Duval Is Nothing Short of Spectacular

With a five-stroke lead and the Mercedes Championships in the bag, David Duval stood on the 13th tee of the Kapalua Plantation course and gazed down at a dozen or so surfers riding the crest of a wave.

Duval can relate to that feeling.

He closed with a five-under-par 68 Sunday to shatter the tournament scoring record and win for the eighth time in 15 months, which left him sitting on top of the world.

“I hope I can do it another 10 or 15 years,” Duval said.

Just two months after he ended a spectacular season on the PGA Tour by winning four times, earning a record $2.6 million and taking the Vardon Trophy for the lowest scoring average, Duval wasted little time showing there is much more to accomplish.

Duval finished at 266 to win by nine strokes and break the Mercedes scoring record set by Calvin Peete at La Costa Resort in 1986 when he had a 21-under 267.

The margin of victory was the widest on the PGA Tour since Woods won the Masters by 12 strokes, and it was the largest in the winners-only Mercedes since Gene Littler won by 13 strokes in 1955.

Mark O’Meara, who also had a 68, and Billy Mayfair (71) finished tied for second at 275. Vijay Singh was another stroke back, while Woods, Justin Leonard and Fred Funk were at 277.

“What you want to do out here is to prove you’re better than any other player,” Woods said. “David has been doing that.”

Duval won $468,000, along with a Mercedes-Benz SL 500. He now has won $4,328,031 in his last 27 tournaments, and average of $160,020 every time he tees it up.

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Spanish star Seve Ballesteros will compete in the prestigious Players Championship in March for the first time in four years, PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem announced Sunday.

Ballesteros, captain of the winning 1997 European Ryder Cup team, was upset last year when he was not invited to the Players Championship.

The Spaniard last played in the Players Championship in 1995 when he finished tied for 37th.

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Final Results

Top scores after Sunday’s final round at Kapalua, Hawaii:

$2.6-MILLION MERCEDES

CHAMPIONSHIPS--Par 73

David Duval: 67-63-68-68--266 -26

Mark O’Meara: 70-68-69-68--275 -17

Billy Mayfair: 66-69-69-71--275 -17

Vijay Singh: 70-65-70-71--276 -16

Justin Leonard: 68-72-68-69--277 -15

Tiger Woods: 69-69-67-72--277 -15

Fred Funk: 66-69-68-74--277 -15

Complete results, Page 10

Next: PGA: Sony Open, Thursday-Sunday, Honolulu, Hawaii; LPGA: The Inaugural, Friday-Sunday, Orlando, Fla.; PGA Seniors: MasterCard Championships, Jan. 22-24, Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.