U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 17, 1998

David Duval

DAVID DUVAL: Well, I think for me personally, I really like it, like the golf course. There aren't really any tricks out there. It is kind of all in front of you. I think that that is a plus. I am waiting for them to go out there and cut the rough a little bit, but my understanding is that they are not going to. I just like it. I like -- I was very pleased. I hadn't heard one bad thing about it, and I can see why.

DAVID DUVAL: I think of all the Opens I played, I think I probably played the best at Medinah when I was 18. The other events I didn't -- I wasn't playing particularly well when I got to the event, and it didn't really get any better. I just managed to get around and make the cut. I think that is reflected in my finishes and in my scores. So, you know, I look just -- hoping I am playing better. We will find out if I am or not. I took two weeks off and was fishing, and so, certainly, if I want to win the golf tournament, I certainly need to hit it better than I am right now. It is only Wednesday.

DAVID DUVAL: Well, I think if you walked around and looked at it, and familiar with the way I shape the ball, you'd say it fits me real well. I think there are, I guess, the 16th hole, you all can help me out. There is one other hole that moves to the left. 4, yeah, 4. So -- and really both those holes are such that you can't reach 16 and 4, you just -- it is imperative just you get down there in the fairway anyway. If you had to look at it you would say most of the holes are moving from the left to the right and that should fit me well.

DAVID DUVAL: Well, I have -- so far, I have scheduled my play such that I want to make sure I am fresh, mentally fresh, when I get to the Majors, or so far these two, also, it is just the way it happens to fall, the scheduling, that, you know, I just kind of like to take those weeks off anyways too. I guess that is the best way to say it.

DAVID DUVAL: Well, I don't really make a conscious effort to. I think that is just something, as a professional that is required in the job. I think that everybody -- you know, I think everybody gets out here and has problems doing that at times. But if you are ready to play and you are fresh and focused that really isn't something you think about.

DAVID DUVAL: You just -- I think there again, if you are really kind of into what is going on, a lot of things could happen while you are swinging the golf club, and you are not going to hear them, I don't think. I have had it happened and, you know, it is the days where you aren't quite as focused, and you have got rabbit ears on and those are the days you are not playing particularly well anyway, so that is when you start to hearing things.

DAVID DUVAL: In what manner?

DAVID DUVAL: Well, I think that is a pretty good assumption, you know, that for me as a player, I always felt that I could succeed out here. Now, I think it is a big jump and a big assumption to expect to win that many golf tournaments that quickly and in that short of a span of time. So it just happened to work out that way. I think it is kind of like when I was asked if I thought I was the best marks, that's putting me in a little bit of an awkward position, I think. I don't think I can answer that correctly.

DAVID DUVAL: Well, the only negative thing of the week was that last putt. Everything else that happened was positive, I felt. And it really -- it was a big blow, you know, but just because it is so close, and it takes you a little while to kind of get over and forget about it. I think that is really what you do is just try to forget about it and realize that you played well and did most everything you could. I think that that next week off really helped to kind of get beyond it.

DAVID DUVAL: Well, I don't think there is much of an approach to 17, I mean, you have to drive it and you know, I hit a 2-iron on the green yesterday, so you just want to hit it -- you know, obviously on any hole out here you want to hit it in the fairway -- but you just hit it up there as best you can and then the yardage is going to dictate what you have got to do from there. I don't foresee -- if I hit it in the fairway, and hit, you know, at least a decent drive, I will be able to -- should be able to get to the green unless the wind is really blowing. So I will certainly -- even if I had to hit a wood, I will be hitting at it. Then 7, I am kind of -- I think I am close to deciding that the best way for me to play that hole is try to hit a 3-wood up. It kind of gets just up on top of the hill, maybe, you know, 25, 30 yards short of the green, somewhere in there. I think that is going to be, for me, the best way to try to play the hole.

DAVID DUVAL: Oh yeah, we talk a little bit. But we don't talk like the Dave, Sr., and Junior might. It is not like -- it is not every day and not as much golf. It is just -- we keep up and keep in touch. That is about the best way -- I mean, I talked to him last night. He is home. He is taking this week off, and we didn't really -- really didn't really talk much about golf.

