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CHILDREN'S MIRACLE NETWORK CLASSICNovember 11, 2009David DuvalLAKE BUENA VISTA, FLORIDA MARK STEVENS: Okay. I'd like to welcome David Duval to the interview room. David currently is number 125 on the Money List, and if you'd start off, talk a little bit about your thoughts coming into this week, and as a past champion of this event also, and then we'll take some questions. DAVID DUVAL: I don't have a whole lot of thoughts. I'm not real concerned about my position, where I am on the Money List. I don't feel like -- I feel like I've played better than my standing, and I shouldn't be there, so I kind of figure if I continue to do what I've been doing, everything will take care of itself in regards to that. That's about all I can control. So there's always -- I don't know if it really adds anything to a player's game, but coming to a place where you've played well before and stuff can be nothing about positive, obviously. I feel like I'm pretty comfortable with how the golf courses should be played. And so like I say, if I can control hitting mostly solid golf shots all week, maybe miss a few and go from there. MARK STEVENS: Okay. Questions? Q. Normally would you have already had the clubs down for the season or are you forced to play a little bit more because you're kind of on the edge here or what would your schedule normally have been? DAVID DUVAL: Well, as it turns out, I'm probably playing the same as I would have because we didn't play in Mississippi. So I'm not certain -- I can't tell you with certainty I'd have come down here if we'd have played in Mississippi, honestly. You know, it's just that time of year where, you know, November rolls around and you kind of want to shut it down a little bit. Q. Kind of a hard-ball question, but you're a big boy. You can handle it. I don't imagine even if you got unseeded out of the Top 125 that you'd be hurting for spots to play next year. Guys playing out of 126 to 150 category are still getting at-bats, and you've got a pretty healthy resume that would help you as well. Well, it is what it is, and you're former world No. 1. That's not going to hurt you. DAVID DUVAL: You don't want to rely on it, you know. I would like to think that the relationships I've built up over 15 years or so and the tournaments I go to I would get kind of the starts I would typically play, but I don't want to have to take a sponsor's spot though, either. That's not a position you want to be in. Q. That's kind of where I was going. It's almost, I think, maybe it's a media-created thing, but we tend to create a false sense of finality to that 125 spot that may or may not really exist, especially if you've had any major success, because you've got guys like Maggert who've played out of that category this year or Janzen, past champion status who've recommitted their careers, and it's almost hard to get rid of you guys sometimes because once your foot's in the door, bluntly put. DAVID DUVAL: Well, you know, a lot of what the PGA TOUR is about, what professional golf is about is relationships and loyalties. And you know, I would think that, you know, they know I play in Los Angeles every year and they know I play at Pebble Beach every year. They know I play at, you know, you name it. There's certain events I always play, or eight or nine out of 10 times I'm eligible, you know, I'm at those events, supporting them and being there. And I think that goes somewhere. I think it would be inappropriate if I had to do that, or maybe even wrong of me to ask for a spot, say in -- oh, I don't -- pick a tournament I don't typically go to. You know, that's begging, really, you know, so, I'd like to think that, you know, it's a not a nonfactor for me, but you know, again, I don't want to count on it. Funny enough, I find it a bit ironic that I'm in the position I'm in right now. Conceivably could be outside the 125, not be exempt for the TOUR and I'm in the first three Majors. You know, so you could conceivably not have your exempt status on the TOUR but be in the Masters and the U.S. Open and the Open Championship. Q. A bunch of guys in the top 125 who aren't in any of them. DAVID DUVAL: Right. So it's kind of funny how the game works. That's why I think that's not that big of a deal. Q. David, did I read where you are signed up for the final stage? DAVID DUVAL: Yeah. I entered at -- you know, I entered, that was back in September, I think, because I just happened to be thinking about it, and I remember I called up last year asking about it, and asked if I would be exempt past stages or what. And they're like, yeah, you could -- yeah, you would be, whatever they told me, I don't remember. I was like, well, could I enter? They said, yeah, if you'd have done it two days ago, you could have. So I just went ahead and entered it just to do it. I'm not certain -- say everything goes wrong from this week, I'm not certain I'm going to go regardless. Q. And a follow-up, at the U.S. Open, obviously a thrilling experience. There was the sense of, you know, it's great. David's back. Could you give us your perspective on that, because there was expectations that things would just fall into place after that. DAVID DUVAL: Right. Well, I don't know if I frankly was just that much more prepared for that week than I have been other weeks. I don't know if it was entirely a comfort issue, but I could sit here and honestly tell you that, you know, I wish I could have said maybe last year or the year before, but I feel like the way I played there is much more reflective of how I've hit the golf ball this year than the other dozen missed cuts or whatever the number is. I'm not certain what the number is. 15. I'm not sure. And I think that some of that is just -- I don't think I'm an older player out here, but I've been playing a long time. I'm certainly kind of a slightly different generation than the people