It looks like 2014 is shaping up to be a make-or-break year for David Duval.
The former world No. 1 said in a 14-tweet monologue Tuesday that if he doesn’t perform in 2014 he will “do something else,” adding that he can say “without hesitation” that it will be the last year that he will ask for sponsor exemptions.
I will be asking for starts but this is the last time. I think that if I can have a 20 event schedule then it's up to me to get my status.
— David Duval (@david59duval) December 11, 2013
As a player you need to perform and if I don't do that in 2014 I will do something else.
— David Duval (@david59duval) December 11, 2013
The injury-plagued Duval has missed 22 of his last 28 cuts – including nine of 11 in 2013 – and fallen all the way to No. 1,528 in the world. His only status is as a past champion, but he remains encouraged by his work over the past eight months with Chris O’Connell, who works, most notably, with Matt Kuchar. “I believe 100 percent in what I’m doing,” Duval tweeted.
Duval made similar remarks a year ago, even saying that he would play the Web.com Tour if necessary. (He didn’t make any starts on the developmental circuit.) Last January, he told the Associated Press that “you don’t want to count on charity from other people to play. You have to a little, but I’m going to play where I need to play to be in Hawaii (in 2014).”
Duval tweeted Tuesday that he considered playing in Europe in 2014, but that it “really is not an option” because of the strain it would put on his family.