David Duval has returned to Royal Lytham and St. Annes for a first time since his 2001 Open Championship victory declaring golf’s oldest major to be the best golf tournament in the world.
Walking through the front doors of the Lancashire clubhouse brought back fond memories for the American who stormed to the front with a third round 65 to be tied with the German pair of Alex Cejka and Bernhard Langer along with Welshman Ian Woosnam.
Duval then carded a last day 67 to win by three strokes from Sweden’s Niclas Fasth.
“Obviously I have a lot of fond memories,” he said.
“This is a special week regardless. It is the biggest and best golf tournament of the year and it’s even better for me to come back to the place I won.
“I haven’t been here for eleven years,” he added. “I haven’t had reason to make the trip so it was kind of cool to see my name in golf ink on the board in the clubhouse and to see the course I won on all those years ago.
“In a weird way I sort of feel that I’m defending because I’m back at my site.”
Duval has suffered a serious slump in form since the early years of this century and he freely admits to being a totally different person to the one who finished three shots ahead of Niclas Fasth and four in front of defending champion, Darren Clarke, back in 2001.
Subsequently, he has missed five cuts in eight Open appearances and his best finish in that sequence was a lowly tie for 22nd on his defence at Muirfield in 2002.
“I’m an entirely different person to the one that won in 2001,” he admitted. “Back then, it was all about me and all about golf, just like the majority of people who have marched through here this week.
“I’ve been fortunate to be able to kind of branch out and understand there are some things that are a little more important than this. It doesn’t mean that I don’t love it, and don’t want to be really great at it again, but life has opened up for me.
“I’ve seen life and love it and enjoy it and embrace it.”
Duval baulks at the suggestion that his spiral down the world rankings is the result of a lack of commitment.
“Yesterday afternoon I was on the range hitting balls in the pouring rain. I was soaked. It has nothing to do with the work I have put in. I’ve worked my tail off but, unfortunately, I have had multiple nagging little injuries. I’ve had tendonitis in both shoulders. I’ve got it in my elbows. I have bone bruises in my knees right now. I have a back problem that’s well documented and it wrecks your golf.
“I continued to work through it and all it did was get worse and worse and wreck my golf game and my confidence.
“I should have given away a year and a half (in order to get better) rather than the eight years it became.
The American has dabbled with wearing a knee brace this week but has not discounted his chances of challenging for the title.
“I feel good about what I’m doing,” he said. “I played well last week in Moline at the John Deere. This might sound weird and crazy but I almost played too well. I hit, I don’t know, 31, 32 out of 36 greens, hit most fairways but kept missing chances.
“It was disappointing but I’m still focussed on playing and doing well.”
