ESPN Golf Online: 'Showdown' no Palmer-Nicklaus match, but what is?


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'Showdown' no Palmer-Nicklaus match, but what is?

By Chris Corbellini
ABC Sports Online
August 1 10:30am ET

A mano-a-mano clash of athletes at the top of their sport always grabs our attention.
Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain banging down low back-to-back, their eyes fixated on a basketball rim.
A Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert rally, two women gritting their teeth, in motion, baseline to baseline.
And Arnold Palmer, the every-man golfer with his trademark grin and lumberjack's forearms, against Jack Nicklaus, the mop-topped, focused "Golden Bear" 10 years his junior, down the back nine of a final round.

Jack Nicklaus, left, and Arnold Palmer, share a light moment.

Their legacy is roped together as one, as their competitiveness thrust golf, a sport considered elitist, into the national spotlight and made it popular.
So while comparing David Duval and Tiger Woods' rapid rise to the top of the golf world rankings to the Palmer-Nicklaus era may be interesting, it is also unquestionably premature. Quickly toss that comparison into the maybe pile and don't look at it again for about 10 years. Woods and Duval, who have made millions in PGA winnings and rank 1-2 in the world, respectively, have yet to compete against each other directly.
"I think that the press has kinda built this up," the 23-year-old Woods said. "David and I have this rivalry going, or a chance for a rivalry that may last for 20 years. That would be great, but we have never played head-to-head. We have never really dogged it out in a tournament head-to-head down the back nine for a championship."
That scenario will be played out during the "Motorola Showdown at Sherwood," on Aug. 2 (ABC, 8 p.m. ET.). It will be their first opportunity to face each other head-to-head in a match-play format, with a winner's purse of $1.1 million at stake. If Duval and Woods play neck-and-neck to the 18th hole in front of a Monday night audience, the "Showdown" could kick-start the beginning of another golf rivalry with staying power.
For one, the two golfers won't have to work too hard to grab the nation's interest. The "Showdown" is a simple math equation: The potential of a great rivalry + their already considerable mainstream popularity = high primetime ratings.
Both golfers insist the event will promote the game more than any budding rivalry between the two. The last thing they want to do is make the PGA Tour the Woods-Duval show before they've earned it. Regardless, they are the two faces in the sport everyone wants to see.
"My immediate - if you want to call it a reservation - is that it might focus too much attention on the two of us," Duval said of the match-play event. "I think of this as an avenue to expose the game and all of the great players that play today.
"Whoever walks away the winner and loser doesn't really determine the best player, and it doesn't heat up any rivalry there might be because it's a one-day match, its not a U.S. Open or a Masters."

“ In the era of Nicklaus and Palmer, there weren't as many good players, although they were wonderful players. ”

— Curtis Strange, ABC Golf Analyst

Many believe the PGA has too many quality players for Duval and Woods to stand out right now. Ernie Els, Justin Leonard and Phil Mickelson, for example, are young players who have already had much success on the Tour. Els has won the U.S. Open twice, and Mickelson and Leonard finished second at the last two Majors -- the U.S. and British Open -- respectively.
"It (possible Woods-Duval rivalry) is something that might not materialize simply because of all of the talent out there," said Curtis Strange, a PGA regular and ABC golf analyst. "In the era of Nicklaus and Palmer, there weren't as many good players, although they were wonderful players. Who is to say whether or not it will ever materialize?"
Most people don't question whether Woods will be a top golfer for years to come; rather people argue who will be able to keep up with him. Duval, 27, has shown the most promise because of his focus and incredible consistency.
Duval has posted four tournament victories in 1999, including a win at The Players Championship in his hometown of Jacksonville, Fla., in March, which gave him the No. 1 world ranking for more than three months. And his final round 59 to win the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic in January is the lowest final round ever in PGA history.
Duval has since cooled off, and Woods vaulted past him for the top world ranking after grabbing the Motorola Western Open on July 4. One of the most-hyped players in the history of the sport when he turned pro in 1996, Woods has met expectations by winning 10 tournaments in his brief career, including a Masters title in 1997. He has power off the tee and lacks a crippling weakness in all other facets of the game.
So what starts a rivalry besides the right time slot and mainstream popularity of the players? One incontrovertible fact: Victories don't get any sweeter than against an aggressive and well-renowned opponent in head-to-head competition.
That's why the Palmer-Nicklaus matches were so riveting, and that's why people will watch on Aug. 2.
Just keep the Duval-Woods classic rivalry talk in the maybe pile for awhile. But don't throw it away completely.

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