DAVID DUVAL: Well, I think I am probably going to be beating the same drum, as you all are, but I think you have got to look at players like Justin, Ernie Els, Davis Love, Monte, Jim Furyk. I think Tom Watson will be -- certainly be having something to say on what happens on Sunday. I think, you know, obviously, Tiger, I think will be involved in it in some manner as well. You know, it sounds like what everybody else is saying, you know, so I guess I agree with you.

DAVID DUVAL: Well, it really doesn't matter what I think, you know, they didn't ask me this year. (laughs) maybe they will ask me next year: I don't think -- I think at times it might can make the hole seem maybe a bit more unfair, maybe more difficult. I don't know exactly. But, you know, you are still, no matter what the par on the hole may be, you are still trying to make the best score you can. So ultimately, I don't think it matters what the actual par is. It is a hole such that if it was a par 5, you know, 4 would still an very good score. And it is a par 4 now, so if you play the hole real well, you will probably make a 4 now. Who is to say whether that should be a birdie or par and does it really matter? I don't think so.

DAVID DUVAL: Oh, yeah, absolutely it has changed. My profile seems to be a lot higher, a lot more requests for time. I guess just stuff that comes along with having done well. Nickname was someone gave me for one reason or another (laughs).

DAVID DUVAL: I think -- well, I always felt that I was good enough to win golf tournaments. But I think -- I think as you do it and the more you do it, the more confidence you get because you realize that there are many different ways to win. And so that comes Sunday when you have a chance you might not be quite doing or playing the way you had envisioned, but realize that there is more than one way to go about it, and there is more than one way to finish. So I think it might give you a little bit of a calm and realizing that you don't have to play your best, and you don't have to play picture-perfect shots every hole to win.

DAVID DUVAL: I wouldn't know how to define that.

DAVID DUVAL: I haven't thought about it really, that is why I really can't answer you. I mean, I think if that is what you want to call them, they have proven that as a deserving label, but I couldn't define the difference.

DAVID DUVAL: Yeah, I think that everything -- everything that happens there will be helpful. When you are in the process of playing and competing and trying to win, the actual steps or things involved that you need to do aren't any different whether it be at Augusta or in Houston. The prize might be bigger, and so the pressure might seemingly be bigger. But, if you can kind of take a step back and look at it objectively, you have to do the same things, no matter where -- whether it is a major or a none-major. So if you can kind of mentally overcome that and just look at it like that, then I think it removes a little bit of the pressure and that you stay focused on the process and not the outcome and prize.

DAVID DUVAL: Yeah, initially. I don't know what I weigh at this moment.

DAVID DUVAL: I didn't really do it for that. I mean, I think while you are in the process of working out and doing those things, the more vain you become, but that wasn't the reasoning. The reasoning was try to become a better competitor.

DAVID DUVAL: Somebody gave you some bad information. I have some allergies. What they are, I don't know. So it is just typical -- I might be allergic to grass, I don't know. But, you know, when the allergens are high, then I have more problems.

DAVID DUVAL: I don't know. I think that outsiders looking in try to make more of it than there is, and I work hard. I put in the time. I try to make sure I am rested and refreshed when I play. And I go from there. While I am playing, especially if I am playing well and have a chance to win, I certainly feel like I am going to win the golf tournament. Now, that, you know, more often than not doesn't happen, but so I guess there is a little bit of that. But I don't think that that is something that as a player you consciously think of.

DAVID DUVAL: Well, I don't -- you know, I mean you can go back and forth on it for a long time, so -- and who is to say who is right? I am not a judge or arbitrator so I just -- I know that when I qualified for my first Open how exciting it was, and I just think that for him to have qualified for his first Open, to be having his -- the cart, his situation be more of a story than the fact that he qualified, I will bet he doesn't -- wishes that that wasn't the case.

DAVID DUVAL: Well, I don't know. I go through spells just like anybody else who reads. Just for something to do, make sure thumbs don't get too sore from the remote. And if I had to pick an absolute favorite book, I mean that is a hard thing to do. That is like picking a favorite golf course, but I would probably say Fountainhead.

DAVID DUVAL: Well, can you ask me something more specific really? Because I don't know what the position is like you.

DAVID DUVAL: Well, you can't make, in my opinion, you can't make everybody play the same golf ball because -- who is the shorter hitter out here?

