PGA TOUR MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 23, 2001

David Duval

DAVID DUVAL: I think that my golf is pretty good. I haven't competed since the Michelob event. I am trying to get rested and ready for a long trip. Not only is it about 5 straight weeks of golf, it's a World Cup event in there at the end. And also there's a lot of miles, a lot of travel so I have been trying to get rested as much as everything. It's always exciting to get back in here playing in Georgia Callaway Gardens. Houston, like you said, I have won there and it's a great, great golf course. Then I will make my debut in Japan the following week as a professional at least. Then we defend in the World Cup. I am really looking forward to the stretch of golf. It will be a lot of fun. It is going to be tiring but I am ready. I am up for it.

DAVID DUVAL: Well, obviously personally it was very important to me and very significant in my career. As I said and I will more than happy to sat it again. I will be more than happy to say it as many times as I need to, the thing that I was most pleased about -- obviously the win was spectacular but I was most pleased with how I played; the manner in which I won. The thing I feel so good about is that - I don't remember the exact numbers - you might Jerry, but there's like six people tied for the lead like six more two shots back, really a jumbled field. And basically after six or seven holes in the final round it was win or lose. I had gone out there and kind of taken control. That's really -- and I certainly don't say that in an arrogant manner but that's what I am most proud about playing so good and taking control of it and putting myself in the position of whether -- it is up to me to win or lose.

DAVID DUVAL: Well, I certainly -- everybody grieves and handles these types of things differently. I am not immune. I'm like any other person and certainly it affected me. Whether I was ready to play or not at Michelob, I certainly didn't playing particularly well. I don't feel like I was ready to he play. That's not necessarily because of what transpired on the 11th of September, but that might have been one of the factors. I just need to kind of get away from it. What we do is very important to us, to the players and to some of the fans and stuff. But it is not important. It still isn't important in what goes on. An unfortunately for us and by us I guess I mean many Americans, not just golfers or anything, we --sometimes it seems like these type of events have to happen for people to kind of put perspective on sports and put sports back in their place. We all get caught up in how important these things are, or how much -- how much -- how many emotions we invest in them. And it is just, you know, it is very important to the people involved but in the end we all know it's a game. I know it kind of rambles but I am trying ---

DAVID DUVAL: I'm not even so sure -- I wouldn't even know where to begin on that, even where to start to speculate. I understand that sentiment. But who knows. I don't -- obviously I have no idea. I would hope that people get back to doing their normal things, but just like anybody, it's going to take time for golfers, for business travelers, for anybody.

DAVID DUVAL: Well, I had not had any plans to go overseas prior to my upcoming trip to Japan. Has it entered my mind that we might not go? Sure, that it might -- but not -- I can't sit here and tell you that's as much as me as it is curiosity as to what's going to transpire with world events and whether the event was going to be held - that kind of thing. I am looking forward to my trip very much. But we're playing here in Callaway this week and we're playing in Houston next week, and you know, we play golf in a very open environment, and if somebody is willing to do something to go through the necessary preparations and labors to have some -- make some kind of statement, then they are going to do. I think that there's not a whole lot we can do to prevent it. If somebody wants to get David Duval they can, or if they want to get after somebody else they can. Unfortunately that's the world we live in, but that's how it is and that's, I guess, one of the great things about where we live.

DAVID DUVAL: Wow, yeah, I wasn't -- I am not aware of what you are talking about really (inaudible). Certainly I don't -- I don't really know how to respond to that because that's not really ever something that had entered my mind about not trying to win or not competing and not beating Tiger. I have said it all along and I will continue to say it: If I am play good I'll beat him. And I am very comfortable with my ability, my skills. As for other players, I would not -- I am not the type who would go talk to other players and say they need to do this or do that. But I think that if I play some good golf I can beat him.

DAVID DUVAL: I guess I would say I think it was the right thing a few weeks ago. It wasn't really up to me as a player, as a participant. Could some good come of it? Sure, I guess, but I don't really know how great of an impact it would have had. Let's face it, one of the great things about the Ryder Cup matches is the animosity, you know, I mean, I would think that everybody who is listening would agree. Kind of the, you know, the back and forth that happens is one of the great things about it. And it certainly -- I don't think it would have been that kind of atmosphere. I think as opinion has shown with what has been transpiring with world events, when the United States goes into something like this, you know, Great Britain is right behind us along with the rest of Europe. I just -- I think that it might have -- the postponing of it might have preserved some of the intensity of the Ryder Cup and I think that intensity is really what makes it so special. That's what makes you shake out there on the golf courses; that's what makes you so nervous.

DAVID DUVAL: It's more than a little disappointing. Actually I think it's a terrible thing. It's a real shame that, you know, we're not going to have a top tier event on one of the best golf courses we see all year. I think, most everybody would agree, that this is one of the best courses we see all year and it is a shame that we're not going to have this event here any longer. Certainly not at the level it is.

DAVID DUVAL: I think a lot of it is the small town relaxed atmosphere, you know, it's a great way for the year that's winding down. It's an environment that's not as stressful maybe as some other places, it's a good thing for people who are trying to get into the top-30 or top-40 or top-125.

DAVID DUVAL: Yeah. Well, I don't know, it's -- it's a nice place to start the year, I guess. I certainly wouldn't say that Plantation is one of my favorite golf courses, but then again you look at the land they had to work with, and it just -- it's kind of -- it's one of the few courses that I know of that I could probably go through the -- if the wind is blowing, if it is a typical trade winds I can go through the whole golf course and tell you virtually every club I was going to hit on every hole. And I mean, I think there's some uniqueness in that, but it's just -- it's another kind of relaxed atmosphere starting the year, you know, and, you know, and it's a good spot with the Hawaii, the Sony Open opening up the full-field event the following week.

