The Other Tom Green Show | David Duval on the Ryder Cup, His Career Highs, and Golf’s Evolution
[Music] Welcome back. Time for another edition of the other Tom Green Show. Thanks for joining us. And as always, I like to remind you to do the things I don’t understand like like and subscribe and share and you know, help the show grow. Please, we appreciate it. One of the great things about sports I’ve always felt is it puts you in places in your mind, days you remember. And and one of those days I remember was September 26th of 1999. So, it’s basically 26 years ago this week. Uh, I was in Tampa. The Broncos, two-time Super Bowl champions, were playing the Buccaneers on a very hot day, but this was going to be one of those very interesting games because the Broncos came in 0 and2. And this was the year after John Elway retired. So, Brian Greasie and the Broncos were now struggling trying to deal with losing their all-time quarterback, their Hall of Famer. Well, they didn’t play a great game. Uh we watched the Broncos only put up nine first downs this weekend against the Chargers. That day they only put up eight first downs. They lose the game 13-10. They’re now 0 and3. The next week that didn’t get much better. The Jets came into town and that was the game that Terrell Davis suffered the injury that would more or less end his career. But back in Tampa that Sunday, I remember being at that game and all the time in the press box before the game kicked off, I was watching the RDER Cup. It was the 1999 RDER Cup in Brooklyn, one of the most famous RDER Cups in history. So at 1:00 when the game kicks off, you turn your attention to the football game and you watch the football game for three hours. You go down to the locker room, you do your live shots and stuff, and then at some point someone tells you what happened in Brooklyn. It was one of the most amazing days in golf history. And one of the people who helped author that story is our guest today on the other Tom Green Show. David Duval joins me. [Music] So, as I was talking about 1999, let’s take a trip back and remember some of what happened on that Sunday in Brooklyn, Massachusetts. In the meantime, this putt was for yet another American point. And look at David Dval. The man who earlier in the year had referred to the Rder Cup as an exhibition, is now exhibiting all of the qualities of a man who has changed his mind. That was some Sunday. David Duval joins me now. That’s got to be you. You’ve had some great moments, many great moments in the sport of golf, but that because it was a team event had to feel really special. Very much so. Uh, you know, I don’t know how you rank things, but it’s certainly probably in that top four, five or six of my career. Talk about the the difference in playing RDER Cup because those the American team and the Europeans are getting ready to go at it again. It is different, isn’t it? There is a difference to it than playing individual golf as you play most of the time. Uh, entirely different setup, entirely different week. Uh, the leadup to it, all those things. um you know I don’t know how long the show is but he can keep going on and on about it but it’s like you know I liken it to you know you work in I think probably in any professional realm sports is you know most certainly that you know you work your heart out for years and years and years to be nervous you know and so like if I always said on the TV when I was doing the TV that you know if you’re not nervous on Sunday at a tournament you’re either not playing or you’re playing too early because it’s that’s what you want. But even like you get to the Masters, the Open, the US Open, you know, if you have a a chance to win on that Sunday, a little bit nervous starting out, you settle into your round. Uh if you you’ve been playing well and you have a chance to kind of close it out, you know, the nerves kind of come back and that’s kind of what you want. But you do settle in and they kind of go away. At the Ryder Cup, you get out there on the first tea on Tuesday to play a practice round and you’re nervous and it doesn’t stop until the event’s over. It’s just different, I think, because you have your captains, uh, it’s the vice captains have expanded over the years. You have your 11 teammates, you have the caddies, you have the spouses, you have I mean, it’s just, uh, it’s just a remarkable event. There’s always an edge between the teams. You know, you go back, it always seemed like Sevy was a guy who could create that edge and and you would feel it in your individual matches and four balls, four sims, things like that. What I remember more than anything about that was Saturday night was that Ben Krenshaw doing that I got a feeling about this. Did you buy it when he said it? Absolutely. And and it wasn’t so much that what Ben was saying in the press or at the end of the day leading into Sunday. Uh it was more kind of a discussion, at least from the way I saw it, more a discussion amongst us as a team that if you kind of had paid attention to the matches on Friday and on Saturday, their chips went in the hole, their 35-footers went in, ours didn’t, ours left out. Like even though we were in that big deficit of 106, uh the matches themselves had been contested a lot more closely than the score reflected. So the next Sunday morning you go out there uh you’re one of the first half of the the Americans to take on the Europeans and you guys win the first six matches. The whole thing spins immediately. Your match with Yesper