‘I’ve been there before’: Now a long shot, Duval in the hunt in the final round of US Open

This time, a major 3rd round doesn’t bite Duval

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — No. 882 in the world, No. 3 at the U.S. Open with 16 holes remaining.

David Duval doesn’t qualify as one of those out-of-nowhere stories this week at Bethpage Black. He’s captured a major championship already, has prevailed in 13 PGA Tour events and won four times in a three-month span 10 years ago on his way to spending 15 weeks as the world’s No. 1 ranked player.

A series of ups and downs — mostly downs— derailed his game since.

So here he is, with pins honoring the New York State Police and the Fire Department of New York on either side of his collar, in position to return Monday morning with a shot at a stunning U.S. Open victory. He’s 2 under through two holes of the final round, in a four-way tie for third place and thickly in the hunt.

“I’ve been there before,” Duval said. “It’s not like a distant memory.”

Not for him, it isn’t.

But he wants his wife and kids to be able to see him competing for wins at the highest level now — and not in the 10-year-old video footage that proves he was one of the game’s true greats for a brief while.

“They haven’t seen me at my best,” Duval said. “I want them to.”

Duval’s longtime coach, Puggy Blackmon, insisted that this U.S. Open run is no fluke. Duval needed to shoot rounds of 66 and 69 at a qualifier just to get here, but his camp believes this could be the beginning of his golf revival.

“I think he’s back,” Blackmon said, “and everybody’s starting to see that.”

Find a way to hoist that silver chalice given to the champion on Monday, and everyone indeed will see that.

Duval’s last win was the 2001 British Open, and inexplicably, his game went away almost instantly.

Duval is now wedged between a Korean amateur named Byun Jin Jae and an American named Josh McCumber in the world rankings, 17 pages after the spot where he used to hang out in his heyday. He hasn’t had a top-10 finish on the PGA Tour in his past 105 events, going all the way back to the Invensys Classic in October 2002.

He showed a brief flash last summer at Royal Birkdale, getting within three shots of the lead after 36 holes of the British Open. But on an incredibly windy day, Duval moved the wrong way — shooting 83.

No such disaster awaited in this third round. Duval shot his second straight even-par 70, moved up one spot on the leaderboard, and has as good a chance as anyone not named Ricky Barnes and Lucas Glover, who left the course at nightfall Sunday knotted at 7 under.

“Confidence and success, they are so closely entwined,” said Duval, who made the cut this week for only the fifth time in 14 tries on the big tour. “As you’re not having success, you’re losing confidence.”

This week, he’s having success.

Right on cue, he’s gaining confidence.

“It’s been a long, hard process for him,” Blackmon said. “He’s worked very hard at it, and I think he’s back. All the signs say he’s validating that. If you go back and look over the last several weeks, San Antonio, he made a move there, Memorial, he shoots 5 under on the front nine and hits a guy in the head.

“But this is huge,” Blackmon added. “His confidence level is back to where it used to be.”

Duval was a bit of an enigmatic guy at his peak, someone who seemed to use the dark sunglasses wrapped around his head to shield both his eyes and his persona.

Marriage, kids, it’s softened him considerably. So, too, probably has years of losing.

He visited a Sept. 11 museum in New York this week, where his father-in-law — a sculptor — has an exhibit. He’s spent time chatting with policemen and firefighters over the past few days. He’s embraced the Bethpage crowd, and because his family has ties to upstate New York, it’s like those fans have embraced him right back.

He’s enjoying every step.

“I’d like to think I enjoyed it immensely, you know, eight, 10 years ago when I was on top of the world,” Duval said. “But with a life that’s a little more complete, I probably, honestly, enjoy it more now. I have no less desire at this point than I did back then. However, I probably feel like I don’t simply do it for myself anymore. And that’s a nice feeling.”