DAVID DUVAL: I would think we would all agree that there are a lot of other courses that are better but all encompassing of venues, it's pretty good.

DAVID DUVAL: You know I think as much as anything, obviously I played real well. I played well last couple of years there. But we had those Kona winds. The first hole was into the wind, and they weren't real strong either and that makes the course play a good deal easier. And then I think we had a little bit of trade winds on Sunday, but maybe blowing ten or fifteen miles an hour; not the typical 10 or 25. So if anything, just a nice breeze to keep you cool. Actually that's really why the scores were -- well, I guess my score was a little bit ahead of everybody else.

DAVID DUVAL: But you know, it is a lot easier course with the Kona winds and I think we had three days of Kona.

DAVID DUVAL: I don't get caught up in ranking events. I don't see, you know, I guess it's not put in my total of tournament wins, but I think it clearly was a victory. I don't know how many tournaments I have won, but that's certainly one of them. You know, any time you go as a team and you go around the world, it's great to compete well and to win. We have -- I don't like to speak for anybody else, but I will speak for Tiger on that now we have no intention of not winning that golf tournament. Certainly we might very well get beat, but we're going to do our best to play hard if we want to win.

DAVID DUVAL: I think whoever criticized that is pretty ignorant. That's just unfair and wrong. It's based off of two years of earning points and to say that those two years of work should disappear because of uncontrollable circumstances I think is ridiculous.

DAVID DUVAL: You know, -- what will they do, will they do it the same way like they have a certain amount of points and doubled --

DAVID DUVAL: Yeah, I -- you know, it doesn't matter what I think. In the end (inaudible) -- it's not my decision. It probably -- I would probably have to agree with it though if I had to take a position simply because, you know, since you postponed it and are changing the team, you certainly don't want to penalize a guy who plays well in the year that it's moved back up to because he would typically be earning points in a typical situation. I guess I would agree that he should be earning his points then (inaudible).

DAVID DUVAL: Maybe just that it is a long hard golf course and obviously we all know length is important as anything every week. That's one of the longer courses we play and, you know, I don't know. I don't know if there's that as much as there's that, you know, in 1997 I was on a pretty hot streak and '99 Tiger was too. So probably as much as anything, and maybe it speaks to the quality of the course that you had the players win who were maybe playing the best at the time.

DAVID DUVAL: I think Tiger will win that. I don't really think it's much of a contest myself. I think that you know, if I had won the PGA, something like that, maybe. But I think -- I think that it would take somebody having won two majors to take away, you know -- Tiger's great year was cemented in April when he won Augusta for the fourth one in a row.

DAVID DUVAL: You are not supposed to ask that.

DAVID DUVAL: No. Can't give away my secrets. (Laughs).

DAVID DUVAL: Hey, good point. Touchez. What a joik (sic) (jerk) (laughs). I have every intention of going and seeing the golf course, actually . I don't know if I will get there like in November, December, but certainly I will be there in March a couple of times; probably in April as well before the event. My understanding the changes are good yet dramatic to quote one of the members I have been in touch with.

DAVID DUVAL: Usually I didn't. I've done it once but usually I didn't. I don't know why. Just never did. I just kind of feel like it is tough to get a ton out of it when the course is playing different. Come November, December and even into January, February, like when I played when I was at school, golf course is so different than it is in April to play. It plays so much longer; it is a lot more wet. It's just completely different. But I would certainly -- I want to get up there and see the changes. I hear it's just something else.

DAVID DUVAL: I kind of feel like I have been pretty relaxed really. I have had a lot of desire to win and stuff and I have had my -- some good chances the last several years. But I think that's a pretty -- that's probably something that you would think would be a definite possibility. Certainly I do have one under my belt, so maybe I won't be trying as hard. But, you know, it's something that near and dear to me, so I am going to be going gung ho the upcoming year.

DAVID DUVAL: Well, I don't know. I understand why, they want to keep up with the changing technology. My only question about the changes would be then to address the greens as well. If you want us to be backed up to hitting 5-irons and stuff into greens where the players 30 years what they were doing, well, they are not backing the greens down back to bermuda and rolling 9, whatever it is. They are still hard bent that's rolling 13, whatever. So that's my only concern is that that combination at some point we're going to kind of get out of hand with the speed of the greens.

DAVID DUVAL: What about Retief?

DAVID DUVAL: I would imagine it's between Retief or Jose Coceres regardless of how Charles Howell plays. I mean, the guy wins twice or a guy wins a US Open, that would be my --

DAVID DUVAL: Well, I mean, you know, you look at when Woody won it, it's based off of -- everything is about winning out here, I don't know. I guess it strengthening the case, but I don't know who I'd go for then. I don't know where either one stands on the money list. But Retief came over and won the U.S. Open. If he's going to be on the Rookie-of-the-Year card, it's hard not to vote for him.

DAVID DUVAL: Is Bernhard a member on this Tour?

DAVID DUVAL: I'd have to say Langer.

DAVID DUVAL: Well, I think he's played better, hadn't he?

DAVID DUVAL: Top to bottom he's won a couple of times in Europe, so I think Langer.

DAVID DUVAL: Thank you see you next week.