Associated Press
FARMINGDALE, N.Y. ó David Duval walked off the 18th green Monday afternoon waving his white cap.
A show of surrender?
Not from Duval. Not this week, when his improbable U.S. Open quest often seemed doomed, only to see him rally every time and nearly get his name etched on the trophy.
“It may be arrogance,” Duval said, “but this is where I feel like I belong.”
Once the world’s No. 1 player and now the planet’s 882nd-best golfer ó a ranking that’ll soon change mightily ó Duval was beaten by only one player this week at Bethpage Black, finishing two shots behind Lucas Glover and in a tie for second with Phil Mickelson and Ricky Barnes.
It was his first top 10 since 2002, netting a check for $559,830 that nearly matched what he’s made in the last five years combined.
“It’s very difficult to sit here and say second place is a failure,” said Duval, who led the field with 19 birdies. “It is very much a success. It’s not quite the success I had looked forward to this week and had hoped for, and in some way expected. But success, nonetheless.”
Duval made four bogeys in a five-hole span in the second round, atoning for each one over the next 12 holes and making up all the lost ground. In the third round, two early bogeys hurt him again, knocking him far from the first page of the leaderboard. It looked like last year’s British Open, when he was three shots back after 36 holes and shot a third-round 83.
Except this was Bethpage, not Royal Birkdale.
Duval kept it together this time.
“He’s back to Old David,” said his coach, Puggy Blackmon. “He’s very, very close to what he used to be.”