David Duval

Early life

Duval was born in Jacksonville, Florida, the son of golf instructor and club professional Bob Duval and Diane Poole Duval, a member of the FSU Flying High Circus during college. His brother Brent was two years older, and sister Deirdre was five years younger. During his early years, his father was club professional at Timuquana Country Club, where he learned to play golf under his father's guidance.

When David was nine, his brother Brent developed aplastic anemia. The family sought treatment at Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio, where David underwent surgery to donate bone marrow. The transplant was not successful, and Brent died as a result of sepsis on May 17, 1981 at age 12. Bob Duval was unable to cope, and moved out of the family home for a year. Counseling enabled him to reunite with his wife and children in 1982, and David continued to receive golf instruction from his father. In 1993, just as Duval was starting his professional golf career, his father again moved out of the family home, this time permanently.

Amateur career

He graduated from the Episcopal High School of Jacksonville in 1989, the same year he was the U.S. Junior Amateur champion. He continued his amateur career for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets men's golf team, where he was a four-time first-team All-American, two-time ACC Player of the Year, and 1993 National Player of the Year.

While in college, Duval held a two-stroke lead after 54 holes in an official PGA Tour event, the 1992 BellSouth Classic. He shot a final-round 79 to finish tied-13th.

Professional career

Early success

After two years on the Nike Tour where he won twice, he earned his PGA Tour card in 1995. Success came quickly, as Duval posted seven second-place finishes on the PGA Tour from 1995 to 1997, qualifying for the 1996 Presidents Cup and posting a 4–0–0 record for the victorious American team. But a PGA Tour victory eluded him until he won the Michelob Championship at Kingsmill in October 1997. He won his next two tournaments, including the season-ending Tour Championship.

The following season, in 1998, Duval won four tournaments and led the PGA Tour money list. He also won the Vardon Trophy and Byron Nelson Award for lowest scoring average.

Early in 1999, he achieved the number one spot in the Official World Golf Ranking and shot a 59 in the final round of the 1999 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic on the Palmer Course at PGA West in La Quinta, California. Duval made an eagle on the final hole to win the tournament by one shot. Before 1999, only two other golfers in PGA Tour history, Al Geiberger and Chip Beck, had posted a 59 in competition and no one had ever done so in a final round. Later, in the spring, he won the 1999 Players Championship. When he won the Players Championship he became the first player in history to win on the same day as his father, Bob Duval, who won a Champions Tour event that same day. He also played on the victorious 1999 Ryder Cup team. He finished the season second on the money list only behind Tiger Woods.

The following season, in 2000, he won the Buick Challenge and finished in the top ten of the money list. The following year he won the 2001 Open Championship. Duval's winning speech was welcomed by British commentators as "delightfully modest and heartfelt". He also won the Dunlop Phoenix Tournament, an event on the Japan Golf Tour, at the end of the year.

Struggles

After his Open Championship win, Duval entered a downward spiral in form that saw him drop to 80th on the money list in 2002 and 211th in 2003, prompting an extended break from the game. Numerous reasons have been postulated for the decline, including back, wrist and shoulder problems, personal difficulties and a form of vertigo. Duval has not won a tournament on the PGA Tour since his Open Championship victory in 2001. His last worldwide win was the Dunlop Phoenix Tournament in November 2001 on his 30th birthday. His 30s proved to be much less lucrative on the golf course.

Many commentators believed Duval's career to be over but he returned to golf at the U.S. Open in 2004, where he shot 25 over par and missed the cut. Duval struggled with his best results until 2009 being a T-13 at the Deutsche Bank Championship in 2004 and a T-16 at the U.S. Open in 2006. He made the cut in only one PGA Tour event in 2005 but did finish in the top ten at the Dunlop Phoenix tournament in Japan.

Comeback attempts

Duval had a successful start to the 2006 season, making the cut in his first two tournaments, as well as a very respectable finish of T-16 at the U.S. Open at Winged Foot Golf Club, where his second round 68 was good enough for a tie as the best round of the tournament. Despite not reaching the same heights in the remaining two majors of the year, his performances continued a general upward trend, with none of the rounds of 80+ that had become so familiar in the previous years.

