Darrell Davis: Duval plays golf like us

Most of us amateurs want to play like the pro golfers we see on TV.

Now we do.

David Duval shot a 14 on the seventh hole of his opening round at the British Open. His score was originally posted as a 15, amended to 13 and finally, after a complete tally that included penalty strokes for losing two balls, playing with the wrong ball and replaying most of the hole, officially became a 14.

Duval is a fulltime TV commentator who plays only a handful of tour events each year. He’s in this tournament on the exemption he earned for winning the 2001 British Open. He shot a first-round 91 and afterwards, in a candid interview, said it was the responsibility of a pro athlete to post an honest score. That’s where he differs from most amateurs.

How many amateurs would count every shot? How many amateurs know the rules well enough to properly count the penalties, then enter “14” on their scorecard? And how many would reveal what they actually shot? We would be too embarrassed to deal with it like a pro.