Parovic. You said there was a little tension in your match too at times. You got on top of him early quickly. Yeah. Um you know you’re nervous going out. I think I was four up after seven holes. And uh on the eighth hole uh he had roughly five feet, six feet for par. I had about four feet similar putts. And he asked, you know, good good because you know that happens in these matches, right? And I looked at him, I said, “You know what? I’m pretty certain I’m going to make mine, but I’d sure like to see you make yours.” And uh he missed and I made uh I went five up after eight. I think he won the 11th hole to get it back to four and then I picked up a couple more. But, you know, when when Mark James put out his lineup for that Sunday matches and it, you know, obviously obviously we’re going to go topheavy. That’s how you have to you’re in such a deficit. And we saw the what he did and it’s like, wow, this seems like a huge tactical error because you would think he would do the exact same thing. Like they’re so close to winning the RDER Cup, right? Get all your best players out. Don’t give us a chance, you know? And and that didn’t happen. And the team did exactly what it needed to do. and Justin Leonard putt ended it. It was one of the the great triumphs and I you know I just think about uh how that felt because you win your match. The emotion you showed that we saw was very atypical for you in particular. You were a guy who kept it all inside. But maybe it was part of what you just talked about that you get nervous Tuesday morning. It stays with you until it’s over and at that moment you just let it out. Well, I I think it’s that it’s uh also the uh the the coverage of the event. Um the constant harping by the press that uh the the American team isn’t a team, it’s it’s individuals. You know, that that kind of goes down to a little bit of my famous TV argument fight with Brandle in 2015 on the golf channel that our producer, he just kept let it going. He’s like, you know, like this. Oh, yeah. But it’s like, you know, you don’t know what’s going on behind the team, the closed doors, unless you’ve been there. Yeah. And you have no idea what it’s about. No idea the uh emotional investment, the physical investment that you’re putting into these weeks. A and that’s where I got so kind of offended. And and if you pay attention to all of the talk even especially leading up to 99 because that’s when it came out that year they were going to make uh the PG of America was going to bank about 64 million if I remember the number. I think it’s massively more now. Yeah. Um but the questions came up uh you know through the PGA at Madina that year about uh compensation. um players weren’t getting paid right at all about charitable dollars. And my frame of reference was I don’t see why we can’t as players direct monies to charities that we want since we’re doing this for free, you know, the week for free. You got to remember the only people at those matches up until this year apparently that aren’t getting paid there are the players, right? you know, the the the well, especially this year. We we’ll talk about that. Changed that apparently and but yeah, so but anyways, it became a very contested thing through the week. We had a closed door meeting with the team. Uh Ben unfortunately went and talked about that meeting a little bit afterwards. Um but like I remember specifically and and and there was there was two two uh two one Chicago person fairly well known now, Skip Bis, right, who flat out lied about what I said and Christine Brennan from USA Today. They completely manipulate and lied what I said. And I was just saying I just think that we as players, my frame of reference, I had played two President’s Cups in 96 and 98. And uh when I got there and this all blew up, I was like, I don’t see why we can’t direct some money to charity. I only knew that they because the President’s Cup gave us 100 grand, you know, nice to do that to charity. It’s going straight to charity. And it’s like then they’re talking about getting paid and a tax break and it’s like, no, that’s not how these things work. And so, but anyways, deer in the headlights a little bit, but it was well worth it. You look at uh you look at how much has been directed to player charity since then, and it was worth the time. And you you look at now at Beth Page, you know, part of the the headlines were made early when they said it’s the base price to get in is $750. I heard recently 750, but that’s you can’t get those. They’re like $1,500 a price now after market. As you say, there’s plenty of money flowing through the RER Cup. Let’s talk about this year’s event. Um, Beth Paige is going to be a star. Uh, the players, both teams are are built with stars. Let’s start with who you like. I I know you you’re going to be rooting for the American team, but do you think they’re they’re the favorites or you think they should? I don’t think so. No. I mean, especially you look at the history of the last, call it two decades or so. Um, and the European team has simply performed better. And it’s kind of, you know, in in in in gambling and sports, you know, you you you you never bet against a streak, right? But all streaks come to an end. Yeah. But they seem to have the formula a little bit better. you reflect back to what was it 2014 with the they blew up the American Rder Cup system kind of when right players were ripping into Tom Watson and all this and but it seems like it’s in a way reverted back to a little bit of a good old