DULUTH, Ga. — David Duval got started on the next tournament in his latest comeback at one of his favorite restaurants: Waffle House.
“I had eggs, chicken, toast, grits and a double order of hash browns,” Duval said, breaking into a smile that has seemed so hard to muster through much of his career. “Gotta have the double order of hash browns.”
Now, if only Duval could order up the shots that once made him the world’s No. 1 player.
It’s been seven years since he was that aloof, buffed-up golfer in the dark, wraparound sunglasses, striking fear into lesser players and looking every bit like this generation’s most worthy challenger to Tiger Woods.
But, instead of playing the Tom Watson role to Woods’ Jack Nicklaus, Duval became the guy who would have trouble competing at Q-school. He still has his PGA Tour card, but that has more to do with personal hardship than anything he’s done lately on the course.
Duval played in just seven tournaments in 2007, stepping aside to be with his wife during a difficult pregnancy. He’s played eight times this year on a “family crisis” waiver, but has yet to make a cut. Yep, the guy who’s won nearly $17 million in his career will try to earn his first dollar in 2008 at this week’s AT&T Classic.
Duval insists he’s happy with his life and confident he can turn things around.
“I’m a lot closer to playing great golf than my scores indicate,” said Duval, who is averaging nearly 75 strokes per round and doesn’t rank any higher than 106th in any category kept by the PGA Tour. “When I’m swinging well, nobody hits the golf ball any better than I do.”
He was once the world’s top-ranked player, supplanting Woods in the standings. He became the first golfer ever to shoot 59 in the final round of a tournament, closing with an eagle on the 18th hole of the 1999 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. He has won 13 tournaments on the PGA Tour and 19 around the world, the last of them seemingly the one that would propel his career to even greater heights.
Instead, after winning the 2001 British Open, Duval went into a free fall. He slumped to 80th on the money list in 2002 and 211th the following year.
Along the way, Duval found clarity in his personal life — marrying and becoming a father. Some even wondered if family bliss ruined his career. But Duval scoffs at those who say you can’t be a loving husband and dad — and successful golfer.
While he doesn’t like looking back, Duval points to back problems as the main culprit in his decline. He began to swing so his back wouldn’t hurt.
“When I was swinging great, I hit the golf ball dead straight,” he said. “I faced a problem that thousands and thousands of golfers have faced. I’d get on the tee and I wouldn’t know where to aim because I didn’t know if I was going to hit it right or left or straight.”
Duval’s fellow players are sympathetic to his plight, but know there’s more to the man than the numbers he writes on his card.
“I don’t think David wants my empathy, to be honest with you,” Paul Goydos said.
“I shouldn’t say this because it’s not my place, but if you asked David if he was happier when he was No. 1 in the world or today, I think you’d be surprised by the answer.”
Duval’s convinced that his swing isn’t that far off. The main thing holding him back at this point is a lack of confidence.
Not surprisingly, Duval’s psyche is still a bit fragile. In his prime, he figured those few errant shots he hit were an anomaly, and quickly cast them aside. Now, he’s prone to still be thinking about a bad swing when he lines up to take the next one.
“I’m motivated to do it. I have the desire to do it,” he said. “I’ve just got to keep going.”
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