Duval in for tough challenge at Phoenix

David Duval won't have to think about Tiger Woods at the Phoenix Open.

Woods, the only golfer hotter than Duval the last three years, is skipping the raucous event. Last year, a fan heckling Woods was found to have had a loaded pistol in a fanny pack.

Organizers have tightened restrictions on drinking, but the commotion from last year did not determine Woods's decision. He simply does not like to play more than four consecutive tournaments, and is expected to enter four next month.

That leaves Duval to deal with the rest of a deep field -- and with the TPC of Scottsdale course itself. He has had 31 top-10 finishes since 1996, but none at Phoenix.

"I like playing here, and I'm surprised I haven't contended a little more seriously than I have," Duval said about the 7,083-yard layout.

His final rounds have ruined his chances. In 1997, when he tied for 14th, he followed scores of 66, 65 and 66 with a 7-over 78. He was even worse the other years -- tied for 35th in 1996, 27th in 1998, and 18th last year after closing with a 74.

But Duval is off to a strong start this season. He was second in the Williams World Challenge (an unofficial money event), third in the Mercedes Championships behind Woods and Ernie Els, and tied for fifth in the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic on Sunday.

It's beginning to instill even more confidence in a player who has a world of it anyway and is looking to improve his putting. He has no quarrel with those who make him the favorite this week.

"That's something I think I expect of myself as well," Duval said. "So if I don't feel like I have that opportunity when I start ... I don't think I should be playing that week. It's not always going to work out that way, but you need to be feeling good and you need to be thinking that way."

The field features Davis Love III, Vijay Singh, Chris Perry, Hal Sutton, Justin Leonard and Jeff Maggert, who all won more than $2 million last season. There's also Jesper Parnevik, the Hope champion and 2000 PGA Tour money leader with $808,700 earned in three tournaments.

Parnevik won in Phoenix in 1998, and Rocco Mediate outdueled Leonard and Woods last year for his first title in six years.

Duval wishes Woods -- who has never won in Phoenix -- was teeing up this week.

"When I win a golf tournament, I want everybody there to feel like they have played as well as they can," Duval said. "Because I want to think I have beaten somebody when they are playing as well as they can.

"It's no different with Tiger. I want him to walk away from a tournament that we played, and I want him to think he played the best he can and I got him. That's kind of my attitude about it."

Duval briefly took the No. 1 World Ranking from Woods last year after winning four titles before The Masters. But that was the end of his hot streak.

Woods went on to win eight tournaments -- the last four in a row -- and shove everyone else from the spotlight.

Mediate said Duval is the favorite by default.

"It's easier to handicap when Tiger's in the field because you can always say he's going to win," he said. "You've got a 50-50 shot at it."

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