf swing on the planet frankly! Plus he made Oakley's damn cool!

Based on current form, I'd be tempted to vote for option 2 in the poll... however, I shall refrain for fear of tempting fate!

To me it seems the problems he has are all mental. Confidence has obviously taken a knock over the past 5 years and is impossible to just switch that back on. Also, as a number of people have commented, he seems to be in that comfort zone of life where winning golf tournaments isn't his highest priority any more.

Whilst his very recent play (Valero onwards) has been very encouraging indeed, one trend I have noticed that hinders his progress is that when he gets one double bogey in a round, inevitably he stumbles to the finish line... many pro's have a great ability to bounce back after bogey's (usually through birdie's) but Duval seems to react badly to any mistakes and often will make another DB that completely unravels his earlier good play (see Memorial round 1 for an example). I'm sure that comes back to the confidence issue... it's highly fragile.

However, a decent performance so far this week (cut made at +1) at the Memorial on a damn hard golf course gives me hope that we may see Duval competing for a top 10 finish sometime soon.

Obiously wish him the best of luck for this weekend and remainder of the season!

[BASHERBAKER69]

....If Duval finishes above Tiger in this tournament I will be very pleased but maybe this is being little too optomistic.

[golfbarefoot]

I'm pulling for Double-D. I like to see people succeed and I admire the way he keeps grinding and is slowly regaining his confidence and form. Golf can be cruel and to see someone on top then sink pretty low, it was nice to see him play well at Muirfiled this week.

I think if he continues to get more accurate off the tee, he will continue to improve and regain his form and can contend not just make cuts. Go Duval!

[BASHERBAKER69]

Duval qualifies for the US Open, shoots 66, 69. Things are improving for him.

[PEZGolf]

Duval qualifies for the US Open, shoots 66, 69. Things are improving for him.

I am glad to hear it. As I wrote, the Duval family originated in my area---Upstate New York. David's Dad, Bob, grew up in Schenectady, and David's Grandpa, "Hap", was one of the top instructors in the area, and a lifetime member of the PGA of America. Good luck, David!!

[saltman]

It appears to me his game is very close. He qualifies for the Open and has made 2 straight cuts. If you look at the tour stats he is dead last in driving accuracy, but his performance in his last two events showed the accuracy is coming back. From the little I saw, he was still a little sloppy around the greens, but that will come. I suspect he has been focusing on correcting whatever his swing flaw was.

I don't see him pulling a win out this year, but a top 5 or a couple top 10s before the season is out is certainly feasible.

[MPforthewin]

Well, in reality his whole swing used to be a flaw, he would darn near be looking at his target when he made contact. I never could figure out how he and Annika could hit the ball like that. I have always rooted for him as he lived about a mile from me in Florida where I grew up, and really hope he makes a comeback. That guy has been through some serious crap and deserves something good to happen.

[Duval_Fan]

To hear that Duval had made it through qualifying was both surprising and brilliant news!

Lots of quality players in that field plus 36 holes in a day after the Memorial, that's pretty tough going!

Hopefully this is another boost to his confidence!

[c. lassiter]

I'm rooting for Duval and hope he can make it all the way back, but it's only going to get harder from here.

I have a hard time imagining him handling the pressure of actually being in contention (if he gets there), and in the meantime there is a whole new generation of guys coming along who are younger, longer, more confident, etc.

[BASHERBAKER69]

Duval shoots 3 under in the US Open!....let's hope that he can follow this up with a reasonably solid second round.

[PEZGolf]

Duval shoots 3 under in the US Open!....let's hope that he can follow this up with a reasonably solid second round.

Maybe, just maybe, he has got his game back. If so, it will be one of the most amazing stories in modern golf. When Ralph Guldahl, Ian Baker-Finch, Chip Beck, and others "lost it", they never got it back.

[PEZGolf]

David's quotes on Sunday about Bethpage showed that he had a very positive attitude before the tournament began:

"It's wonderful. It's a big, hard golf course, and there's nothing wrong with that. I thought the US Open was supposed to identify the best player."

Good luck to him.

[Parker0065]

I gotta give Duval a lot of credit from how he started the second round. I thought oh man, here comes the train wreck. But out of nowhere he starts making birdies again and gets back to -3. He's gotten in the hunt a couple times this year on tour and faded, but I'm sure that's helped him to at least see his name up there again and regain some confidence.

I think he's going to do well these last two rounds, I'm still sticking with my man Sean O'Hair to win but I think Duval will be there!

[RX Phoenix]

Playing 36 on Sunday is asking a lot of him, if he gets close he'll be dangerous down the stretch, but I don't see him winning, just a top 10 would amazing stuff. He's back to his chunky body type and can still putt, he wants to win, his head is right, what a story.

[PEZGolf]

Go David --------DD-----there are still fans pulling for you. Hey------------your family is from Schenectady, NY-----------Upstate-----------we will always root for you! Your Grandpa was 'Hap" and your Dad, Bob, used to play in the junior tournaments around here, with Laura Diaz's Dad, Ron Philo. We remember "the good ole days". And Dottie Pepper was part of that circle of golfing friends and families.

[AmenCorner]

A top 10 or 25 for David would be a big step forward in my opinion. Good for him.

By the way, Scott Verplank was a 2 time US Amatuer champion and PGA Tour winner when he fell by the wayside and missed something like 20 cuts in a row, and couldn't hit a drive over 240. I still remember the Real Sports, or Outside the Lines that featured him.

Then they found out he had Diabetes and started to treat it. He has certainly played some much better golf since. Might even have won. He's getting up there in age now I presume.

Not everyone fades away like Baker Finch, or Beck.

[shortstop20]

I hope Duval wins, that would give him his confidence back and hopefully start him on his way to coming back to his glory days of the late 90's. I think he's shown he still has great golf left in him.

I would love to see someone actually challenge Tiger day in and day out.

[CG031]

For any Duval fans out there I made a desktop wallpaper for the background of your computers. Enjoy!

http://www.o2designz.com/forum/uploa...1245636427.jpg