After a steady start to 2007 during the West Coast Swing, Duval once again disappeared from the tour. His mother died on July 17, and he later revealed that his wife was going through a difficult pregnancy. This prompted the PGA Tour to amend its medical exemption policies – and Duval was granted twenty starts for the next season.

After a lackluster first half of the following year, Duval reappeared on the leaderboard of the 2008 Open Championship, rekindling memories of his major victory. He shot 73-69-83-71 for the week and finished T-39.

In 2009, Duval used his final career money exemption on the PGA Tour. He made his first cut at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in February. However, he stormed back onto the golf scene with a T-2 finish at the U.S. Open at Bethpage Black. After going through sectional qualifying, Duval made the most of his first appearance in the U.S. Open since 2006. Going into the final round, Duval was four shots behind eventual winner Lucas Glover. Duval made a triple bogey at the par three 3rd hole, but rebounded with three straight birdies from 14 to 16. He stood on the tee of the 71st hole in a tie for the lead, but his par putt lipped out on the hole, and he finished tied for second, two shots behind Glover. It was his best finish on tour since the 2002 Memorial Tournament. After the Open, Duval jumped 740 spots in the Official World Golf Ranking from 882 to 142.

Duval failed to earn his PGA Tour card for the 2010 season, so he had to play on sponsor's exemptions. He showed more signs of a comeback by shooting a final-round 69 to finish 2nd to defending champion Dustin Johnson at the 2010 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Duval had a good 2010 season and retained his tour card at the end of the year.

The 2011 season was a struggle for Duval, when he made only nine cuts in 24 events and lost his Tour card after finishing outside 150th on the tour money list. He went to Q School in an attempt to regain his tour card, but finished T72 in the final round. For 2012, Duval had past champion status. After seven unsuccessful starts, Duval made his first cut of the season at the Valero Texas Open, and finished T60. It was announced on June 13 that he would be an analyst for ESPN for the first two rounds of the U.S. Open, having failed to qualify for the 2nd major of the season.

In December 2013, Duval announced via his Twitter that the 2014 PGA Tour season would be the last season he would ask for sponsor exemptions to get into tournament fields. Many people took this as a possible retirement announcement, but Duval clarified to say that he wants to earn his way back on the Tour rather than depending on others. In April 2014, Duval finished tied for 25th (−8) at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

In 2018, U.S. captain Jim Furyk named Duval as a non-playing vice-captain for the U.S. team participating in the 2018 Ryder Cup. The U.S. team lost to Europe by 17½ points to 10½.

PGA Tour Champions

After turning 50 in 2021 and gaining eligibility, Duval began playing on the PGA Tour Champions circuit in 2022.

Broadcasting

In addition to playing in tournaments, Duval has become a TV golf commentator. From 2012 through 2014, he helped commentate The Open Championship and U.S. Open for ESPN. In 2015, Duval joined the Golf Channel as a studio analyst. Since 2020, Duval has served as the lead analyst for ESPN's coverage of the PGA Championship.

Personal life

Duval split with his girlfriend Julie McArthur in early 2002 after being together for eight years.

Duval and his wife Suzanne (née Persichitte) met at a Denver restaurant in August 2003 while Duval was in the city for The International, a nearby PGA Tour event. They married seven months later. They have two children together. She has custody of her three older children from a prior marriage. Their home is in Cherry Hills Village, Colorado, a suburb south of Denver.

According to a 2004 article in the Orlando Sentinel, Duval "was one of those life-long Republicans until a couple of years ago when he re-registered and became a Democrat." This made him one of the few Democrats on the PGA Tour. He said of the invasion of Iraq: "I don't think it's always right to force our belief system on other people." In a 2006 interview with Bob Verdi, Duval stated he voted for John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election. He added: "I am socially a Democrat ... But I am fiscally a Republican."

Amateur wins

this list may be incomplete

• 1989 U.S. Junior Amateur, AJGA Tournament of Champions
• 1992 Northeast Amateur, Porter Cup

Professional wins (20)

PGA Tour wins (13)

PGA Tour playoff record (2–2)

Japan Golf Tour wins (1)

Japan Golf Tour playoff record (1–0)

Nike Tour wins (2)

Other wins (4)

Other playoff record (0–1)

Major championships

Wins (1)

Results timeline

Results not in chronological order in 2020.

