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BUICK INVITATIONALJanuary 24, 2007David DuvalLA JOLLA, CALIFORNIA JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: Thank you, David, for joining us for a few minutes here in the media center at the Buick Invitational. Maybe you can talk a little bit about your winter. DAVID DUVAL: I've had a great winter. Q. And your practice schedule. DAVID DUVAL: Yeah, full. I've played a full practice schedule. As most people know, we have had some pretty awful weather so far this year and lots of snow and it stayed on the ground. So unlike years past when you're able to at least get out once or twice a week and hit a ball, that didn't come to task this year. I played one round early November with my brother-in-law and father-in-law, and I think maybe the first week of December enough snow melted, went and hit about 30 balls, and that's it. So I should be well-rested and well-fed. Q. Back in '04 at Shinnecock when you came back to play after a bit of a respite, you had mentioned that there was a chance that you may disappear and we may not see you again. Obviously you were in a different place in your life, but I'm curious what has brought you back and made you want to keep playing? DAVID DUVAL: Well, kind of the question you asked, really, that I want to play again, actually, is why. I think there's a part of me certainly that wants to show my family the golfer that I was eight years ago before they knew me, and I'd certainly like for my newest little addition to see me play at some point as much as anything. And really, like I said, too, there's just a desire to play and actually compete again. Q. (Inaudible.) DAVID DUVAL: You know, I feel like my swing and my golf game is better than it's been, certainly in many years. You know, nobody wants to seem to hear, but I dare say it's better than it ever was. I feel like over the course of the last few years I've learned a lot about what it takes for me to play well, what truly are my fundamentals, and I think having such a good grasp of that has made me that much more confident and comfortable in what I'm doing. I feel like I'm playing great again, and it's just simply need to do the scoring things that add up over four days. Q. (Inaudible.) DAVID DUVAL: Well, I fully expect to -- I don't know exactly how the FedEx Cup is working. I frankly haven't sat down and read through the literature and how it plays out in points and everything, but I certainly expect to be a part of all that, and I expect to win golf tournaments. Q. Aren't you on the board? DAVID DUVAL: I'm on the board. I'm sure there's others who might not be on the board yet. Q. You mentioned a new addition, which for you has been a matter of months. Tiger has got one in the oven. I was wondering how does that affect your golf game when you're used to playing through the glare of the spotlight and held to such a new standard? How does your first kid affect the equation and the delicate balancing act? DAVID DUVAL: Well, I think that -- I think it depends on circumstances, your -- you have to look at the whole picture of your family. With Tiger and Elin, you know, what would play out is probably she won't obviously be able to travel much in the last couple months, probably won't travel for a couple months after the baby is born. But beyond that, the family will be on the road. And then what comes into play is just if the baby sleeps. You know, my family is a different situation. We have kids at home, a young kid, so there's a tear between -- they can't be on the road all the time, so I want to be home. So it's a slightly different circumstance. But I don't foresee why this should be a dramatic change with him or his focus on his golf game other than probably a four- or five-month stretch right before the birth or right after. Q. During your whole ordeal, what have you learned about the value of the mental game, confidence? Is the mental game even bigger in golf than maybe you thought growing up as a kid? DAVID DUVAL: Well, I think, sure. I don't know if I'm the best to talk about how fragile that is because some of the things that happened to me were pretty severe, so you'd have to talk to maybe somebody else who didn't have severe circumstances. But it certainly is very much more important than I probably thought. I've said in the last year or however long that if there's one thing I've certainly learned, you had better at all costs protect your confidence. You know, I think you look back at -- you can look at -- I think that Phil's confidence probably took a hit after Winged Foot, and look at the events he played after that. He was riding pretty high on that bull and had all the confidence in the world, and it got shattered a little bit there. So it shows that it affects everyone. Q. Do you think an amateur will ever win out here again, given the depth and breadth of talent and nine million Australians and Chinese on the way? DAVID DUVAL: No. Q. Why not? DAVID DUVAL: I just -- you know, at this point I think that if it -- Q. (Inaudible.) DAVID DUVAL: What did he finish, though? 