JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Looking back at David Duval’s golf career, there was almost no in-between. He endured one of the most astounding hot-or-cold streaks in the history of the game.
All four years at Georgia Tech, the Episcopal High graduate was a first-team All-American. Hot.
Despite often being in weekend contention, Duval failed to win in his first 86 PGA Tour events. Cold.
He then flipped a switch and won 11 times in his next 31 starts, taking the No. 1 world ranking from Tiger Woods for a 14-week period after capturing the Players Championship in 1999. Hot.
Six months after capturing his first major at the 2001 Open, a slew of injuries over two decades ruined any chance at him recapturing greatness. Cold.
Duval became the first golfer to shoot a final-round 59 and win a golf tournament at the 1999 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. Hot.
David Duval celebrates after carding a 59 in the final round of the 1999 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic at PGA West in La Quinta, California. (Harry How/Allsport)
He also shot a career-high 91 in the 2019 Open, taking a 14 at the par-5 seventh hole, which tied for the worst one-hole score at any major in 28 years. Cold.
All those highs and lows made for a whirlwind career, one that might cause some golfers to engage in a lot of what-if reflection.
Duval sees no point in tormenting himself over issues beyond his control. Whether it’s injuries or fate of the golf gods — like Mark O’Meara’s winning birdie putt at the 72nd hole of the 1998 Masters that kept him out of a playoff — Duval long ago came to terms with hypotheticals of what his career might have been.
“When I turned pro in 1993, if you would have said I’ll give you an Open, a Players Championship, a Tour Championship, a number one ranking, a 59, a World Cup title with Tiger [in 2000], three President Cups and two Ryder Cup [appearances], I’d say, ‘Okay, thank you, I’m good.’
“If you look at the whole body of work, I’m pretty happy with it.”
A quarter century ago, right before Woods went on a torrid streak that saw him capture 21 tournaments and five majors in a 26-month span, Duval was the talk of the golf world.
He reached the peak of his dominance at age 27, winning the Players Championship and BellSouth Classic in back-to-back weeks in 1999 to give him 11 victories in 18 months.
That feat, matched by only Woods (three times), Jack Nicklaus (twice), Ben Hogan (twice), Arnold Palmer (twice), Byron Nelson (twice), Sam Snead and Vijay…
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