WD = Withdrew

CUT = missed the half-way cut

"T" indicates a tie for a place

NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic

Summary

• Most consecutive cuts made – 11 (1999 Masters – 2001 PGA)
• Longest streak of top-10s – 3 (1999 PGA – 2000 U.S. Open)

The Players Championship

Wins (1)

Results timeline

CUT = missed the halfway cut

"T" indicates a tie for a place.

Results in World Golf Championships

1Cancelled due to 9/11

QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play

"T" = tied

NT = No tournament

Results in senior major championships

Results not in chronological order

CUT = missed the halfway cut

"T" indicates a tie for a place

PGA Tour career summary

** As of the 2018 season*

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur

• Eisenhower Trophy: 1990, 1992
• Walker Cup: 1991 (winners)

Professional

• Presidents Cup: 1996 (winners), 1998, 2000 (winners)
• Ryder Cup: 1999 (winners), 2002
• World Cup: 2000 (winners), 2001

References

References

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2. (July 20, 2007). "Ms. Duval". Florida Times-Union.
3. Brown, Chip. (June 16, 2010). "What the Hell Happened to David Duval? And Why is He So Happy?". Men's Journal.
4. (March 21, 1999). "Drive for Excellence". Florida Times-Union.
5. "Georgia Tech All Americans". ramblinwreck.com.
6. Kelley, Brent. "David Duval". About.com.
7. (May 9, 1992). "Amateur Duval leads after three rounds of PGA tourney". UPI.
8. (1992-05-11). "Kite captures Atlanta Classig; Blake is 2nd, wins $108,000". Deseret News.
9. Diaz, Jamie. (February 1, 1999). "59 In The Shades".
10. Thomas, Bob. (March 29, 1999). "Like father, like son". The Florida Times-Union.
11. Williams, Richard. (July 15, 2005). "Woods finds answers to all course's questions". [[The Guardian]].
12. "No sign to end of David Duval's slump". Golf Today.
13. "Results for British Open in 2008". databasegolf.com.
14. Reason, Mark. (July 15, 2009). "The Open 2009: why David Duval will never quit". [[The Daily Telegraph]].
15. Wang, Gene. (July 23, 2009). "Duval Revives Career at Bethpage". [[The Washington Post]].
16. Seanor, Dave. (June 15, 2012). "David Duval Aces TV Debut at U.S. Open". Yahoo! News.
17. Bibel, Sara. (June 12, 2012). "David Duval Joins ESPN's U.S. Open Coverage as Golf Analyst". TV by the Numbers.
18. Porter, Kyle. (December 12, 2013). "David Duval says 2014 could be his last as a pro". CBS Sports.
19. Harig, Bob. (December 11, 2013). "Duval seeks exemptions on Twitter". ESPN.
20. Bohannan, Larry. (April 19, 2022). "Feeling like a rookie again, 50-year-old David Duval rededicating himself to competitive golf". Palm Springs Desert Sun.
21. Hall, Andy. "ESPN at The Open Championship". ESPN MediaZone.
22. "David Duval Aces TV Debut at U.S. Open". Yahoo! News.
23. "David Duval – Bio". NBC Sports Group.
24. Schupak, Adam. (July 30, 2020). "David Duval to serve as lead analyst for ESPN coverage of PGA Championship".
25. Spander, Art. (July 18, 2002). "Duval the fallen champion stuck in a private torment". The Daily Telegraph.
26. Diaz, Jaime. (March 2004). "What now for David Duval?".
27. Hansen, Sara B.. (2025-09-06). "Former PGA No. 1 golfer David Duval's wife sells their Cherry Hills mansion for $3.4M". The Denver Post.
28. Brown, Chip. (2017-12-04). "What the Hell Happened to David Duval?".
29. Bianchi, Mike. (October 22, 2004). "The Vote's in, and GOP Clearly Rules on PGA Tour". Orlando Sentinel.
30. Verdi, Bob. (June 1, 2008). "New life for David Duval".