What was in the bag for Duval's 59?

jonsnow · January 25, 2017

With the spurt of 59s & 59 watches lately, I've been thinking about David Duval's 59 at the 1999 Bob Hope. I think it stands alone as far as combining power & pure ballstriking: started seven shots back, eagled the last hole with an eight foot putt to shoot 59 & won the tournament by a single shot. Longest putt he made all day was a 10 footer.

I've always been a huge Duval fan & got the idea to put together a tribute set with the same clubs (or as close as I can find) to what he was playing at the time. Problem is I get some conflicting info when I research it. Here's what I think he was playing that day:

Titlesit 975D w/ True Temper EI70 shaft (think the loft was 6.5)

Sonartec 3-wood (not sure what model or shaft)

Titlesit 962B irons 2-PW (have also read it was a split set with 962 long irons but not sure if that's accurate &, if so, where they split)

Cobra Trusty Rusty wedges 53 & 59 (not sure about the lofts)

Scotty Cameron Newport Beach

Titleist Professional ball?

Anybody have any input? What am I missing? Thanks..

bladehunter · January 25, 2017

Putter was an aop Newport with sound slot ...in pro platinum. Have no idea if he had the split set in the bag or not. I think he swapped back and forth. Why not ask him ? ( just a thought ) He's probably on Twitter and might very well respond.

MattyO1984 · January 26, 2017

My recollection from the time was that it was a Titleist 975D Driver and a set of Titleist 962B irons.

Wedges I am not sure about. I do have a recollection of Duval having a King Cobra Trusty Rusty lob wedge in his bag around that time but Duval was also one of the players that were part of the Titleist Player Forged Wedge collection which pre-dated wedges stamped with Vokey (I had the DLIII version). The Duval version was a 59 degree wedge funnily enough. By the time that Duval shot the 59 Vokey wedges were out also so he may have been playing them.

ExTrumpet · January 26, 2017

962's, as appreciated as they are, are still not given their due!! Played them years ago, sold them (one of the many club ho mistakes of my past, another being a mint set of MP32's but I digress...) and found another nice set, 2-P, W, S a while back. They are back in the bag...well, the 5-P is!

I don't have any plans, however, to go back to the 975D or Professional ball!!

Redman · January 26, 2017

Couldn't agree more on the 962s. Definitely my favorite set of irons all-time. Got them through our college program (paid $275 for 2-SW haha) my freshman year and still have them. Still get them out and play them from time to time.

And just think, they were cast - oh the horror!!

jeepman · January 26, 2017

I'm pretty sure at that point he was playing the Trusty Rusty wedges. If memory severs correctly, the Titleist DD wedge, began production around '96 and was already out of his bag at that point.

The truly impressive thing about his round was just how close he hit it on every hole. I heard a recent interview with him where he said he only made 75 feet of putts that day and thought it was insane. Turns out it was even less than that! I was just looking around for the equipment and stumbled on this play-by-play of the round.

No. 1, 426 yards, par 4: Driver. Pitching wedge. 5-foot birdie putt.

No. 2, 514 yards, par 5: Driver. 4-iron. Chip with sand wedge. 3-foot birdie putt.

No. 3, 180 yards, par 3: 6-iron. 3-foot birdie putt.

No. 4, 396 yards, par 4: 2-iron. 9-iron. 2-putt from 15 feet. Tap in for par.

No. 5, 233 yards, par 3: 5-iron. 5-foot birdie putt.

No. 6, 562 yards, par 5: Driver. 5-iron. Sand wedge. 2-putt from 30 feet. 1 1/2-foot putt for par.

No. 7, 439 yards, par 4: 2-iron. 7-iron. 2-putt from 40 feet. 2-foot putt for par.

No. 8, 358 yards, par 4: 3-wood. Sand wedge. Chip with 3-iron. 6-foot putt for par.

No. 9, 451 yards, par 4: 3-wood. 8-iron. 8-foot birdie putt.

No. 10, 453 yards, par 4: 3-wood. Sand wedge. 4-foot birdie putt.

No. 11, 512 yards, par 5: Driver. 4-iron. Pitching wedge. 4-foot birdie putt.