20th? That's a far cry from winning. I just think when it gets down to the nuts and bolts, last day, last several holes, I don't think so. I don't think the experience is there. I think that circumstances eventually will burst that bubble once you're able to play, and you'll see it for what it is. You're talking about very, very talented people, everyone that's going to tee off this week, and those differences and margins between the top player and the newest guy coming out, you know, the last qualifying tournament entrant here, the difference is not that big. But the difference between amateur golf and professional golf is huge. I think you look at some of the events you play and the conditions in which we play, you just don't have that kind of experience and exposure. Q. (Inaudible.) DAVID DUVAL: Yeah. I mean, frankly. Somewhere right in there. I was playing on confidence and was playing well, frankly -- and started out okay and hit that kind of -- hit kind of a heel pull off of about the 4th or 5th hole in the water and there was no catching up to Tom Kite after that as an amateur. You're just not going to do it. And to watch him that day go around -- hell, I remember his round that day better than I remember mine. But watching him shoot 65 to -- watch him kind of get his confidence back that day, I think, and going to win the U.S. Open a few months later. Q. You mentioned fundamentals a second ago. Are your fundamentals what they were eight, nine years ago? DAVID DUVAL: Trying to make them that way or better, yes. Q. There was a bit of a -- I don't know if it was a risk, but there was a time when you had gone from Leadbetter to -- there were a couple in there. DAVID DUVAL: I talked to a few people. Maybe two or three people I talked to. Q. There were changes in your setup and your -- DAVID DUVAL: I still think a lot about David. I like him a lot. I think he's one of the few around who are very, very knowledgeable. Yeah, again, when you -- like for me I had always played, I had always loved to play, wasn't enjoying it -- wasn't playing well, wasn't enjoying it, didn't want to be there, so I'm looking for something to try to spark again. If that meant making changes to start playing better, maybe wanting to play again, then I was going to try it. As I got a little bit down that path and down that road, I was just like, this is not me, and I don't know how to do this, and I don't want to. Q. Looking back, if you had gone further down that road, where you are now and having -- DAVID DUVAL: I don't know. I couldn't answer that. I eventually woke up and realized that that's not for me. But I don't know if it would have been too harmful or not. Q. (Inaudible.) DAVID DUVAL: It's a possibility, but I couldn't say yes or no. Q. Was there a time during your process in the last year or so where you said, you know, I'm back, I've got it back, where you smiled or -- in a moment, or was it just a gradual -- DAVID DUVAL: Well, you know, really the little things add up, I guess. Just like in a round to total your score they add up, and confidence, and constant belief in what you're doing again. Last year I expected to do a lot better than I did, but at the same time I was as intent upon putting the pieces back together, I guess, and restoring my fundamentals and what I like to do. That was the biggest kind of goal for me. I felt like I was certainly quite tired at the end of last year, and a part of me was -- I was quite torn. I was frankly kind of glad the year was over but at the same time was really feeling glad about how I was playing and kind of was wishing it had been the Bob Hope week as opposed to Las Vegas. But as I said when I got back, I'm not pulling your leg, I hit a ball twice since Vegas before I went into the desert. That's where I kind of got there, and on Saturday went out and played the Classic Club and hit it pretty darn good and played pretty well, and it kind of gave me some of the confidence to say, hey, the things I was wanting to do last year kind of stuck and I got it done, and I was able to come back after two months and kind of put the pieces -- go play again. Q. Have you found that living in Colorado, have you ever thought about moving your family out -- DAVID DUVAL: No. Q. And also, have you found that that break and hitting a balls a couple times has been beneficial for you? DAVID DUVAL: That's always been a fine line that I imagine any golf player or any other athlete would assess between rest and practice. Maybe this year it just so happened that I needed the rest more than anything. Circumstances dictated that, so I didn't have a choice. I could have left and gone somewhere else to practice and play, but quite frankly I didn't want to. You know, certainly rest does you good and goes to kind of the mental part again where your head is clear and you're ready to play and you're excited. Q. I was wondering whether you think there might be pros and cons, if there are pros and cons, to having a dominant alpha male player out here right now who's seemingly winning -- last year more than every other time he teed it up, eight out of 15 I think it was? From a fan standpoint does it maybe get stale or from a player standpoint talking about the same subject over and over and over and over? DAVID DUVAL: