Best of the Players Championship: The 25 Most Dominant Performances
By Bill Felber
It’s hard to imagine today, but in 1999 David Duval’s game was viewed as the equal of Tiger Woods’. Duval entered the 1999 Players Championship having won nine tournaments in less than two seasons, three more than Woods over the same time period. They included the 1997 Tour Championship, the NEC World Series of Golf and the Mercedes Championship – the present Tournament of Champions.
So the 1999 Players set up as something of a confrontation among Woods, Duval and the also imposing but more senior Phil Mickelson.
With a pair of 69’s, Duval positioned himself in a three-way tie for second, one stroke off the lead shared by Bob Estes and Brian Watts. Woods, meanwhile, stalked three more strokes behind.
Saturday was a hellish one all around, frustrating golfers with strong, constantly shifting winds making every shot, including the putts, a mystery. The 76.2 field average was nearly three strokes higher than 24 hours earlier, and took a toll. Estes recorded an 80, Watts 78, and both fell far from contention. “It was like playing Augusta and the U.S. Open on the same day,” remarked Colin Montgomerie, who shot 73.
Duval managed only a 74, but that was one stroke better than Woods and it thrust him into the lead, a stroke ahead of Mickelson and Skip Kendall, almost the only two players who had escaped the day’s scoring carnage.
On Sunday, Duval quickly fell behind, his bogey at the first hole complicated by Kendall’s birdies at two and three. He regained the lead with a birdie at nine, and held it to the 17th, where a wedge within six feet set up another birdie that extended his lead to two.
He finished two ahead of Scott Gump, Woods tied for 10th, six behind. Mickelson blew up to a closing 80.
The win elevated Duval to the No. 1 spot in the World Golf Rankings. Coincidentally, it came on the same day his dad, Bob Duval, won a Senior PGA tour event.