boys club you know um as far as well the choices last time that were made uh as far as who wasn’t wasn’t on the team starring Keegan Bradley and now Keegan’s choice and I think in victory or defeat Keegan’s choice is going to be part of a big part of the story. There’ll be a discussion, I’m sure, because I think I think what he did was very selfless and I think he may have very well done the correct thing and we’ll find out about that, but I thought it was very brave and very noble of him to make the choice he made. Now, if they lose, they may say, I would have rather had your clubs in the lineup then ex you know Cameron Young or someone whoever got the the spot that he passed up. I mean, you would you would imagine that he is certainly one of the 12 best American players right now and and his role as captain that’s a tough spot to be in. You know, the only way and and I don’t I don’t believe uh in the slightest that his decision to to not play be a playing captain. Um I don’t believe that decision has anything to do with based uh upon what uh might be said about it in victory or defeat. I think he simply did it for love of the RDER Cup and thinking that that’s the best thing and the best formula to give the American team a chance to win. So the course and the crowds I think will be a star. The the famed New York uh crowd cuz home turf does matter in the RDER Cup. It has in the past. It’s not 100% but it’s been you like to play at home. It’s meant to be a partisan event. Yeah, that’s how it’s set up. And so you want the crowds to be pulling for their side, you know, whether it’s here or over in Europe. I mean, my my only fear for the the wonderful wonderful New York crowds. Look, I’ve loved playing up there, you know, especially Paris. I hope they’re incredibly boisterous, but I hope there’s not some type of inner thought of trying to live up to the expectation of a New York crowd to affect the right because that’s when it could kind of go over the top and get out of hand, you know, but if you’re pulling for the American side and you’re doing it in a in a fair way, then it’s fair game. The course is so hard. Uh you played it in two US Opens and in 2009, you came close to winning. You finished tied for second. Um, but the course, talk about the challenges it will present to the players this week. Well, you know, I I’ve I’ve seen a little bit of the coverage early in the week. Looked like it had a little bit of pace to a little bit of a little bit dryness in it. Apparently, there’s a big front going through I think what came through Denver. And it’s just going to be wet and it’s going to get longer and harder, make the rough thicker, although I heard they’re topping it and cutting it a little bit. Um it’s just there’s no letup in it really. Um you you can look at the first couple of holes at roughly 390 each of them, but they’re difficult fairways to hit. Then yeah, you know, I mean number one bends hard to the right, number two kind of bends up to the left. Um and so if you don’t get it into play there, now you’re in trouble. But I think I hope that I hope that the course is set up in such a manner that we do see a fair amount of birdies. You know, you want you to me you in those events, you want success to win holes. Yeah. Not failure. So if you look at this year’s American team, I would think that Bryson Duchambo kind of becomes a wild card. and he always is because of his length and the way he plays and the way the crowd responds to him, but also he’s he hasn’t really been on tour with the rest of the team. So, you’ve been kind of talking about what the that room is like. Suddenly, you have a team room and it it can change things. And I’ I’d like for you to talk about how that may fit or or what kind of impact you see Bryson having. I’d imagine he’s going to have a good impact. I mean, he’s he’s a world-class player. He has shown even after his move to live through the majors over the last few seasons that he’s competitive still. He’s playing well. And um you know I I can’t I mean I had enough of a TV role for a long enough time that like I don’t want to, you know, put in what I think about it necessarily. I listen to what the players were saying, his teammates, and they love him. They love that he’s there. They love he’s a part of it. And so if there’s there’s not you can tell from their voices that there’s not going to be any kind of split divisiveness amongst the team. They’re they’re very proud and happy he’s there. They wanted him there. Yeah. He helps. I mean when he’s playing good, he will be a plus for the American team. On the European side, I think it used to be let’s go back to even 99 or or before then. I think a lot of the European players or maybe the bottom four or six players would be people that American viewers and maybe even American golfers weren’t that familiar with. I don’t think that’s the case as much anymore. No, not at all. I that’s I think there’s thought and discussion that the European team actually might be deeper than the American team this year, which is new. That’s something that’s usually the case, you know. Um and but they’re just they’ve all been playing well. Um I think that if anything, like if you look at the European side, you could probably come up with more names for them that you think could have been on the team as opposed you could for the American side. And that shows the depth of the European golf right now. You talked about broadcasting. I always thought it was funny um because when you were playing, I