Tiger Woods

Duval vs. Garcia at
Tiger-free Phoenix Open?

By Shannon Gazze,
Contributor

The odds makers think so.

Duval is an early 6-1 favorite to go low at the TPC – Scottsdale course this weekend. Garcia and last year’s runner-up Justin Leonard are getting 8-1 odds to win.

The television networks would enjoy that match-up as well. Garcia is a personable teen phenom and a long ball-striker who’s aggressive game makes for some interesting golf shots. Duval is a snowboarding, weight-lifting twenty-something who is also an intellectual and a self-described clean liver.

It’s almost too good to be true, and perhaps it is. Don’t be surprised if at least one of these players is squeezed out of the final pairing Sunday. There is simply too much talent, even without Woods, at this year’s Open.

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Davis Love III is sometimes forgotten among the young guns of the Tour, but he, too, is due. He finished third on last year’s money list without recording a single victory.

Add in defending champion Rocco Mediate and former Phoenix Open champs Steve Jones, Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh, Bill Glasson, Lee Janzen, Mark Calcavecchia, Nolan Henke, Tommy Armour III, Tom Purtzur and Paul Azinger, and you’ve got a lot of people who know the course and know how to win.

In the favor of Duval and Garcia, however, only Calcavecchia (1989 and 1992) has managed to repeat since 1983.

David Duval

”My game is pretty good right now,” he said. “I feel like I have played well in events this year, including the Williams (World Challenge at nearby Grayhawk). I just look to hole a few more putts. Everybody else will tell you the same thing, but I think I’m about this close to being right where I want to be.”

Garcia’s test will be trying to stay out of trouble. The Stadium Course is fairly wide open, but misses can put you into some pretty precarious positions (as Woods surely remembers from his famous boulder-moving episode in 1999).

And how can you root against either of these guys?

Sergio Garcia

“I just think it’s great,” Duval said, “you know, 100,000 people out here and while you’re out there on the golf course, it’s so well set up to accommodate large numbers that you wouldn’t guess there’s three or four times as many people out there as there are in a typical event. You’re supposed to come out and have fun, and they do.”

It is anybody’s guess as to whether Duval vs. Garcia will materialize this weekend and complete the rivalry triangle. One thing is certain: It wouldn’t have had a shot without Woods’ absence.