A few notable developments from the wonderful world of golf:
Vijay Singh finished his long climb to overtake Tiger Woods as the world’s top golfer as he beat Woods in a head-to-head matchup on Monday to win the Deutsche Bank Championship by three strokes and become the new the top-ranked player in the world. The victory was Singh’s sixth victory of the year and was enough finally to vault Singh over Woods as the number one golfer in the World Golf computer ratings.
Woods had been No. 1 for more than five years — a record 264 consecutive weeks — in the rankings that consider performance over the past two years and factor in the strength of the field in each tournament. The new numbers released later Monday had Singh at 12.72 points to Woods’ 12.27, making Singh the first player other than Woods to hold the No. 1 ranking since Aug. 8, 1999, when David Duval was number one.
And what of Mr. Duval? Well, after a slide from the top of professional golf the likes of which had not been seen since the demise of Ian Baker Finch, Duval made the cut for the first time in 15 months in the Deutsche Bank Championship and finished tied for 13th for a payday of $93,750 — more than he has made in 24 events that he has entered in the past two years.
Duval is an interesting man. He lost his only brother to leukemia in his early teens after a bone marrow transplant with Duval as the donor failed, and the loss affected Duval and his family dramatically. Duval’s parents seperated and divorced, and Duval went into a shell in which he found his only outlet in the isolation of golf. He developed an idiosyncratic swing in which he offset a strong grip and a closed club face at the top of the backswing with an incredibly well timed blocking action through his downswing that allowed him to hit a long and accurate fade. He also developed an introverted personality that struck many as conceited.
A stellar player as a collegian, Duval quickly rose to the highest levels of professional golf after winning the 2001 British Open. However, Duval hurt his back, and the blocking action that Duval used in his downswing to offset his strong grip and closed clubface aggravated the injury. When Duval attempted to swing without the blocking action, he started duck hooking everything, which was the natural result of his strong grip and closed clubface. When he started attempting to correct the duck hook, he started blocking everything to the right.
From the pinnacle of his profession after the British Open victory in 2001, Duval fell to 80th on the PGA Tour money list in 2002 and things only got worse from there. Duval made only four cuts in 20 tournaments last year and finished 211th on the money list. As Duval’s golf world collapsed around him, many of his fellow Tour pros who had once considered him to be a conceited jerk saw that Duval was actually living a life of quiet desperation.
Earlier this year, Duval started to attempt to put his golf game back together again by retaining well-known golf teacher David Leadbetter. Duval’s finish this week in the Deutsche Bank Championship is an indication that Leadbetter’s instruction may be helping Duval. Most people who follow golf closely are hopeful that Duval can make it back to the top echelon of professional golf.
Finally, legendary golf swing savant Moe Norman died Saturday at the age of 75 from heart failure. Along with Ben Hogan, many in golf considered Norman to be among the best ball strikers ever.
Tour pros everywhere marveled at Norman’s unusual yet effective swing. He assumed a wide, stiff-kneed stance far from the ball and took the club back with barely any body rotation, and then swung through the ball, finishing with his hands high and in front of him. Norman’s method was the basis of the Natural Golf style, which has achieved a moderate following among amateur golfers over the past decade or so. However, no golfer other than Norman has won a professional tournament using the Natural Golf method.