don’t think you were necessarily warm and fuzzy with broadcast and it reminded me very much of other golfers who’ve done that same thing. Curtis Strange famously didn’t care for the media, becomes a terrific broadcaster. Nick Faldo, kind of the same story. Did you like broadcasting? Was it something that you thought you would do when you were starting to play less? It’s not something that entered my mind. Um, it came about when they had the uh BMW at Cherry Hills in 14 uh and uh the the Golf Central was on site. I don’t believe it wasn’t alive from and they asked me to sit at the desk all week. Uh and then the the the brass got in touch with me towards the end of the year and asked me if I’d like to do it. And so we talked about at home and and Susie and I and did it. And you know that everybody asked me about what kind of training did you have and what did you do? I’m like, they put on a headset and said, “Go up there and talk like you and be you.” I got no no training, no initiation. Just go up there and do it. And you It takes a little time to to learn the rhythm of the shows uh to to speak and answer questions and talk about things in a 20 30 second clip as the producers talking in your ear, right? You know, I’ve been there. Oh yeah. You know all about it. And so it’s kind of but it but it is enjoyable to be a part of it. It’s a grind. It’s especially those live from shows are very hard. They’re very long and very late. There’s a lot and you have to know a lot about a lot of different players. Players come to pay attention and and certainly some things through it that I never understood. Like we’d have production meetings at 1 in the afternoon with a show that’s at 8. And I’m like, well, why are we having a production meeting? We don’t know who’s going to be leading this tournament. You know, how we know how can we talk about what we might talk about and things like that that I didn’t understood as a golfer. And I approached it as a golfer. And I always felt like and and even when I did the live broadcast of the golf that you watch on the TV um you know you got to remember athletes, golfers any they’re human beings you know and at times when you know somebody might be seem a little edgy or they might have woke up on the wrong side of the bed. They might got a call from their wife that they’re you know she was in a car wreck in the morning kid got suspended from school. You don’t know what’s going on in that part of their life. Everybody’s going through something. Everybody is. And so I always tried to treat them that way and and talk about players that way. So because you you will see the commentators, the players, a commentator can get under a player’s skin. Ken Venturi, Johnny Miller, uh Brandle Shambbley, you know, you’re going to say stuff. Did you ever find yourself aware of that line or felt that even maybe you’d cross that line in and talking about someone’s game or how they were playing or the way they were conducting themselves? I don’t think so. Uh, you know, I I um I don’t I never I thought Johnny was really good at what he did. I thought Ken was great. I like Brandle what he does. I really do. Um but like when I was doing telecasts, you know, I was never I never I tried to be make a point not to ever be mean for mean’s sake. M and I think that’s what rubbed people with Johnny and Kim Ventur at times that that it was just seemed like it was a little bit mean and like if I criticized something I tried to explain why, right? You know, uh and and so, you know, I only the only beef I ever heard that came back to me was one of the PGAs we were covering and uh I was talking about the the the the 20 I forget the who sponsors and what it’s called now, the you know, whatever 20 the the club pros that are playing in the PGA Championship. And I was talking about how cool it is for these guys to be playing, how nice it is to have a week off, not folding shirts, not doing it, you know, and somebody took offense to me saying that, you know, and I was like, I grew up the son of a club pro. I watched all this, you know, I know what they go through. I’m like, it’s a lot better to be out here playing against their golfing idols and and with them and playing practice rounds and and not folding shirts and dealing with members and and the the kind of the the president of the PGA of America came in and they talked to the person like, “Oh, he’s fine.” Yeah, that’s not whoever complained about that is is way off. Uh let’s go back to the year 1999 before the RDER Cup took place because uh it was the year uh of David Duval and let’s start with what happened early in the season at the Bob Hope Desert Classic. Duval made it to 18 with an opportunity. But he would need to do something no one who has shot 59 had ever done. Eagle the last. I hit a good shot kind of right in the middle of the green. And lo and behold, if it didn’t bounce up on that top shelf up near the hole and started feeding down close, how good for 59. There’s some part of you that, you know, you got a sevenfooter now to shoot 59. And and uh if you don’t make it, you’re kind of a goat. There it is. 59. The best final round ever. [Applause] you were just the uh the third player ever to shoot 59 at that point. That was one of those unattainable numbers. I think the four-minute mile used to be back in the day. I mean uh it was an amazing round. You must have been feeling it from start to finish mostly. Uh it’s funny go back two weeks earlier. I was mad. I I missed about call it 22 to 24footer on