PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- The only swing coach David Duval ever had as a kid was his father. This time, the son did the coaching.
The result was a Duval Double, the first father-son combination to win tour-sanctioned events on the same day.Two hours after Bob Duval won the Emerald Coast Classic on the Senior Tour for his first tour victory, David won The Players Championship for his 10th win in the past 18 months.
"I think I would win the award as the most proud," David said Sunday after his two-stroke victory elevated him to No. 1 in the world ranking.
Bob Duval spent a career teaching others how to play, including his son, as a club professional in the Jacksonville area. He joined the Senior Tour in 1997 and has done well enough to make a nice living.
Still, he had never won and rarely got into contention until this weekend.
On Saturday night, after David finished the third round of the Players with a one-stroke lead, he called his father across the state near Pensacola with some timely advice.
"You're going to think about winning," the son told the father. "Don't waste energy trying to block it out, but when you think about it, embrace it. Recognize what you're doing and push it aside."
David knew that from his own experience.
For almost three years on the PGA Tour, he had been labeled a bridesmaid, with seven runner-up finishes. Five times he was the third-round leader and left without a trophy. Since his first win in the 1997 Michelob Championship, David has taken a lead into the final round six times and won them all.
Bob Duval held on for a two-stroke victory over Bruce Fleischer, but then turned his attention to an even greater celebration -- watching his son try to win a tournament in their hometown.
David had to block out the distractions of playing before a hometown gallery all week. He got updates on the Emerald Coast Classic, but only after his own round at the Stadium Course on the TPC at Sawgrass was over.
That changed Sunday.
"I found out walking to my drive on the 14th hole that he had won the golf tournament," David said. "I didn't seek out the information. Someone came and told me."
He promptly went bogey-bogey, and a three-stroke lead was down to one. He clinched the Players with a birdie on the island-green 17th hole, a tremendous clutch shot considering what was on the line.
Bob watched it all unfold from the clubhouse at The Moors Golf Club. He cried as his son received a crystal trophy.
"I think he's No. 1 now, don't you?" he said.
The venues for these victories couldn't have been more appropriate.
David is a native of nearby Jacksonville and grew up around the TPC at Sawgrass.
How many times did he come to this tournament, hang around the driving range, follow the players down No. 18 and imagine it was him holding that trophy high in victory?
"The hardest place to win is at home," Bob said. "Every time he tees it up there, he wants to win."
A graduate of Florida State in Tallahassee, Bob has always held the Emerald Coast Classic close to his heart.
DINAH SHORE CLASSIC: Dottie Pepper had 6-under-par 66 to win the Dinah Shore Classic with a tournament-record 19-under 269 total at Rancho Mirage, Calif.
Pepper finished six-shots better than Meg Mallon (69) and four strokes better than Amy Alcott's total for the 1991 tournament over the same Mission Hills Country Club course.
Karrie Webb (66) was at 280, followed by Kelly Robbins (72) at 281. Charlotta Sorenstam (66) was another shot back, and Juli Inkster (74) was at 5-under 283.