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"IF YOU LIKE GOLF"
weekly online golf column
by
Chris Dortch
July 24, 2001
I remember when I first encountered David Duval. It was 10 years
ago, at the 1991 U.S. Amateur at The Honors Course. Duval and a
couple of his buddies came into the press room, well after the day’s
play at been completed. I had just finished a column, and the three
young men wanted to know if they could check out the leaderboard. It
was a treat listening to their banter.
To say Duval acted confident back then was an understatement.
Some might have said he was a little too cocky. Whatever else he
was, Duval was also intriguing. I wrote in my notebook that I needed
to make sure to follow Duval the rest of the week. My memory is way
too foggy to remember how young Duval fared in the tournament
eventually won by Mitch Voges, but from that day forward, I wanted
to make sure I watched Duval’s progress.
The next time I spoke with him was a couple of years later, at
the PGA Tour’s former stop at Chattanooga. It was at Council Fire,
and by this time Duval was a fledgling professional, having already
nearly won the tour’s Atlanta Classic while still an amateur at
Georgia Tech and having been chosen an All-American four straight
years. Only two other players in history had done that.
Duval came to Chattanooga not as a tour player, but as a
full-fledged member of the Nike Tour who had earned a spot with a
good finish at the Western Open the week before. Interviewing him
for a short story, I was still struck by Duval’s confidence, which
hadn’t waned even though he was a bit more subdued. He hadn’t
qualifed for the tour right out of college, which, given his
credentials as an amateur, must have been disappointing to him.
If it was, Duval didn’t let on. He quietly spoke of golf being
a learning process, and how it was easier to learn from adversity
than success.
Surely, Duval kept that same attitude for the last six or seven
years, after he got on tour. He stuggled for a time, caught fire and
won a bunch of tournaments while Chattanoogan Mitch Knox was
caddying for him, then tapered off a bit after he parted ways with
Knox. Many considered Duval the best player in the world, better
even than Tiger Woods, when he reeled off all those victories. But
as the years progressed and Woods got better and better, many
wondered whether Duval could ever overtake him.
Whether Duval can once again be the planet’s top player is
uncertain. But when he won the British Open last Sunday, to finally
claim his first major championship, it spoke volumes about his game
and where it’s headed. Duval—with Knox back on his bag—played
beautifully on the weekend, and when he had a chance to close the
door on Sunday, he made smart decisions and hit the shots he was
supposed to hit.
This won’t be Duval’s last major championship. Now that he’s
opened the door in the prime of his career, who knows how many he
can win?
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Checking on the progress of a couple of Baylor golfers this week,
this thought occurred: They might as well engrave the Baylor girls’
names on the TSSAA Division II championship trophy. Baylor’s
seventh straight state title (two earned at the Class AAA level),
seems a certainty.
May Wood easily qualified for match play in the U.S. Girls Junior
at Indian Hills Country Club in Mission Hills, Kansas, then handily
won her first match, 6 and 5 over Amanda Blumenherst of Fort Wayne,
Ind.
Closer to home, Beth Felts shot par 72 in taking the second round
lead in the Women’s City championship. Felts, called by Baylor
coach King Oehmig, "the nicest, most disciplined, fiercest
competitor for her age I have ever met," has made tremendous
strides the last two years, and everyone has followed the progress
of Wood, who seems bound for stardom with her combination of skill,
size and good looks. Add in Catherine Hicks, yet another gifted
junior, and you have the makings for a team that can’t be beaten,
not in any classification in this state.
The TSSAA could save itself the trouble of having the Division II
tournament and just ship the trophy to Baylor.
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Speaking of talent, Wood got a first-hand look at what she’ll
be up against as her amateur (and probably pro) career develops.
Paired in the second round of qualifying with Christian Kim of San
Jose, Calif., Wood watched in disbelief as Kim shot an 8-under-par
62.
"I’ve never seen anybody play so well; I’ve never seen
anybody make so many putts," said Wood, who shot a fine 72 and
must have felt as though she’d shot 92.
Kim’s 62 was the lowest score in the history of any USGA
championship. Her eight-under total has been matched only three
times in USGA competition, by Johnny Miller (63) in the 1973 U.S.
Open, by Orville Moody (64) in the 1989 U.S. Senior Open and by
Helen Alfredsson (63) in the 1994 U.S. Women’s Open.
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It was nice to see that Pat Corey qualified for next month’s
Tennessee Amateur by shooting a 1-under-71 at Black Creek on Monday.
I’ve long thought that, had business and family commitments not
limited his tournament golf, Corey could have been one of the most
decorated amateur players in state history. He’s won his share of
tournaments in this area, and if you can beat Chattanooga’s best,
you can beat the state’s best. Corey—who might be the best
putter in the state—has proven that by winning the Tennessee
Mid-Amateur and, teamed with Larry White and Gary Chazen, two TGA State
Four-Ball titles.
The State Amateur is being played at the Golf Club of Tennessee,
where Corey won the 1992 Tennessee Mid-Amateur by three strokes over
Cleveland’s Chuck Jabaley. He’ll take some positive memories
with him next month.
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