the last hole at Kapalua. I wanted to make that because if I make that I win by 10 for the week. I won by nine. You know, I took the week off, went out to the desert and played and and back then it was a five round event. Uh and and as well as everything had gone in Hawaii, you know, I I played pretty well those first four rounds, but I mean I couldn’t make a putt. And my first I hit a wedge to about five feet on the first hole. A little bit downhill, a little bit left to right. And my thought, you’re bound to make one of these, you know. So, one of the funny stories about that, it was uh Jeff Maghard, I hit a eight iron to about two feet on 15 par three. And he looks up and he goes, “God damn, I didn’t know we were playing par twos today because I’ve gone two two on all the par threes up to then.” You know, that kind of thing. So, it was a great day. And you know, you heard Mike Tarico famous in sports broadcasting, right? and we still joke about it when I see him, but I went up in the booth with him and uh Curtis uh and and after I was sitting up there for a few minutes because Steve P was probably a good hour behind me, hour and a half, something like that, and he asked, “Are you going to so will you go to the range and will you do you know?” I was like, “Yeah, you know, there’s a few things I need to work on, Mike.” And he’s like, “Oh, man.” I walked right into that. That year, though, you won uh the two tournaments leading up to the Masters as well. You you hit Augusta flying. Did did you ever feel like Augusta was going to be added to your resume? I know you’re from down there and you probably thought you were going to win it one of these years. Absolutely. I I I sit here, you know, you know, 53 now in the stretch from 98 through 01. I didn’t win any of them. Finished second twice, I think third. But I could have won all four. Could have won four straight, you know. And actually one of the things on the I’ve done on dealing with ESPN sitting with Scott Vampelt and that team through through some of the PGA I’ve done talking about it and as it comes up and like how long does it take to get over things I’m like you don’t ever get over those. Was it for one thing or one hole? Was there a a thing that always nipped you at Augusta? Not necessarily. I I never uh I struggled at times with the 16th hole, the back left pin on the par three cuz I didn’t turn the ball. And then I never played uh 13 at Augusta very well. I didn’t you’re supposed to make four. I I think I mean a good year would be make two birdies out of four and you really need to make three and a half on that hole out of four days. and and if anything it was those two but uh you know not really just you know it was great finish by Marco Mira one year it was a great play by VJ great play by Tiger and and then Jose one year you know it was like Jose Maria and it’s just you know that’s the thing in sport you know you you play well and you just sometimes you get beat yeah well the the one major you did claim was just a couple years down the road from that 2001 and uh let’s take a look at how how the British Open wrapped up in in 2001 for David Duval. A 67 on the final day. Five birdies, one bogey, and 12 pars comprised the golden round that saw Duval’s longest held ambition fulfilled. He won by three at 10 under par. He was the new open champion and naturally it meant an awful lot. Anything. I was just lucky to experience the crowd on 18 and to experience the final day of of the open championship and and I enjoyed it. It’s a wonderful experience. That clar jug is u I mean that’s kind of the the piece of hardware you want if you if you play golf. You want a green jacket, you want a clar jug. But that still has to be right at the top of your list. Absolutely. Uh you know that one RDER Cup of 99 um you know my first President’s Cup in 96. Arnold was the captain. His birthday was that week. uh first first win on tour. And that was the day though that your dad won as well, right? You’re talking No, that was earlier. That was in 99 when I won the players. Okay. To go to number one. My dad won uh on the champions tour a couple hours before my round finished. And I had a one of the handhelds walking one of the Rover cameras who was following my group and uh walking into 14 fairway. You know, this is tight. It’s tough. And and that year I shot three under. Um Scott Gump shot one under. Only two players finish under par. This is Sawrass. Yeah. Yeah. TPC Sawrass. And uh walking into 14 fairway. He’s like, “Hey, your dad just won. Now it’s up to you.” I’m like, “Oh, great.” You know, I didn’t have enough pressure. This is funny. I I played there quickly. I I shot 6969. First two days was a shot behind Joe Oaki after two days. I shot 7473 on the weekend and won by two. That’s how hard it was. Yeah. It was just brutal. Some years the weather that was still when it was in February. That was March. Yep. Yeah. March. So it was the weather was always pretty dodgy down there. Whenever we see you in in those days um what you you know you referred to 97 to01 where you were at the very top of the game. We didn’t really see you those sunglasses. Was Was that what Tell us about that because some of it seemed like it was intentional like I like a poker player. Yeah. And some of it I don’t know if you were getting paid by Oakley or Nike or whoever had your service. At that point I was an endorser of Oakley for sure. Um no it was it was it was entirely a decision of utility and and and uh I I wore hard contacts back in the