Jim Furyk offers David Duval vertigo advice

News that David Duval had been diagnosed with positional vertigo drew plenty of sympathy from Jim Furyk.

The same condition plagued Furyk this time last year, causing him to withdraw from nearly the entire Florida swing.

''I would like to talk to David, because the guy I saw at home was the best person I talked to,'' said Furyk, whose stay at the Ford Championship was extended a day when Sunday's playoff against Scott Hoch was called because of darkness.

``More than anything, it scares people at first. It's uncomforting. The more nervous and upset you get, the more tired you get, the easier the symptoms come on.''

Vertigo is an inner-ear imbalance, often caused by a virus, that causes brief, violent bursts of dizziness with any turn of the head. It's often accompanied by queasiness that can last hours.

Duval said he was fighting dizziness before a second-round 80 that was his worst score in seven years. He saw a doctor on Saturday, when the vertigo was diagnosed. Furyk said his case ``made me as dizzy as I could imagine, to the point where I would sit up in bed and literally just fall down.''

Furyk fell ill during the WGC Match Play event, causing him to withdraw before Doral. He did so again at the Honda Classic and Bay Hill Invitational before feeling well enough to try The Players Championship.

''The tournament was two miles away. I had to try,'' said the Ponte Vedra Beach resident, who played well enough to place 14th.

There's no standard recovery time for vertigo. Furyk said he has heard from people who had been suffering for 2 ½ years. His own recovery didn't begin until he saw a doctor that put him through an odd therapy.

''They put this vibrating mechanism on my ear and took my head through a range of motion for about 90 seconds,'' he said. 'He looked at me and said, `You're done. You can go.' I said, 'You've got to be kidding me.' But I walked out of there and felt great.''

This years news archive | Email this page to a friend | Return to top of page