David Duval

Height: 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)

Weight: 180 lb (82 kg; 13 st)

Birthday: November 9, 1971

College: Georgia Tech

Year turned pro: 1993

Birthplace: Jacksonville, Florida, USA

Country: USA

Sponsor: –

Duval was born into a golfing family, his father Bob was a golf professional, who was the club professional at Timuquana Country Club. Duval learned to play from him. Duval’s childhood was not without its problems. His brother died after a fight against aplastic anemia, and his father moved out of the family home as he had problems coping. Despite returning to his family, Duval’s father eventually left for good.
Despite the upheaval, Duval still experienced some success with his golf, winning the U.S. Junior Amateur championship in 1989; the same year as he graduated from high school. Duval went on to study at Georgia Tech, where he played on the Yellow Jackets men's golf team. While playing on the team, Duval was four time All-American and in 1993 he was National Player of the Year.

Duval turned professional in 1993 spending the first two years playing on the Nike Tour, before earning his place on the PGA Tour in 1995. Between 1995 and 1997, Duval finished in second place in seven tournaments, before achieving his first Tour win, at the Michelob Championship at Kingsmill in October 1997. Duval’s success on the PGA Tour continued; he won thirteen tournaments between 1997 and 2001. In 2001 he won the Open Championship. After this win Duval experienced a downward turn in his form. Many reasons where speculated as being the cause of the decline, including injury, personal problems and vertigo.

After Duval’s problems began he ended up taking a break from golf, until he returned, at the US Open in 2004. He continued to struggle and ironically where he was previously considered to be distant by fans, people now rooted for him. During 2006, Duval’s game improved slightly, but in 2007 his mother died, and his wife experienced a difficult pregnancy. As a result of this, the Tour made amendments to its medical exemption policy, and he was given twenty starts for the following season. Duval’s first big success at this point came at the US Open in 2009, when he tied for second place.

Although he didn’t earn his card for the following season, Duval played on sponsor’s exemptions. The season was reasonably successful for him, and he retained his card for the following year. 2011 was not very successful for Duval, and he lost his PGA Tour card, so he had to play on past champion status.

Away from the course, Duval dated Julie McArthur for eight years, ending in 2002. The following year, he met Susan Persichitte, and they married in 2004. The couple has two children, Brady and Sienna. The family lives in Cherry Hills Village Colorado, together with Persichitte’s three children from a previous relationship, Deano, Nick, and Shalene.

As of the end of 2014, Duval had achieved 13 wins on the PGA Tour, amassing total prize money of $18,947,092.