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Fresh off his British Open win, Jacksonville's David Duval continues his stellar play.
By BOB HARIG
© St. Petersburg Times, published August 17, 2001
DULUTH, Ga. -- Prone on the floor of his Idaho hideaway, David Duval watched last year's riveting PGA Championship with an aching back and a broken heart. Injury forced him out of the tournament and into rehabilitation. For five weeks, he couldn't swing a club, the idea of winning a major title seemingly about as plausible as a Tiger Woods slump.
But times change, and nowhere was that more apparent than at the Atlanta Athletic Club on Thursday, where a healthy Duval played the first round of the 83rd PGA Championship with the glow of a major champion while Woods struggled -- again.
Duval birdied the first three holes on his way to 4-under-par 66, putting him in position to follow his British Open victory last month at Royal Lytham & St. Annes with a second major title.
"I just feel good about my golf and I feel like I know how to win these golf tournaments, and know what it takes," said Duval, who trailed leader Grant Waite by two strokes. "I told everyone for four straight years at Augusta and for some other events that I knew I had it in me. I proved that over there (in England) and I think that it makes it easier going out there and playing now, having done it."
Duval's position near the top is understandable. Waite's is not. The 101st-ranked player in the world, Waite is a New Zealand native who lives in Orlando and had missed six straight cuts on the PGA Tour. Other than a third-place finish at the Bay Hill Invitational, Waite has no top 10s this year. He has one PGA Tour victory, in 1993.
But Waite navigated the 7,213-yard course without bogey. Playing in the afternoon when scoring conditions became more difficult, his 6-under 64 on a red-hot day was among a slew of red numbers. He birdied the 18th hole for a two-shot advantage.
"I'm very proud and honored to say I'm in the lead of a major championship," Waite said. "Not everyone can say they've ever done that."
Waite, 36, is playing in only his 10th major, his best finish a tie for 36th at the 1997 U.S. Open. He has made fewer cuts in majors (two) than Woods has won (six), yet led the No. 1-ranked player in the world by nine shots.
Woods, who this year at the Masters won his fourth consecutive major and later won his fourth event of the year at the Memorial in early June, continued his indifferent play. For the fifth straight tournament, he failed to break par, and continued a trend of having to make up a large deficit after one round.
"If I eliminate my three-putts, I'm at even par, which is right back in the tournament," said Woods, who was tied for 100th. "Even though I made a couple mistakes out there, a couple swing mistakes and a few three-putts, if I just eliminate those I'd be under par."
While Woods is searching, Duval is strutting. Playing alongside Woods and U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen, the golfer from Jacksonville made five birdies and one bogey.
"It's just more confidence, as much as anything," said Duval.
Some good fortune didn't hurt. At the par-5 12th, Duval's third, his second shot hooked to the left and appeared headed for trouble. But it bounced out of the trees and Duval still made a birdie.
"I got some breaks like that over at Lytham, and like I've said, those were the breaks that in the year and a half before Lytham ... it would have kicked left," Duval said. "Those things make a huge difference in a round of golf. It's not much ever thought about or written about, but the breaks are huge, and I got a good one there."
Phil Mickelson is looking for some good fortune as well. Mickelson, 31, has finished in the top 10 in 13 of his 33 majors as a pro, including twice this year, but has not broken through, despite being considered one of the best in the world. He has 19 PGA Tour titles.
Mickelson gave himself another chance, although he bogeyed the 18th to drop into a nine-way tie for second along with Duval, Fred Funk, Niclas Fasth, David Toms, Stuart Appleby, Dudley Hart, Brad Faxon and K.J. Choi.
"Certainly, I would love to break through this week," Mickelson said. "I would love to win the PGA Championship and have my first major. ... But what I need to focus on is getting in contention. So I try to downplay it as much as possible."
Duval no longer has to worry about such talk. He has his major, and is intent on getting more.