Over the years there have been a few guys who were almost gonna dethrone Tiger as the number 1 ranked golfer. Phil has been the most talked about since the early 2000's. Vijay took him over in 2004 but was never a serious threat to maintain the throne. Ernie Els sniffed it a bit but besides winning the 2002 British and coming close in the 2004 Masters, he hasn't played up to his talent. Retief Goosen was also a threat with his always competitive play during the majors. The 2 time US Open champ always competes well in the majors. He was in the final pairing with Tiger in the 2002 Masters, was also in the final group in the 2005 US Open but shot in the 80's with Jason Gore to fall out of contention as Michael Campbell (who?) won.
They have all shown some sort of flash but the only guy who has put up numbers similar to Tiger Woods is.............. are you ready for this??????????
David Duval. He put up numbers for a 2 1/2 year stretch that were comperable to Tiger's. Between the end of 1998 and beginning of 1999 he won 5 out of 7 tournaments he competed in and was closing in on the number 1 ranking. In the meantime, he became one of the few guys who shot a 59 on a Sunday when he won the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic in 1999.
After winning the British Open in 2001 he hasn't been seen. He developed vertigo which altered his mechanics. Then found new love by re-marrying, enduring his wife having a troubled pregnancy, enjoying life by snowboarding and having family time.
At the moment, Duval can't recapture the magic he had back in the late 90's. He's a good guy to root for too. Only because he said he doesn't need golf to be happy, but for his life and family to be healthy to be happy. He's since lost his exemption to play on the PGA tour, except for a couple sponsor's exemptions.
That being said, I'm always gonna be a fan of David Duval simply because he's a great underdog that can hopefully regain some of the fire that propelled him to the top ranks.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
The Only Man to Rival TIger
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I couldn't agree with Butch more. Duval, in his prime , was an absolute force to be reckoned with. I believe the fact that the former #1 in the world and Tiger became good friends took away from some of Tigers intimidation factor which worked in Duvals favor. Tiger was just a regular guy to him. A friend, fellow competitor, and certainly beatable. Duval is the only guy to maintain, for a substantial length of time, such a high level of play during the so called "Tiger era". What the hell happened to him, I have no idea. Can anyone explain to me how one can be #1 in the golf world, playing consistantly at such an elite level for so long,...... only to become a 10 handicap!
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