early 90s and we uh always played our ACC championship in Rocky Mount, North Carolina in April. And so we’re at the tournament at the ACC championships playing practice rounds and I mean it’s it’s windy a little bit and there’s just pollen everything going everywhere and it’s just getting in my eyes and so my golf coach Puggy Blackman went to a sunglasses hut and found those and bought a pair and that’s I put them on and it just became kind of a part of my equipment. It it became part of your look too because I think people now look at it and go what’s the big deal? Well not there weren’t many players wearing sunglasses back then. No, I got vilified for that for sure. And now I’ll bet you I don’t know at least half of the field wears sunglasses, you know, who play professional golf. And so it’s just the times. It’s just those things things change. So let’s also reflect on your look because that that Sunday we were talking about at Brookline that shirt and it’s so funny because there it I I think of um you know Ben Krenshaw seeing him since because they have one of those shirts down at Colorado Golf Club which he helped design with with Bill Core, but uh he he loved that shirt and I’m sure when you guys saw it that probably wasn’t like everyone, oh this is great. Well, as a team we to a man we were all like what what is this? We didn’t really even recognize what it was and it’s just pictures of all the former Ryder Cup teams. Yeah. team pictures and so uh I mean a little distracting I guess but but it’s become pretty famous. Yeah, Justin Leonard and the rest of the team certainly made it famous cuz when I look at the clothes now, clothes, sunglasses, all these parts of of being a pro golfer, you know, that that’s become pretty important stuff. You were one of those those early Nike guys when Nike said, “We’re going to get into golf and they they you they attached themselves to you, you to them. Mhm. A good deal. Had a wonderful long-term run with them. Uh, you know, and they’re amazing company uh to to be a part of, be associated with. They’re they’re all about uh they’re all about the athlete and and producing product that is for the elite athlete that then they sell to the public as opposed to fitting an athlete into product that they want to massproduce and sell. And it’s is very similar to my relation rel relationship with Callaway. They make the best product there is and they make it for the player and and and then that’s a part of what they sell to the public and and and I think that’s a pretty cool cool way to go about things. So let’s let’s go uh you you you’re number one in the world for a stretch. You’re a major champion. You’ve won the players championship, the tour championship. Uh you know you’ve set 59 RDER Cup champion. I mean, all this stuff is when it starts to get rocky when when golf starts to turn on you. What happens there? Is that just the nature of the game or did you physically break down a little bit or or what what changed? Well, golf is hard. That’s how you know it’s hard and there’s there’s ups and there’s downs for sure. But no, it it was it all started actually in uh in 2000 at the Scottish Open and uh playing there uh the week before the Open at St. Andrews and and back went out. Just entirely went out and was all but uh crippled. Uh shouldn’t I was playing a practice round with Tom Watson on Wednesday before the open and he saw me kind of I had to squat down to get a golf ball out of the hole and he’s like, “What are you doing?” I’m like, “My back is just gone.” And he’s like, “What are you doing out here?” You know, rest up like try to I was like, “I’ve never played the golf course with this wind.” It was a different wind than I’d ever seen on that golf course. And so anyways, I, you know, I actually had a decent run there, but then I I I I came back from there, took a couple weeks off, actually came out here to the international. Mhm. Um, withdrew from the proam on Wednesday on the 14th hole, withdrew from the golf tournament on the sixth hole, and then I took off because I was it was done. I went up and spent a couple weeks with a trainer from the tour in Montana to try to get things figured out. and and uh and then um came back and and and had some success, but you know through it the back the low back had I think it had compromised some other things and and then you start making adjustments in your golf swing, your address position, your setup and it’s just a ri a little bit of a ripple effect. Yeah. And and so, you know, I’ve talked about like through the years the pundits, all the all the all the media people like why would he try to change his swing? I never once tried to change my golf swing in my career. I tried to restore it. Yeah. I’ve tried to put it back together, but never tried to change it. I mean, I I was smart enough once I turned pro, even through when I wasn’t having injury issues, like my golf swing and golf game’s pretty good, and I don’t need to change things. And so, I just I just tried to fix it after all the injuries. So, inside your your mental and emotional state, that’s that’s not easy to have been as good as anyone. And yeah, it’s awful. you you know what you want to do and you can’t. That’s uh that’s some advice I’ve given to younger players over the years. Um because they know I’ve seen the top and I’ve seen the bottom. Um and I tell people, you know, players, I’m like, look, uh if there’s something I learned through this through this whole thing, through my career, is that uh you you