Duval mixes sensitivity with common sense

The only recorded instance of David Duval "losing it" on the golf course came at the end of his singles match in the Ryder Cup at Brookline two years ago. Duval beat Jesper Parnevik 5 and 4 and started running round the green like a demented animal. It was a complete over-reaction, of course, but then etiquette had flown the fairways on that wild afternoon.

At least under the baseball cap and behind the wrap-around sunglasses he wears because of an eye problem which causes sensitivity to light, a glimpse of the passion that lurks in the man was revealed. As the 29-year-old from Jacksonville, Florida, putted out on the 18th to claim his three-stroke victory in the 130th Open Championship, he was still the cool, controlled fish that makes him hard to identify with on the course.

A few moments later, cap and shades removed, an animated young man came forward to accept the trophy and give a gracious speech. An intelligent man, who enjoys snowboarding, Duval can be hard to get to know on the course or in the interview room.

He does not give sound-bite answers. On becoming world No 1 briefly two years ago, he found it odd that he was suddenly expected to have an opinion on every subject under the sun, on golf and non-golfing matters. He was once asked why he is "such a dullard" and still gave a considered answer, and a polite one, too.

During the two weeks prior to the Open, he went "fishing, mountain biking, riding and I worked out." Anything but golf, in other words. His putting had haunted him for months but it came good once he arrived at Lytham. In April, he finished runner-up to Tiger Woods at the Masters, yet another near-miss at Augusta.

"As much as anything I realised that this is still a silly old game, just playing a game of golf," Duval said. "It sounds stupid but I thought to myself how much is made about it because all we are doing is playing a game. I've made it a lot bigger than it is, too, at times. Maybe that is the reason I felt so good today, I realised it is just a game.

"I felt a lot more calm this week than I did in the past. You only get four chances a year in the majors and you need a lot of things to go right even to get into a position to win the tournament. Some people have written that I have had one arm in the Green Jacket but it just didn't work out.

"It never entered my mind today that I hadn't won a major. I didn't know where I stood until I got to the last green and saw I was three ahead. The Open is like Augusta in that you just face certain shots you have to hit, regardless of your position."

Duval became only the third American to win at Lytham, after Bobby Jones and Tom Lehman, and the sixth in the last seven years when the leaderboard was otherwise congested with players from all around the globe. Both his father and his uncle were club pros. Duval caddied for his father, Bob, when he finally gave up his club to go out on the Senior Tour. Bob won his first Senior event on the same day that David won the Players' Championship on his home course at Sawgrass, his biggest victory before Sunday.

"You grow up loving golf as I did and I remember getting up early in the morning and watching the Open come on the television," Duval said. "It was different golf to that I was used to. The places and the courses looked different. The atmosphere was different. There was the dust and the grass flying. You did not see people having to carry it over lakes.

"This championship is different from the other majors. They have their history and the names on the trophies but here, when you play a course like this or you go to Carnoustie, if you make any small mistake it is compounded. There are no ifs and buts. You can't play out of the bunkers and you can't play out of the rough unless you get lucky. That added pressure of knowing you can't mis-hit shots – you have to hit them just right – make it that much more difficult."

While some of the leading contenders to Tiger's crowns – now down from four to two – hate talking about the world No 1, Duval understands where the questions are coming from. "If I was on the other side of the microphone, I'd be asking the same questions about Tiger," Duval said. "I don't know if people believe me but I mean that. And I'm not just thinking of one, but several questions.

"When you beat him, and all the other names on that board, it must have been like beating Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson. You can argue if Tiger is the best player ever, or the best player of the generation, time will tell. But to beat them all this week feels wonderful. This will intensify my drive, the desire to do it again."

Duval said Bernhard Langer, his final round playing partner, was one of his favourite players as a youngster. It came as no surprise that the group fell two holes behind the group in front and were put on the clock. They quickly got back into position, neither having a bad time that would have led to a warning, with a second bad time leading to a shot penalty.

Hugh Campbell, the chairman of the Royal and Ancient's championship committee, said their new pace of play policy had worked. "Instead of asking the walking official with a group to cajole the players along, we made it clear that if a group is out of position they will be put on the clock," Campbell said.

"It is the procedure on Tour and it gets the players' attention. Some players are so focused that they just need a reminder to keep up."