Duval Has to Hope for Turnaround in Blah-Blah Land

If logos are heavy, then David Duval is pretty much weightless. The way it’s going in golf, the pros wear enough advertisements on their clothes that they’re beginning to talk in 30-second sound bites. Most of the time, it’s not who you are, but who’s sponsoring who you are.

In Duval’s case, it’s nobody. Last week at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, Duval was logo-less. There wasn’t a logo on his shirt, his slacks, his shoes or his cap. He looked almost naked. Actually, there was something on Duval’s black cap, these words: “Blah Blah Blah.”

You just have to know what that means. Right now, Duval has a bad case of the blahs.

Here is what he said after shooting 74, two over par, Sunday, when everybody else was going sonar-low, and asked where he found trouble:

“On the first hole . . . continuing all the way around.”

At least he was in good humor when he said it, which is probably even more unexpected than his not wearing logos, because if anybody has a right to be down in the dumps, it’s Duval.

So it is good news for Duval and his fans that when the Nissan Open begins Thursday at Riviera Country Club, he has a shot at turning things around. You have to start somewhere, after all.

His golf game isn’t going that well, but then neither is his golf business. He’s locked in a bitter contract dispute with Titleist that Duval says preys on his mind when he is playing.

Suits and counter-suits are flying around like golf balls sprung from lob wedges. Acushnet, which runs Titleist and FootJoy, sued Duval for breach of contract when Duval wanted to sign with Nike. Duval promptly filed his own suit.

Until there is a court decision, Duval isn’t wearing anyone’s corporate logos. And while he’s waiting for the case to break, Duval must hope he doesn’t break first. But he predicts that things are going to improve for him, maybe even this week.

“It’s early,” Duval said of his game. “I feel pretty good, really. I could stand to make a couple of more putts, and I think that’s what has held me back.

“But there are a lot of things going on off the golf course. I’d prefer it not happen, but it is. Hopefully it’ll all get resolved soon. It’s not much fun. But what can I do? I’m just the player.”

And the player has room for improvement. At least he made the cut at the Hope, his first of the year, not counting the season-opening Mercedes because it doesn’t have a cut. Duval was seventh at the Mercedes, but it has been a tough road since.

He missed the cut at Phoenix, using a set of prototype Nike irons, then missed again the next week at Pebble Beach, using his regular Titleist irons. He was back to Nike irons at the Hope, where he tied for 51st and made $8,288.

Duval says equipment changes aren’t the reason for his poor showing, missed putts are. One of the better putters last year, when he was 30th in the final statistics, Duval is only 129th in putting after four tournaments this year.

But that isn’t the only area where Duval has declined. He has fallen to No. 34 in driving distance, from No. 18 last year; he is 141st in scoring, compared with No. 4 last year, and he is 48th in greens in regulation, compared with No. 9 last year.

Duval spent some time working in Las Vegas with Butch Harmon, Tiger Woods’ coach, during the Buick Invitational and spoke regularly with sports psychologist Bob Rotella.

Something is bound to work, you would think.

The best way to get better is to start doing better on the course, which Duval feels isn’t that far away.

“I’m not really concerned, not at this point,” he said. “It’s too early. The greens we’ve played haven’t been too smooth, at least until [the Hope]. It’s all going to even out, I think. You want to peak the last part of March and into early April.

“All I can say is that I certainly am looking forward to the next six- or seven-week period.”

The logo period may follow.

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2001 Nissan Open

* Where: Riviera Country Club.

* When: Today through Sunday.

* Schedule: Today--Professional practice round, 8 a.m.; PGA Tour Challenge (first tee), 1 p.m. Wednesday--Pro-am, 6:50 a.m. Thursday--First round, 7:30 a.m. Friday--Second round, 7:30 a.m. Saturday--Third round, 8 a.m. Sunday--Fourth round, 8 a.m.

* Prize money: $3.4 million, $630,000 for winner.

* Defending champion: Kirk Triplett.

* Television: Thursday, 1-3 p.m., USA Network; Friday, 1-3 p.m., USA Network; Saturday, noon-3 p.m., CBS; Sunday, noon-3 p.m., CBS.

* Parking: Shuttle service to and from the Longworth entrance of Riviera from the Veterans Administration Hospital parking lot.

* Tickets: Daily, $20; season, $60; discount book of 12, $180. Ticketmaster (877) 614-6245.