MERCEDES CHAMPIONSHIPS

January 10, 1999

David Duval

DAVID DUVAL: Wasn't too bad. I think the valet was taller than he was, so he had to move it back.

DAVID DUVAL: I am tickled. You know, I've had that opportunity, I had one at Tucson where I could really get way ahead of everybody, and it didn't quite work out that way. I think that really might have been the only other chance. I felt like I could. You just have to have a lot of things go together for that kind of thing to happen. It seems like it happens once maybe a year. You know, I guess Steve Jones did it a couple years ago, Tiger did it at Augusta. It's just really neat to do that. And then to top it off, to do it in a tournament in which everybody in the event knows how to win, that's what makes it the most special.

DAVID DUVAL: No, not really. It was kind of funny. As we got closer and closer, I started to hit it better (laughter). Things were going so well, I didn't want to kind of have a lapse, really make a mistake, make a bogey or something. I was playing too well to make a bogey really at that point. I just didn't want to kind of lose track of where I was and do that. So I really concentrated on what I was doing.

DAVID DUVAL: You know, when a player like myself or any other player starts out in a round of golf on Sunday with a big lead, it's weird. It's really kind of unsettling, especially when now all of a sudden the golf course is playing like everybody expected it to every day. I really didn't know what was going to happen. It took me really till probably the fifth green where I ran my birdie putt by about five feet, and I made that coming back. That's when I kind of really settled down. I was a little worked up. I just wasn't thinking as clearly. You know, you kind of lose track of what you're doing then. It's weird, because I'm in a position where I don't know if I should play aggressive, you know. All of a sudden, I had that putt on 5. If I didn't make it, I think I'm only one or two ahead now, only played a few holes. That kind of woke me up, I guess. From then on, I just really didn't hit any bad shots, just started hitting the ball how I wanted to, making a few putts, just kind of plodding my way around.

DAVID DUVAL: I'll sit here and tell you, I certainly hope I can do it for another 10 or 15 years (laughter). I plan on playing till 40-ish or so, then opening up a little bookstore, coffee shop, and going fishing, you know. I don't know. To think of doing that, at any point, especially I think in today's game, is unrealistic. But I have done that, so it makes me realize I can. Whether I will continue to, I don't know. Like I said, a couple days ago, I think if you can get to where you win a couple of events a year now on this TOUR, you're really doing something special. So that's kind of what I aim at.

DAVID DUVAL: Probably bigger than that. You don't have to be nice.

DAVID DUVAL: I guess it does help in a sense. At the same time, it seems to me like when I've played, the bigger the galleries, the easier it is, the less distraction. When you have a hundred people following us, like we might have, however many it was, people moving, you see that. When you have a thousand, you don't see people moving. Everybody blends in. At the same time, to have all the attention still not necessarily on me or other players is probably -- I don't know. As a pro, you want to have some attention, obviously. You know, that's what I expect. Heck, I'm a Tiger Woods fan. You know, I think he's great. If I was out here to watch, I might watch him, too (laughter).

DAVID DUVAL: A couple years ago, it was difficult. Let me give you the reason it was difficult. The reason was because -- you ask me something, I'll give you an answer. I was criticized for that some, you know. It's not always what people wanted to hear. I think as I've gotten to know y'all and y'all have gotten to know me, I'm a straight shooter. I enjoy the interaction, actually. But I think it's just taken a little while for everybody to get to know each other. If you ask me something, I'm going to tell you what I think about it. Sometimes if it's not the most popular, I might try to make it sound nicer, you know. I'm not going to blow smoke. I think because of that, I am comfortable with it. I appreciate the fact that people are starting to write about the fact that I will talk and be honest about things.

DAVID DUVAL: No. I'm just happy I got the win as much as anything. You never know. I could have, but that's -- no, that's the golf course.

DAVID DUVAL: Oh, absolutely. It never entered my mind. I think maybe when I got to 15 or 14, I think I was six or so clear. I was like, "If I birdie in, I'm still short, so don't even worry bit." That was the only point.

DAVID DUVAL: Yeah. I think I said it in here on more than one occasion.

DAVID DUVAL: Yeah, absolutely. I think people come along in every sport that makes all the other participants who are currently involved either keep up or kind of get blown away. I think that's what you're starting to see.

DAVID DUVAL: Oh, I don't think so.

DAVID DUVAL: I never thought about it really. I haven't thought about that. I guess you could view it that way certainly, but I don't think that.

DAVID DUVAL: Probably, you know. But I could give you a better answer each week at each major because I could kind of assess my game better then as to where it stands during that tournament. That certainly is one of my big goals this week, as -- I mean, this year. I never have done it. It might not be a smart thing, but I have an idea of not a number of golf tournaments I would like to win, but I would like to win at least a certain amount. I'll tell y'all in November if I've gotten there (laughter).

