Duval: We can catch Tiger

DAVID DUVAL and Tiger Woods are friendly enough to spend the week before the Open Championship holidaying, golfing and fishing together in Ireland.

Their most recent visit ended as recently as last weekend after they had sampled the delights of Portmarnock, The European Club and Mount Juliet combined with a bit of fishing at The K-Club. But this relationship doesn’t change the fact that they are keen rivals when it comes to the competitive side of the game. Or, that Duval doesn’t resent the implication from such eminent sources as Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tom Watson that other players are not trying hard enough to knock Woods off his pedestal; and even more so that they aren’t as good or as committed as the top players of the previous era.

“It’s easy to suggest things like that when you can’t compare,” insisted the man who won so impressively at Royal Lytham St Annes 12 months ago. “You can say that David Duval doesn’t have the guts or the drive, or Phil Mickelson doesn’t, or Sergio (Garcia), that they’re not good enough or too spoiled. It’s something you can’t argue.