2009 United States Open - David Duval Resurgence

While it is certainly interesting to see rising stardom from players such as Lucas Glover and Ricky Barnes, who currently hold a share of the lead heading into tomorrow's final round, the most compelling story of this year's National Open is, without a doubt, David Duval.

As the 882nd ranked golfer in the world, Duval was one of the last players that anyone would expect to be near the top of the leaderboard, let alone making the cut. However, Duval has once again defied the odds. Just when it appeared that Duval's career may be over, he has found his way to the leaderboard of one of the most prestigous events in golf. While Duval's plummet from being the number one ranked golfer in the world and the 2001 British Open champion to his current world ranking over the past eight years has been mysterious, a win this week would be even more astoninishing.

Not only has Duval not seriously contended for a tournament in almost a decade, he also had to survive sectional qualifying in Ohio a few days prior to the start of the U.S. Open. The last time a U.S. Open champion was a sectional qualifier? 1996 at Oakland Hills. Steve Jones defeated Tom Lehman and Davis Love III for his first and only major championship.

Where would a David Duval victory stand amongst the most surprising U.S. Open victories of all time? Here is my list of the Top Five Most Shocking U.S. Open Champions During the Past Century:

1.) Francis Ouimet (1913) - Perhaps one of the greatest underdog stories in sports history, 20-year-old amateur Ouimet defeated two of the greatest golfers in the world at the time, two-time major champion Ted Ray and seven-time major champion Harry Vardon, in an 18-hole playoff at The Country Club in Brookline, MA. A former caddy at Brookline, Ouimet became the first amateur to win the U.S. Open.

2.) Jack Fleck (1955) - As a former assistant golf professional, Jack Fleck admired four-time U.S. Open champion Ben Hogan more than any other golfer. He also defeated him in an 18-hole playoff for his first PGA TOUR win. Fleck's victory remains one of the most talked about upsets in golf history.

3.) Orville Moody (1969) - As a former Army sergeant, "Sarge" had never won a PGA TOUR tournament when he first set foot at Champions Golf Club in Houston, TX in 1969. However, he saved his first TOUR win for the biggest tournament in professional golf and then never won again on the TOUR afterwards.

4.) Steve Jones (1996) - As stated earlier, Jones is the last sectional qualifier to have won the U.S. Open. While Jones had captured four TOUR wins prior to his U.S. Open victory, he had not won since 1989 and missed a couple of seasons due to an injury to his left ring finger. To make his victory even more impressive, he not only defeated two of the top-ranked golfers in the world at the time in Lehman and Love, but he also persevered on the brutal layout of Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Hills, MI.

5.) Andy North (1978) - North is known as, perhaps, the least likely two-time U.S. Open champion of all time. When he defeated J.C. Snead and Dave Stockton for his first U.S. Open win in 1978, he only had one prior PGA TOUR victory to his name. North would then only capture one more PGA TOUR victory, the 1985 U.S. Open. Hence, North had three PGA TOUR victories in his career, including two U.S. Opens.

Of course, a victory for Duval tomorrow would be one of the most shocking in U.S. Open history, considering his play during the past eight seasons, as he has not won a professional tournament since the 2001 Dunlop Phoenix in Japan. Without a doubt, a U.S. Open victory for Duval would be one of the greatest stories of perseverance in all of sports history.

To conclude, here is a listing of Duval's finishes in the U.S. Open since his appearance as an amateur in 1990:

1990 - T56
1991 - DNP
1992 - CUT
1993 - DNP
1994 - DNP
1995 - T28
1996 - T67
1997 - T48
1998 - T7
1999 - T7
2000 - T8
2001 - T16
2002 - CUT
2003 - CUT
2004 - CUT
2005 - CUT
2006 - T16
2007 - DNP
2008 - DNP

Happy Father's Day to all! Hope you all enjoy tomorrow's telecast via internet/television of what may become one of the most historic U.S. Opens of all time.