Well, certainly I'm sure for most people, they won't admit it. I'm sure the players get tired of being asked about Tiger. But he and his golf and how he's playing and what he's doing is certainly the story. It turned out to be the story of last year again. Phil was stealing some of that thunder for a while and probably would have taken most of last year's thunder from him had he ended up winning at Winged Foot. I don't think it's bad for the game. I think for me, the thing that is bothersome to me is that as a group of players, Tiger's excellence doesn't make anybody else less good. It doesn't mean that Phil Mickelson or Ernie Els or whoever else you want to put in there is any less good or maybe would have been extremely dominant in a different time. You're just talking about somebody who's come along who's quite exceptional at what he does, and a lot of people have crowned him the best player there's ever been. It would be hard to argue that point. You know, I think that if you stick Tiger in anybody else's era, everybody else's totals would be dramatically different. Q. (Inaudible.) DAVID DUVAL: Well, I think it would be -- I don't think there's any question that it's been good for golf and good for everyone else. I do think that's -- yeah, stupid. I don't think there's anything -- Q. (Inaudible.) DAVID DUVAL: Boy, you know, you sure look for -- I frankly think he's probably the -- he may turn out to be statistically through the record books the greatest player the game has ever seen. I think he's probably the best player ever seen; I don't think there's a question about it. I think that Jack Nicklaus was obviously amazing, but I don't think he had anywhere near the short game Tiger Woods has. I think that's the difference. And I think frankly that a non-white man who has come along and has dominated this game is a great thing, I really do. Q. Do you get a little perverse thrill out of it? DAVID DUVAL: I do because it has been kind of a closed shop, I guess. I hope that through it all, the access to it -- that's the thing that's always troubled me with golf, the access to the game. I don't think it's a white or black thing; I just think that golf is expensive, and if there's some way through all this, through the Tiger Woods Foundation stuff or whatever to make the access better for anybody, I think is what could really be a good thing. Q. How does getting back in the Masters -- what kind of goal is that for you, and what are your most fond memories of the years you spent at Augusta? Is there one that stands out? DAVID DUVAL: Not really. You know, it might be kind of like asking Greg Norman what great memories do you have at Augusta? Getting screwed in '98, getting screwed in '99, getting screwed -- no (laughter). Getting to the Masters is a secondary goal, if you will, a product of playing well through the start of the year. It's not my focus by any means. It would be quite difficult to win a golf tournament if I'm not even in it, though. But, you know, I have had a lot of great memories there. I've played really well there at times. You know, I've had some tough days, too, and I've had some tough things to swallow. I mean, I guess the one thing that stands out big, always be the biggest -- even if I win the golf tournament, I still think this would be the one thing that sticks out the most is sitting in the stupid cabin next to the green, "Come on in, David, have a seat." I was unaware of what the jinx it was to set foot near that thing, I guess. Jack Stephens says, Mark is lining up his putt, and he says, "Don't worry, David, nobody ever makes this putt." I got up and put on my shoes and started walking out. So that's the one thing that sticks out the most, just getting whammied. Q. Speaking of the quality out there, discounting Tiger, obviously THE INTERNATIONAL gets a great field every year without Tiger for a number of years, but now the Vickerses are saying the tournament is in trouble because they can't get him. What is your reaction to that? DAVID DUVAL: Well, my reaction to that is I'm sorry. My reaction to that is that, you know what, I'd have a lot cocktail party Tuesday night, have him come by and meet a few people and say hello and flip him a check for half a mill and say thanks for being here. I mean, you know, I think that it's difficult for a sponsor who doesn't get Tiger in their field. I think he's played there before, right? '99. But there's a lot of big names and pretty spectacular golfers that have been very loyal to that event. I think it's just a little more -- it's a vocal saying of dissatisfaction. But again, that would never change and will never change unless he has that cocktail party or the players become employees of the Tour and the Tour can then dictate schedules for the players. Q. (Inaudible.) DAVID DUVAL: Well, we're all but employees, so -- you know, you don't really have much of a say anyway, so you might as well be. I know that through the pension stuff and all that stuff it's best to be an independent contractor. JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: Thank you, David, for joining us. End of FastScripts |
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