David Duval, lean and chiseled
from a disciplined fitness program, was being interviewed by a television station
during the Mercedes Championships as Tim Herron -- the player known as "Lumpy"
-- looked on.
Duval's new look is getting
a lot of attention.
How did he do it? Duval
wasn't forthcoming, either because he was tired of talking about it or didn't
want to divulge his routine.
"There's no secret," he
said. "Go work hard and eat well, and that will happen."
What few details Duval did
share include lifting weights every day but one over a two-week period. He does
six to eight repetitions, decreasing the weight with each set, hitting every
muscle group in a workout that lasts just over an hour.
"Unless you tax your muscles,
you're not going to get any stronger," Duval said.
He also is particular on
his eating habits, although he won't say exactly what that is.
"I did not go on a diet,"
he said. "I've lost very little weight."
Duval said his program is
not related to golf, nor does the extra muscle put any more distance behind his
length. It's a matter of feeling athletic, which Duval feels is very important.
Tiger Woods also is a fitness
buff, having added 20 pounds over the past few years onto the 158-pound frame
he had when he first came on tour near the end of 1996.
"It's difficult to compete
against players who are so much stronger than you are," he said. "In any other
sport, if you're not stronger, you're either going to get your butt kicked, run
over, someone is going to hit more home runs than you. You just need to get stronger
to keep up."
So, what does Woods do?
That apparently will remain a secret. Asked whether he lifted weights before
every round at the PGA Championship, Woods replied, "Maybe."
Can you talk about your
regimen?
"No," he said. "What I do
is what I do."
Whatever it is that he and
Duval are doing appears to be working.
COVER BOY: As expected,
Tiger Woods was on the cover of the PGA Tour media guide that was released today.
Only he wasn't alone.
For the first time ever,
the tour decided to put more than one player on the cover. While Woods's image
is the largest, there are smaller photos of David Duval, Davis Love III, and
Vijay Singh, who all finished behind Woods on the money list.
Bob Combs, senior vice president
for public relations, said the tour decided to showcase more of its stars.
"There were a lot of players
who had great seasons last year," he said.
The first page notes at
the bottom that the media guide is dedicated to the legacy and memory of Payne
Stewart, who died Oct. 25 in a plane crash. One page is dedicated to the new
Payne Stewart Award, which will go to the player whoexemplifies Stewart's contributions
to golf and to charity.
ALOHA, OLIN: While
nine players won on the PGA Tour for the first time last year, 10 players are
making their Mercedes Championships debut.
That makes this week extra
special for Olin Browne.
Browne, who didn't even
start playing golf until he was in college, won the Greater Hartford Open in
1998, but had to skip Hawaii last year because of elbow surgery.
"I was extremely disappointed,
but I couldn't even grip the club any longer," Browne said.
He earned a return trip
by winning the MasterCard Colonial, and also got some personal reinforcement
that his winning wasn't a fluke.
"First time it's an accident,
second time it's not," he said. "I was thrilled to have won a tournament and
gotten invited back."
The first-time winners from
'99 are Glen Day, Carlos Franco, Rich Beem, Paul Lawrie, J.L. Lewis, Brent Geiberger,
Tom Pernice Jr., Notah Begay and Mike Weir.
IN A FUNK: Because
Tiger Woods and David Duval combined to win 12 tournaments last year, the field
for the Mercedes Championships consisted of only 30 players.
That presented a problem
for the pro-am, where 34 teams were scheduled to compete. Mercedes found four
other pros to fill the spots, including Fred Funk, who planned to start his PGA
Tour season next week at the Sony Open in Honolulu.
At the end of the pro-am
Wednesday, Funk stuffed his clubs into a travel bag to leave Maui.
"I don't want to hang around
here. It will just depress me," said Funk, who came within two strokes of Duval
in the final round last year before tying for fifth. He was among those who failed
to win last year.
DIVOTS: The first
tee shot of the 2000 season was struck by Jim Furyk at 10:30 a.m. It found the
middle of the fairway. The first birdie of the year belonged to Brian Henninger
on the par-3 second hole. It also was the first birdie made in an official event
with Callaway's new ball. ... Irons and metals aren't the only thing Fred Funk
keeps in his bag. He also carries a broom, which he uses to loosen up. "I read
a magazine article when I was 14 that Sam Snead always swung with a broom, and
I've been doing that ever since," Funk said. ... While Henninger and Rocco Mediate
are using the new Callaway ball, Notah Begay and British Open champion Paul Lawrie
are using Nike's new Tour Accuracy. ... Doug Bachli, the only Australian to win
the British Amateur, died Wednesday after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease.
He was 77. Bachli won the British Amateur in 1954, the same year Peter Thomson
became the first Aussie to win the Open.
