Duval to make third PGA Tour Champions start in Tucson

The victory was one of 13 on the PGA Tour for Duval, including the 2001 British Open, before injuries derailed his career. The former world No. 1 has played just a handful of tournaments since making 15 starts in 2013-14, shifting his focus to broadcasting.

With his 50th birthday in November, Duval started to get the competitive itch again.

He’s planning to play a full PGA Tour Champions schedule and cut back on his TV work to see how he stacks up with the over-50 crowd. Duval was even through three rounds at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship in Hawaii to tie for 34th in the season opener last month and was 11 over to tie for 68th at the Chubb Classic in Florida last week.

“They haven’t gone as well as I would have thought or wanted them to, but at the same time I’m trying to be patient with myself because I haven’t really done this in quite some time,” he said.

Duval’s third start will be against a deep field that includes 2021 Cologuard Classic champion Kevin Sutherland, reigning Schwab Cup champ Bernhard Langer, Ernie Els, Mike Weir and Jim Furyk.

Langer is still the man to beat, even at 64.

The two-time Masters champion battled through a balky back to clinch his sixth Schwab Cup season series title in Phoenix last year and became the oldest winner in PGA Tour Champions history at the Chubb Classic last week. Langer went wire-to-wire at Tiburon Golf Club’s Black Course to win for the 16th straight season and pull within two victories of Hale Irwin’s PGA Tour Champions record of 45.