need to protect your confidence at all costs. At all costs. And and and if you have an injury, walk away. If it’s affecting things, walk away. get healed and when you think you’re ready, take two or three more months off to make sure you’re healed. But I said because once you start chipping away and that starts eroding, uh it’s hard to get it back and and and through the years speaking to so many different psychologists for psychiatrists, all these things, uh it it has to do a lot of it has to do from what I understand, I’m not going to explain it the best, but it has to do with short-term memory really because short-term memory is a very difficult thing to replace in your brain. And so like if you think about like the last time you played, I mean that’s kind of some of the maybe crappy shots you hit. That’s what you remember. Yeah. You don’t remember the the the the decade of of excellence. You remember last time you’re out and the time before out and when you failed in trying to do what you do. And so replacing those short-term memories with success is a difficult thing. So obviously that’s a darker period for your relationship with golf. Seems to me watching from a bit of a distance that playing like in the father-son tournament and now the champions tour, it seems like a much lighter, happier David Duval has returned to the game and the game has returned to him, too. It’s getting there as far as the golf goes. It’s been a slower process than I thought it would be. Um, but no, I’m having fun. I’m enjoying it. Uh, I’m as frustrated as anybody. Like right now, I’m not happy at all with my scores. I mean, we all walk off a golf course and like it could have been a shot better, two shots better. I feel like I’m walking off every day and I’m like, it should have been four shots better, you know? So, I’m not quite getting out of it what I feel like I should. I’m enjoying I’m enjoying hitting balls. I’m enjoying the success of properly controlling golf balls. Uh enjoying being out there and competing. Uh, you know, and the father son is the that’s the it’s the hardest invite in golf, actually. Yeah. But I I love when I saw you out there. I thought that’s that’s such a good sign because you you your game we hadn’t seen your game much on television till you went back out there in Florida. I call it the Charliewoods Invitational. Yeah, pretty much right. No, but it is fun to see all those those those fathers and sons or even sons and fathers out there playing. It looks like a great event. It’s the it’s the best week of golf. Uh there is uh most soughta invite. You have to have won a major championship or I think the players uh as well. Um you know, we’ll be down there again. And we got the invite not too long ago. Fantastic. It’s a big family event, family affair. Brady and I will be playing and and hopefully uh hopefully succeeding this year with a victory. You still have that southern sound to your voice. It comes out every now and again, but not as bad. But you’re a Colorado guy now. Talk about 20 over 20 years. Yeah. Talk about how you ended up here because it’s not uh professional golfers all live in Arizona and Florida and Texas, you know, or California, but uh not many live here in Colorado. No. No. There’s a few, but uh just, you know, I’ve always enjoyed the West. Always liked being out in the west in the mountains. Uh and you know, just by uh God’s God’s purpose, I think I I crossed paths with this uh beautiful lady who was kind as could be and and we started talking and eventually dated and she had Susie had no idea who I was. Um didn’t know anything about golf when we were talking the first time we met. I end I’m like here I’m here working at the international and you know doing didn’t know if I was selling church or corporate or what you know and and and so you know and and just it’s been a blessed life you know with her and we’re we’ve been married over 21 years now and and we just have a good time and we’re looking forward to like this stage where recently downsized and and more freedom to travel and move and go to events and do different things and and we’re enjoying it. It’s a great story. The um the advice you give the most or the advice you’re asked for the most, technical golf advice, like what would you say that you look at most? Do you play in proams or you play with your buddies or whatever that most often you see it’s your grip, your stance, your brain, you know, what do you tell people? I I think the simplest, it’s not even the simplest, but like I think most players you got to remember in golf, okay, there’s there are historical great players who didn’t hit golf balls particularly well. Okay. Um, you look at I mean, one that comes to mind is like Phil Mickelson. Like I mean, he hit it everywhere, you know, right? One of the greatest players who’s ever lived, right? Um, then there’s great hitters as well. And not all great hitters have been great golfers, right? Um, you hear uh on the on the TV some uh at least I I don’t know if I’ve heard him this year, but Graham Delet’s been on there. Amazing hitter of the golf ball. Was never a great player, though. Okay. Um, most of it has to do, in my opinion, and and and people are going to get upset with me, is they’re not properly taught how to release a golf club. To release the club, right? So, like lag. Yeah. Well, it’s Yeah. the lag is they they talk about that and it’s like that is in my opin such the wrong thing to try to tell people. I mean go back to Jack Nicholas statements. He wish