The Week March 23-29

The One and Only

Quick, somebody get that man's coat size. David Duval can try to
hide behind his dark glasses, but his place in golf's pecking
order is no longer obscured by the shady logic of the World
Ranking. It's official: He's No. 1 and everyone's favorite in
the Masters. With Duval's third win in '99, and 10th in 33
starts, his aptitude is apparent. Take it from his apt father,
Bob, who after winning his tournament on Sunday, said of his
son, "You think he's Number 1 now?"

PGA Duval's two-stroke victory over Scott Gump in the Players
Championship ended Tiger Woods's 41-week reign as No. 1, the
longest such run since Greg Norman held the top spot for a
record 96 straight weeks in 1995-97.... If Duval maintains his
current pace, he will win 11 tournaments and $7.8 million this
year.... Gump took home $540,000, which is not only his best
payday in eight years on the Tour but also represents 35% of his
career earnings going into the Players.... The 76.24 average
score in the third round of the Players was the second highest
this year. Only the third round of the AT&T (79.38) was higher.

LPGA Dottie Pepper, who cruised to a six-shot win at the Dinah
Shore, increased her point total for the Hall of Fame to 19 (she
needs eight more) and bettered the score of '98 Dinah winner Pat
Hurst by a dozen shots.... Karrie Webb, who closed with a 66 to
finish third, has shot that score or better in all four majors
but has been in the 60s in only 13 of her 51 rounds in the majors.

SENIOR Duval's two-stroke victory over Bruce Fleisher at the
Emerald Coast Classic (worth $165,000), coupled with his son's
$900,000 win at the Players, pushed their combined career
earnings past those of the previous top father-son team, Dave
Stockton and Dave Stockton Jr., by $187,550. The Duvals have won
$10.1 million.... Duval's 61 in the first round came on a day
when only five other players broke par--next best was Buzz
Thomas's 65--but it was not a tournament record. Isao Aoki shot
a tour-best 10-under 60 at the '97 Emerald Coast.... Fleisher,
playing for the first time since Feb. 21, when he was
hospitalized for exhaustion, has a pair of firsts and seconds in
four starts.

ALSO By coming in second to Pedro Linhart in the Madeira Island
Open, Mark James, the 45-year-old captain of the European Ryder
Cup team, climbed to 17th on the points list for the Cup.... Matt
Gogel, winner of the Louisiana Open in Broussard, is the first
player to win a Nike tour event in each of the last four years.

COLOR PHOTO: PHOTOGRAPH BY CHUCK SOLOMON HIGH AND MIGHTY When Duval made this birdie putt on 17, he cast a long shadow over the game.

UP and Down

Others Birdies
David Duval Tiger Woods
Winning Tour pros Whining Tour pros
The Dinah The Tradition
Mike Tirico Dick Enberg