Former No. 1 Duval Puts It All Together Again

He's clever that way. He thought the year made for a good guess.
Duval is really No. 882, and he had to do a few things to obtain this ranking. He had to lose his swing, quit practicing, stick to a strict Cheetos diet and act as if he never cared if he broke 80 again.
No. 881 has to wonder what Duval was thinking.
But the former No. 1 in the world is officially back. And if there's a reason Duval can catch the leaders and hold off Phil Mickelson, it's because of his past.
Does No. 882 feel any pressure today?
Duval will be five shots back when the final round resumes, but he's tied for second. The leaders shouldn't scare him, either.
Ricky Barnes is ranked No. 519, and he looked it on his final swing Sunday. A snap hook sent his ball into the deep rough.
So Duval is in position, and everyone would have predicted as much 10 years ago. Then he ran marathons, and he fired 59s, and he rarely shared what was behind his wraparound shades.
He was the top-ranked golfer before Tiger Woods was, and he was in line to become Tiger's rival for a decade. In 2001, at 29, Duval won the British Open. It was his 13th win. And his final win.
Strange decline
He suffered some injuries, and he said Sunday he developed serious swing flaws. But it wasn't just physical.
Five years ago, he showed up at the U.S. Open at Shinnecock, farther out on Long Island. He tied for the worst score of the first round, and he couldn't have been more pleased.
“I enjoyed myself today,” he announced then. “Immensely.”
He was always a smart guy, as well as an odd one. That day he talked about finding peace, and how he had been “through one of my existential moments.”
Most golfers think “existential” is an x-out ball.
Duval said he practiced only by taking a few swings before a round. When Vijay Singh heard that, he shook his head.
“He must be out there somewhere,” Singh said.
Duval was out there, all right, and usually in the rough.
“Next time I want to play,” he said, smiling, “I'll show up.”
What followed is what happens to most golfers. There's only so much serenity possible when you keep hitting the ball fat. Somewhere along the way, Duval combined his family life with some discipline.
Asked Sunday how he bounced back, his answer didn't surprise anyone on the PGA Tour
He said it also mattered that he had a belief in what he was doing with his swing. He didn't put it back to the way it was: “I feel like I made it better. … I really know my swing in and out, and I know exactly what I'm trying to do.”
Mission accomplished
This Open proves it. It also proves that lean muscle doesn't matter that much in golf; a paunchy Duval looks at least 10 years older than his age of 37.
He maintains, as he did at Shinnecock, that he's happier than he was when he was “on top of the world.” But the bonus is that he's playing better, too.
What he's become, then, is powerful. He's won a major, unlike the leaders, and failure doesn't scare him.
“Maybe I took it for granted I was going to play well all the time,” Duval said. “I'm pretty hard to fluster now.”
He was at ease when he said this, as if he had nothing to lose. He's No. 882, after all.