Former world number one David Duval moved into contention at the U.S. Open on Friday, 11 days after qualifying for the event for the first time since 2006.
The 37-year-old American, who has not won since the 2001 Dunlop Phoenix in Japan, birdied three of his last six holes for a three-under-par 67 in the opening round.
That left Duval three shots behind pacesetting Canadian Mike Weir at a rain-sodden Bethpage Black.
“I’m controlling the ball well and hitting it good,” Duval told reporters after recovering from two bogeys in his first three holes. “I feel like I know exactly what I’m trying to do.
“I did what you need to do in the first round, a simple recipe: hit the ball in play and knock it on the green. That’s been my goal ever since the qualifying rounds in Colombus.”
Duval, whose slide from the pinnacle of the game in 1999 has been one of the most perplexing stories in golf, booked his place here after 36 holes of qualifying in Ohio.
“That was an important day,” the 13-times PGA Tour winner said. “I put a lot of pressure on myself because it was very important for me to come here.
“I’ve never made bones about it. I think the two Opens (the British and the U.S.) are the most important events of the year.
“I’ve been working hard and I’ve been playing well,” added Duval, whose only major title came at the 2001 British Open.
“I have felt like for most of this year, my scores have not been reflective at all of how I’m playing but they are slowly catching up to how I’m playing.”
Duval has missed eight cuts in 13 starts on the 2009 PGA Tour with a best finish of tied 55th at the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in February.
Just over a decade ago, however, he had eclipsed Tiger Woods as the world number one and appeared set for a long spell in the game’s upper echelon.
Duval won four times on the 1999 PGA Tour and once more the following year before clinching his only major at Royal Lytham.
From that point on, though, his world ranking plummeted as he struggled with his swing and a series of injuries.
For a while he came close to giving up the game before deciding to persevere with tournament golf. Since then his biggest motivation on the course has been his family.
“I think there’s a part of me that wants to show my family the golfer that I was years ago before they really knew me,” Duval said.