he had three right hands. He he can’t release it soon enough you know I mean you really got to start releasing the golf club from the top of your swing. Okay. And the arm has to work this way not this way. Okay. Okay. Because if if this is you know basically that’s square over the face of your club. Right. Right. Well, if you’re going like this through your golf swing, you’re rotating the face. The face is turning. Yeah. And so, you have to time it. If you’re releasing this way, the face is stable. Okay. You know, and that’s what I proponent of. So, release the club be more freely or more aggressive. I’m trying to make sure as soon as you can from the top of your swing, just let it go because it happens halfway down. It doesn’t happen. It feels like it’s here. And people call it casting. Yeah. You know, but that’s just the furthest thing from the truth. It’s it happens that it happens maybe halfway down in your swing. And like I my son Brady, he was upset one day. He was probably 10 years old and he was like, I can’t. He called me from the golf course like I can’t hit it. Okay, I’ll come out and have a look. And and so the little drill I gave him, I’m like I said, grab 10 golf balls and put them in a pile. Grab 10 more and put each one on a T. you know, now hit me a flop shot. And now make the same swing with your driver. Oh, wow. Well, if you think about it, you’re you’re almost vertical with a flop shot. You and you move like this, right? Releasing straight up. Sure. Yeah. Now you’re just it’s it’s more it’s further away from you, but you still want to move this way, you know, and so and all of a sudden there you go. Back up in the air and straight. And is there any secret to becoming a great putter? I’m just asking for a friend practice. I would, you know what, if there’s one, um, and it’s not a secret, but especially, I’ve learned a bit about putting over the last few years because things have changed, you know, they and I think one of the, uh, fallacies you get told is try to accelerate through the ball, right? Yeah. Impossible. Okay. Physics says it’s impos, you know, a moving object that’s hitting a stationary object, it slows down. It’s going to slow down. Slows down. Period. you know, and basically as you see players playing now through all the stuff they’ve done and and they figured out through the science of it, you know, the club swings and then it kind of goes in and it it can stop now. It’s done, you know, but you’ll see players whose backstrokes are twice as long as their forward strokes, you know, that kind of thing. And the other thing I would say is just is uh just practice fivefooters. Yeah. If you make five footers, you’re not worried about the 20footer. You’re going to do pretty good. Yeah. Yeah. I think that’s the biggest thing. You’re going to be uh glued to the TV all day. Um I I will probably set an alarm for 4:45 on Friday because I believe it’s 5:00 a.m. here. It comes on and you’ll be up and I’ll I’ll get up and turn it on and have it on. I’ll have to go work and practice a little bit at some point. But got to see the start of it and hopefully uh hopefully catch the opening shots, T- shots, because it’s pretty uh you still get chills having been a part of it, you know. I still get chills with it. Well, and we didn’t even get a chance to talk about the year. You were the vice captain in Paris working with you came to the house years ago about that. Nice interview with you there about that, but uh it’s going to be a great RDER Cup week. It’s really nice to see you so much for taking the time. David Duval, of course, uh the great golf champion joining us here on the other Tom Green Show. [Music] Again, thanks to David Duval for joining us here on the eve of the RDER Cup. Of course, it’s always fun to watch the RDER Cup and it is fun to see uh what happens between fans from overseas and fans from the United States. Of course, now we live in more polarizing times. So hopefully, as David pointed out, hopefully the fans are boisterous, the viewers are boisterous, but also just let things happen, let the players play, and let the game settle itself out. Should be a great weekend of golf at the Ryder Cup. We’re going to talk a little bit about baseball next week with a real interesting trends setter gal from right here in Colorado. Jenny Kavnar is going to join us on the other Tom Green Show. Thanks for joining us. [Music] [Applause]
On this episode of The Other Tom Green Show, Tom takes us back to September 26, 1999—a day when the Broncos fell in Tampa while history was being made in Brookline at the Ryder Cup. That’s where David Duval helped author one of the most remarkable comebacks in golf history, and he joins the show to relive it all.
Duval opens up about what makes the Ryder Cup unlike anything else in the sport, the nerves that never let up, and the behind-the-scenes tension that fueled Team USA’s rally. He also reflects on his own iconic moments: shooting 59 at the Bob Hope, winning the 2001 Open Championship, rising to No. 1 in the world, and the injuries that tested his relationship with golf.
Along the way, he shares candid stories about broadcasting, fashion statements (yes, those sunglasses and that Ryder Cup shirt), and life now as a Coloradoan enjoying the game with family. With the Ryder Cup teeing off again, this is the perfect listen for golf fans who love history, drama, and a champion’s perspective.
#rydercup #golf #davidduval #tomgreen #OTGS
🎧 Listen wherever you get your podcasts: https://pod.link/1839032755
