The Open Championship has crowned a wide range of champions from world number ones all the way through to journeyman pros.
In professional golf, tournaments don’t come much bigger than The Open Championship.
The Open is arguably the most prestigious championship in golf.
Some of the most talented players to have ever graced the sport have won the Claret Jug, including the likes of Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods.
There have also been shock winners in the past, including Ben Curtis and Todd Hamilton in 2003 and 2004 respectively.
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One of the most unique stories was Ian Baker-Finch winning The Open in 1991 before completely losing his game.
The Australian carded a 21-over par 92 in the first round of The Open in 1997, and never teed it up in a major again after that humiliating experience at Royal Troon.
And another man took a similar path to Baker-Finch not too long after the 1991 champion hung up his clubs.
David Duval triumphed at The Open and never won again on the PGA Tour
With 13 PGA Tour titles to his name, David Duval is one of the most successful golfers to have played the game over the past 30 years or so.
However, he could have won so much more had he retained his focus and hunger after winning The Open at Royal Lytham St Annes way back in 2001.
His victory that summer 24 years ago was the last time he won a PGA Tour event and incredibly, he was only 29 at the time.
Duval completely lost his game after his success at Royal Lytham St Annes.
Back in 2006, five years after his Open triumph, Duval admitted how having negative subconscious thoughts on the golf course affected him badly, as quoted by ESPN.
He said: “I still have some concerns and worries about my subconscious thoughts on the golf course. Which is natural, I think, because that’s how short-term memory works. It tends to be dominant, and I’ve got to get some bad things out of my system and refill it with good things.“
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He racked up some truly terrible scores in the early 2000’s, including rounds of 85 in the Pebble Beach Pro-Am and at The Bob Hope Classic.
It was an amazing fall from grace for the man who held the world number one spot twice during the 1999 season – the same year that Duval played a pivotal role for the U.S. Ryder Cup team at Brookline.
What happened that David Duval said ‘destroyed’ his swing
Duval was well-known amongst golfing circles as being a perfectionist, but not necessarily from a technical aspect.
His swing was far from what you would call textbook, but similarly to Scottie Scheffler today, he had unbelievable control of his clubface at impact.
Back in 2010, Duval put his struggles down to a back injury that seriously hindered his golf swing.
He said: “My back injury destroyed my golf swing. I always prided myself on being in control of what I was doing, controlling the ball around the golf course. When you get to the point where you don’t have that control…it’s a hard thing to swallow, to wrap your ego around.“
The now 53-year-old is currently competing on the PGA Tour Champions, although he is still searching for his first victory.
Duval will be forever remembered for his stunning win at The Open Championship in 2001.
It’s just such a shame that he regressed after that triumph, rather than push on to even greater levels.