Nowhere to hide for Duval

In 1999, David Duval was the world’s top-ranked player. By 2003, he’d dropped to 211th on the money list, making only four cuts in 20 starts. Last year, he entered only nine tournaments, including the U.S. Open, where he missed the cut after shooting 83-82.

Still hoping this was just some kind of awful aberration, I wasn’t encouraged by Duval’s 85-79-74 at Pebble this weekend. Exactly how did this happen? Once the picture of consistency, Duval seems hopelessly lost on Tour now. Whether you like him or not, it’s baffling.

But give Duval credit. In his typical reserved manner, he’s keeping quiet about his struggles. There haven’t been any on-course tantrums or press room tirades. But you know it’s got to be killing him. On the PGA Tour, there’s nowhere to hide. It’s not like baseball, for example, where the manager can bury a struggling hitter in the 7th hole while he works to rediscover his swing. Duval might eventually fight his way out of this mess, but he’ll have to do it in front of thousands (millions?) of bewildered golf fans each week.