DAVID DUVAL: Well, Mike Reid needs a golf ball that has a higher spin rate, helps him get it in the air, you know. That way it is going to stay up there a little better. For me, I hit the ball harder. I need the ball with low spin. So can you try to make us play the same -- I don't think you can. If everybody wants to play the ball I use, that is fine. But, you know, I don't know. It is hard to speculate when you don't know what is going to be said or done. I find it -- I am curious as to why nobody has brought up the technology changes in the equipment that is used to prepare golf courses. The greens are probably a lot harder and faster now. The -- people have learned more about the agronomy about the golf course, you know. The rough is longer, thicker; fairways are faster, I mean, ultimately that narrows them as well. There are just so many different things that go into it is. It is hard to say until we all hear what the -- what they think needs to be done. I don't know, I just -- I don't know. It is a hard question. I mean, I think if you look at scores, you know, not much has changed.

DAVID DUVAL: You have read it, obviously.

DAVID DUVAL: I think the kind of -- the underlying theme of the struggle between Howard Roark and Peter Keating, so, kind of, you know, a doer and a freeloader. So -- it is just -- you know, you have read it. It is just really interesting and kind of keeps you going.

DAVID DUVAL: Uncle Sam. Bill Clinton called me last week asked me why I wasn't playing. (laughs) You know, I find that I am in a -- you know, in a position that is such that if I am wise with what I earn, that I can save a lot of money and really, if something bad happens, I get hurt, that I could conceivably not have to work; not be forced to go out and do something. So actually, I really don't have a lot of fun money. You pay your taxes of, I don't know, about 40%. I am saving roughly 30 percent to what I gross. Investing, BLA-BLA-BLA, so I am just trying to put it away for and rainy days.

DAVID DUVAL: No, I bought a Porsche, 18 months ago, actually before I started winning golf tournaments and it is funny, kind of almost -- I have had -- I have put about 2,500 miles on it. Don't ever -- I have got a truck at home I drive and, you know, I am just not really a spendthrift. The thing that I kind of get excited about are everyday things like I like new tennis shoes, you know, and I don't know what else. I am pretty simple, jeans and T-shirt and I don't spend a lot on dress shoes because I don't have but a couple of suits. So I just, you know, I am going to build a house in Jacksonville. I am not going to -- I am going to have a house built. I bought -- I ordered a boat, maybe that isn't thrifty, you know, maybe that is getting wild and crazy with my money. I might not -- I have more options for fishing, you might never see me. Not a whole lot. I really don't live an extravagant lifestyle.

DAVID DUVAL: Well, you know, it was -- I don't think anybody really wanted to believe me when I said it, it wasn't bothering me. Obviously it bothers you, but it wasn't something that was just killing me because like I said, I am on more occasions than not when the tournament was over and I had failed to win another one, I had usually played pretty well. In many instances somebody had shot a good round to beat me. So that is just the nature of the game. I did it this year to Jeff Maggert in Houston. That is just how it is out here. My mind, I guess it hasn't changed a whole lot. I feel -- you don't feel a whole lot different as a player. Maybe there is that little bit in the back of your mind that you realize that you can do it even if you are not playing your best and maybe until you do it, you don't fully realize that. I don't know. A lot of it is just speculating because I really don't feel I have changed as a player.

DAVID DUVAL: I don't know, 14-15 under. (laughter) No, this isn't a Tour event, is it? I would be very surprised -- obviously, you are speculating on weather because you don't know what is going to happen with that, but if the golf course continues to dry out and greens get that hard and when they get that little bit of crusty on some of them and they get fast, I just have a hard time with somebody getting to 6-under par and staying at that number come Sunday. I think, you know, it seems like we do this every year like it looks like 2-, or 3-over is going to win, but you look at it and you start out and you play the first hole well. Say you make a 4, well, you make any mistakes in the next five holes you are staying on the 7th tee, 2-, or 3-over par and there is not a whole lot of places to make those shots up. So I would say that, you know, that you wouldn't be too surprised because of the caliber of players that if they got it a few under par to win, but I think you can go anywhere from 3- or 4-under par to a couple over.

DAVID DUVAL: Thank you.