DAVID DUVAL: To play golf and to win golf tournaments and be in contention, it takes more out of you than teeing off at 9 o'clock on Sunday. I mean if a full-field event, where there's 70 guys playing on the week end, takes a lot more out of you. I also know my best golf will be coming out of being prepared when I play, and being rested, wanting to be there, so I don't overdo it.

DAVID DUVAL: The only thing I tend to do if I'm not swinging well is kind of getting moving the ball well right. I kind of pull out some shots, really kind of hit some drifters out there. But right now I'm not doing that. Today, I actually had to work -- while we were playing, I started kind of getting on top of the ball, trying to keep it down out of the wind. I was really hitting some pretty ugly drives there for a little stretch. It was nice, we finally turned around on 6, started going back down the wind, helped me get back behind the golf ball. I stayed there all day.

DAVID DUVAL: My father has always been my teacher. Because of his career now as a touring professional on the Seniors TOUR, I don't work with him basically. A little bit through the course of a year, but he doesn't come out to events. Actually, I never worked with him on his off-season. I've messed with -- I shouldn't say that. I've tried a few other people. I try to keep it very simple. I actually have a friend who's out here a lot who I ask to kind of just check me out. As much as anything, I just try to make sure my feet, my knees, my hips and my shoulders are aiming the same place. I don't care if they're all aiming right or left. I just don't want them to get crossed up where my shoulders are open, my hips are closed. If I have everything in line, I can adjust them, I can move my body left or right. Then I just work on tempo. That's a big key to my game. Also I try to make sure I keep my right hand somewhat high, for me. I don't want to get it under too much, try to make sure I get -- keep it up there for what feels to me like a neutral.

DAVID DUVAL: He works for Golf Pride, named Hank Friede.

DAVID DUVAL: I don't know, year, year and a half. I mean, I've known him for I don't know how long. It just has come about. He's good friends with Fuzzy, he's watched Fuzz and stuff, kind of got to where, "Hey, check this out." I've asked him, "Am I doing this? Am I doing this?" Bounced some things off him. He's gotten to where he knows where I should be. For me, it's not rocket science. A lot of feel, then just your basics. That's about all.

DAVID DUVAL: Yeah. I think it was a little bit the end of '95. I got real sick in '96, then really got it strong at the end of '96.

DAVID DUVAL: Well, the biggest key is that working out, what it has done for me, is made me more balanced in strength from my right side to my left side, and from my front to my back. What that has done has helped give me better posture. Then it just gives me a better feel every day when I get up.

DAVID DUVAL: Well, I don't know if I want to say that. I think it certainly helps. Just strength-wise, my right arm's not much stronger or barely stronger than my left arm now. My chest is not any stronger than my back. What that does is keep you balanced, keeps your shoulders level, pulls you out right, how you should be. Hence, it helps you set up more consistently, certainly.

DAVID DUVAL: Absolutely (laughter).

DAVID DUVAL: I drive the ball even better than I used to probably. I think I'm most certainly a better putter than I was in '95 or '96. It just feeds on itself at the same time. As you win golf tournaments, you face certain situations. As you win more of them, you're exposed to more situations. So, therefore, the next time you have a chance, you probably encounter something very similar and you know how you dealt with it, kind of the feelings you had, how you worked through it. Simple enough?

DAVID DUVAL: You get used to it.

DAVID DUVAL: The 4th hole I hit it short of the green, hit a bad chip, missed about a 20-foot putt. The 6th hole, I hit an 8-iron to about probably six feet, eight feet, something like that. The 9th hole I chipped to about 15 feet below the hole. 14, I hit a sand wedge to about eight feet behind the hole. 16, I hit a 9-iron to about seven feet. 17, I hit a 6-iron to probably eight feet, ten feet. Then the last hole, I knocked it on and 2-putted from 40 feet.

DAVID DUVAL: I left it short of the green. The pin was kind of on the back shelf. I chipped it way up into the fringe. It rolled down to this far (indicating). It was beautiful.

DAVID DUVAL: I was probably a total of 70 feet from the hole, straight line. I played 40 feet of break maybe. I hit sideways almost.

DAVID DUVAL: I laid up, hit a pretty decent shot up there to about 15, 18 feet. I ran it by probably about five feet. That was just having bogeyed the 4th hole. That green is one of the most exposed; you get a lot of wind. I just made that putt coming back. That really helped. It was not much. You keep the ball touching the lip still. It's kind of a cross-grain, cross-wind. If you miss-hit it, you miss it basically. I just really hit a good putt.