who are just starting out. And U.S. Opens, Open Championships, Masters, PGAs, PLAYERS, I feel like I know precisely how to play those events. There's a lot more plodding along involved, a lot more patience involved, whereas, you know, the game now is kind of blast it, go chase it some more and blast it again. And I'm hoping that the changes with the grooves make an impact on that, make people think a little bit more about how they play the game and play a golf course. And I wish it had been done a few years ago, myself. Q. When you won here, that was sort of during a stretch, I think it propelled you to a really good run. What do you recall about that victory? And also, that must maybe seem a little bit like a different lifetime ago when you won here. DAVID DUVAL: Well, certainly it was a while ago for sure. '97, I believe. You know what, more than anything I remember just I was comfortable. I remember that was when we played the three golf courses, and I remember bogeying my first two holes of the week at Lake Buena Vista. Of course, I'd never seen before and everybody talks about how you have to shoot 6, 8-under there. And I ended up shooting 7-under that day after those two bogeys. And then I just -- kind of like, you know, you have some shots and putts and stuff in your career that I like to say when you hit it perfectly, you don't really feel it, kind of like the 5-iron when I shot 59. I don't ever recall hitting the golf ball because I just kind of swung it. And that putt I made for a par in the playoff was just one of those kind of shots where you just barely even feel the ball get in the way of the putter. And it was just a long time ago. I've gone through a few other things since then. I've seen both sides. Q. (No microphone). DAVID DUVAL: That was two of three, yeah. Q. You addressed grooves, which is what I was going to ask you about next, so that's a nice segue. What do you see the biggest trickle-down effect of that? How do you see it affecting the game? Do you really think it's going to rein guys in off the tee or is it a short game thing? Or have you been playing conforming clubs all year or how much of a transition will it be or will it really be a very small inside baseball effect. DAVID DUVAL: I think it's going to be smaller than people are anticipating. I'm hoping that it brings the flyers back into the game, which is what I have always preferred to do. I like playing that way. You know, and I don't know. I think it is going to affect the short game on a lot of people, especially I think players probably in their mid to late 20s and stuff that have grown up only with square grooves, whereas, some of the time I struggle to marry the height of the pitch shot with the spin of the ball, and I've always -- I'm a player who's always used height to stop a golf ball around the green, not spin. And so you know, I'm excited about those changes. I think, if anything, it's going to bring a little bit more skill back. Q. Elaborate on that. What do you mean by that? DAVID DUVAL: I just don't think you can throw the ball up next to the hole and have it stop every time. I mean you gotta account for the run of the ball and things like that. Q. Does technology help the lesser players get closer, in theory? DAVID DUVAL: By lesser, do you mean amateur players? Q. No, no, no. A lesser professional. Does it -- DAVID DUVAL: I think -- Q. Does it bring him closer to the high-level guys because of the lack of spin and all these other things? DAVID DUVAL: I think that -- Q. Goydos was just saying that is the reason. DAVID DUVAL: Right. I don't know that I necessarily agree with that because that's in a way diminishing people's skills out here, and you're talking about the very best of what they do, and I don't think you're out here if you're not pretty good at this. I think that what it does is removes that just kind of throw everything up there, stop and you go. Where, you know, you can err within four or five feet doing that and be okay. I think that that kind of shot gets removed. I think that the way the game has mostly changed is the distances and the lack of movement of the golf ball, and I think that you can see some -- I think you can see a little bit of that possibly come back because players, I would imagine, if anything, would tend to back off and go to a softer golf ball. Q. David, you've spoken of your family and their roll and your motivation to find your form. This is Disney. Are they here or is this a business trip? DAVID DUVAL: You know what, we batted it around, and frankly, I just thought in the end that my little boy could maybe do all right here, four-and-a-half. My little girl is two years and a few months. They're just too small for this. The others are in school. So it's just me this week. Q. David, I'm just curious. Do you golf any differently now than some years ago, and are the rewards still the same or is there a different goal? DAVID DUVAL: The personal rewards are sure still the same for me, in that, you know, when you've done something as long as I have, playing golf, or maybe you guys writing, you know, I would imagine, at least from the way I see it, I get more enjoyment out of the control of the game, playing it under control, having the golf ball do what I want. And I think it would be kind of like, you know, I'm sure you write some things that you're more proud of than others. You know, that week you're not real stoked about what you wrote is the week I missed the cut. I didn't control the golf ball so well. You didn't put your sentences together quite like you wanted. And for me it's a personal pride in my profession, and I think having grown up the son of a club pro and grandson of a club pro as such, I was around golf courses all the time, and obviously practiced all the time, things like that. And I always found a lot of fun and pleasure in just controlling golf balls, moving them