David Duval Says Memories Abound at Constellation Furyk & Friends

David Duval, who was born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida, returned for the Constellation Furyk and Friends.

Duval played on the PGA Tour from 1995 to 2014. He has many ties to the area because his father, Bob Duval, known as Bobby to many in the area, was the golf professional at Timuquana CC, the venue of this week’s PGA Tour Champions event.

“It’s always great,” Duval said about returning to the course he played as a youngster.

"“It’s always surreal a little bit because it’s been a long time really other than the exception of coming for, well, what do you call the thing I did for Tab and Jim, celebrity little thing a couple years ago, and then playing last year but it’s just a special place, a special golf course and brings back a lot of memories.”"

Memories like winning The 1999 Players Championship on the same day that his father won the PGA Tour Champions’ Emerald Coast Classic about 400 miles west of Ponte Vedra Beach where The Players is held. No other father-son duo has ever done that.

“Yeah, paths cross out here,” Duval said about playing in Furyk’s event. “But it’s different than when we’ve been back to visit because it’s a work week and this week’s an important week as is next week for me as far as this year goes, try to finish it off properly and keep playing. So, hoping to cross paths with most everybody, but it’s not like there’s time to do a whole lot.”

In his prime, Duval was one of the few golfers to knock Tiger Woods off his No. 1 world ranking perch.

Right now, David Duval is trying to improve his position on the Charles Schwab points list.

He is in 75th place and needs to be 72nd or better to get into the first playoff event and then in the top 54 to be in the second event. Only the top 36 can play in the Schwab Cup final.

In his prime, Duval was one of the few golfers to knock Tiger Woods off his No. 1 world ranking perch. It happened in March of 1999, and he held the No. 1 spot until the beginning of July for 14 weeks in all. Then he took it again for a week in August of that same year for a 15th week.

Duval played his best during that period and through the British Open in 2001, which he won.  Duval, according to those who know him, considers both The Players and the British Open majors on his resume.

When he was on, Duval was a scoring wizard, posting a final round 59 to win the Bob Hope Classic in 1999. When asked what his playing partners said about the round, Duval quipped, “They just kept saying good shot.”

He admitted he was nervous before attempting the final putt. It was a six-footer.

“You want to have it close, but if you miss it from six feet, you would have preferred to have been 30,” he said at the time. “Then you can say: Well, you don’t ever make 30-footers anyway.”

He said he got a good read from Bob Tway’s putt.

“I am not going to say that you stop trying to think about it because you can’t,“ he added. “I took — take a couple of deep breaths and just hit it and see what happens.”

It was the third 59 to have been shot in PGA Tour history. The first was by Al Geiberger in the 1977 Memphis Classic at Colonial CC. The second was Chip Beck in the 1991 Las Vegas Invitational at Sunrise Golf Club.

Then it was David Duval at the Arnold Palmer Course at PGA West.

Eleven 59s have been recorded on the PGA Tour, and one 58, which coincidentally was shot by Constellation Furyk & Friends tournament host, Jim Furyk, who is also the only player to shoot a 58 in a PGA Tour event.

Unfortunately, Duval developed neck and back problems which reduced his playing schedule in the early 2000s.

Over his career, he played the Nike Tour (predecessor of the Korn Ferry Tour) in the early 1990s, joined the PGA Tour in 1996, and after he turned 50, he joined the PGA Tour Champions.

As all the golfers who play it say, it’s a career mulligan, not that David Duval needs one. However, he has a chance to revisit Northeast Florida friends at least once a year.