around, up, down, trajectories, curving them right-to-left, left-to-right, things like that. And you know, I've always thought that's why I have always felt that, you know, you play well in a week and you finish third or fourth or sixth, you know, I don't see that as failure. I mean if you've done what you can, you could be leaving a golf tournament, I mean, heck, when I won the Hope, I think Steve Pate was leading the golf tournament, shot a 66 and lost. Well, you know what, there's not a whole lot else you can do. He went out there under the gun and performed and somebody just happened to beat you. There's only a couple people around through the history of the game really that if they're leading golf tournaments, go out and play well that you're not going to beat. But other than that, you know, the margins between, you know, the tops and the middle and the bottom are so fine that you gotta be on top of it. All you can control is how you do. Q. Kind of in the same vein, what's the feeling of satisfaction or whatever that you're back in control of the golf ball, I would think you have to consider this a successful year that because you're controlling the golf ball and whether the results show it or not, what's the feeling of knowing that, you know, whether it's relief or satisfaction, that you're back and controlling the golf ball again basically? DAVID DUVAL: I'm very happy with how things have gone as far as my golf swing and my game this year. I'm very displeased with the results. However, for some reason that seems to be the last thing that falls into place, you know, the scoring aspect of the game that can be so difficult. I don't know why that is. It just is. And but again, for the most part, certainly after we left the West Coast, I feel like I was kind of teetering on that edge on the West Coast a little bit, but after that West Coast, I feel like most of the time I've been in control of what I wanted to do and just for one reason or another haven't gotten anything out of it. Q. Dave, this is kind of an off-beat question, but I know everyone, particularly at this tournament, everyone comes and there's a lot of people struggling with their game, struggling with their position, focusing totaling on their shots, their swing, but how often in the course of a year, course of a tournament do you guys have a chance to think or come into contact with the ultimate goal of the tournament which is to help a charity out, like the Children's Miracle Network or any other charity? How often does that actually -- DAVID DUVAL: Well, I think that -- I would like to think at least that for most of the people playing out here, that's something they're aware of every week. So you know, to me, like at Jackson, I was like, well, you know, whether we got washed out or not, at least the sponsors got the Pro-Ams in, the clients got entertained, the people who were integral to the function and the livelihood of the TOUR. Those are the things that can get lost sometimes. And I know that the PGA TOUR as an organization has made a little more of a push this year with getting out there the message of what actually is done and contributed on an annual basis. I have actually talked to some of the staff about that early in the year that I think that especially with the struggles people are having in everyday life right now, that you gotta remind the people of the difference between our sport and every other sport, and why it's important to have these events, you know, because the communities we come to are counting on it, frankly. You know, I mean that's where -- especially for the mean receivers of the charitable dollars through the tournaments. I mean that's most of the budget for the year, at least a lot of it. And you know, I think that that's what's going to keep us healthy as an organization, I think that's what's going to help us move forward as an organization. And I don't see any way around it. I think that, if anything, we should continue to focus more on it and let people know what actually gets done out here, because it's really impressive. I mean I don't -- I know on a -- typically our annual contributions as a group are greater than all the other sports put together. I think that, what, a couple years ago when we hit 150 million for the year or something and it was more that year than the NFL had ever given away to charity in its existence. And I think that's some of why we continue to do well as an organization. And I mean certainly we have our struggles and we're going to have to find some replacements for sponsors, but it's not an easy thing, I don't think for -- I know particularly it boils down to economic decisions with companies having to pull out at times. And I'm sure it's not an easy thing for them to do because they're so closely tied with these organizations as well. You know, they feel like they're letting folks down as well. Q. Just one quick one about the practice so far for you. What kind of a week do you expect it to be out there scoring wise, for you and everybody in general? DAVID DUVAL: I don't exactly know what you're asking me. Q. Well, with the weather and the way the course is setting up. DAVID DUVAL: Well, I think the weather is supposed to be good. I think it's supposed to be maybe windy tomorrow. I don't know how much it rained yesterday. It seemed like a fair amount when I came out there this morning when I was out there messing around. You know, it's such a -- typically I think you look at the history of the event and you're going to see something that's similar. I mean I don't imagine that you're going to have to make a lot of putts and make a lot of birdies, and from what I can tell, the weather's going to be great. The golf courses are damn near perfect, so you'd expect the people to do pretty well. MARK STEVENS: Okay. Thanks a lot, David. Good luck this week. End of FastScripts |
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