No. 12, 207 yards, par 3: 6-iron. 2-foot birdie putt.

No. 13, 447 yards, par 4: 3-wood. 7-iron. 2-putt from 12 feet. Tap in for par.

No. 14, 569 yards, par 5: Driver into bunker. 5-iron. Sand wedge. 10-foot birdie putt.

No. 15, 156 yards, par 3: 8-iron. 1 1/2-foot birdie putt.

No. 16, 364 yards, par 4: 2-iron. Sand wedge. 6-inch birdie putt.

No. 17, 130 yards, par 3: 9-iron. 2-putt from 20 feet. 5-foot putt for par.

No. 18, 543 yards, par 5: Driver. 5-iron. 8-foot eagle putt.

WidespreadPanic · January 26, 2017

I'm pretty sure at that point he was playing the Trusty Rusty wedges. If memory severs correctly, the Titleist DD wedge, began production around '96 and was already out of his bag at that point.

The truly impressive thing about his round was just how close he hit it on every hole. I heard a recent interview with him where he said he only made 75 feet of putts that day and thought it was insane. Turns out it was even less than that! I was just looking around for the equipment and stumbled on this play-by-play of the round.

No. 1, 426 yards, par 4: Driver. Pitching wedge. 5-foot birdie putt.
No. 2, 514 yards, par 5: Driver. 4-iron. Chip with sand wedge. 3-foot birdie putt.
No. 3, 180 yards, par 3: 6-iron. 3-foot birdie putt.
No. 4, 396 yards, par 4: 2-iron. 9-iron. 2-putt from 15 feet. Tap in for par.
No. 5, 233 yards, par 3: 5-iron. 5-foot birdie putt.
No. 6, 562 yards, par 5: Driver. 5-iron. Sand wedge. 2-putt from 30 feet. 1 1/2-foot putt for par.
No. 7, 439 yards, par 4: 2-iron. 7-iron. 2-putt from 40 feet. 2-foot putt for par.
No. 8, 358 yards, par 4: 3-wood. Sand wedge. Chip with 3-iron. 6-foot putt for par.
No. 9, 451 yards, par 4: 3-wood. 8-iron. 8-foot birdie putt.
No. 10, 453 yards, par 4: 3-wood. Sand wedge. 4-foot birdie putt.
No. 11, 512 yards, par 5: Driver. 4-iron. Pitching wedge. 4-foot birdie putt.
No. 12, 207 yards, par 3: 6-iron. 2-foot birdie putt.
No. 13, 447 yards, par 4: 3-wood. 7-iron. 2-putt from 12 feet. Tap in for par.
No. 14, 569 yards, par 5: Driver into bunker. 5-iron. Sand wedge. 10-foot birdie putt.
No. 15, 156 yards, par 3: 8-iron. 1 1/2-foot birdie putt.
No. 16, 364 yards, par 4: 2-iron. Sand wedge. 6-inch birdie putt.
No. 17, 130 yards, par 3: 9-iron. 2-putt from 20 feet. 5-foot putt for par.
No. 18, 543 yards, par 5: Driver. 5-iron. 8-foot eagle putt.

Wow.

MattyO1984 · January 26, 2017

I'm pretty sure at that point he was playing the Trusty Rusty wedges. If memory severs correctly, the Titleist DD wedge, began production around '96 and was already out of his bag at that point.

The truly impressive thing about his round was just how close he hit it on every hole. I heard a recent interview with him where he said he only made 75 feet of putts that day and thought it was insane. Turns out it was even less than that! I was just looking around for the equipment and stumbled on this play-by-play of the round.

No. 1, 426 yards, par 4: Driver. Pitching wedge. 5-foot birdie putt.
No. 2, 514 yards, par 5: Driver. 4-iron. Chip with sand wedge. 3-foot birdie putt.
No. 3, 180 yards, par 3: 6-iron. 3-foot birdie putt.
No. 4, 396 yards, par 4: 2-iron. 9-iron. 2-putt from 15 feet. Tap in for par.
No. 5, 233 yards, par 3: 5-iron. 5-foot birdie putt.
No. 6, 562 yards, par 5: Driver. 5-iron. Sand wedge. 2-putt from 30 feet. 1 1/2-foot putt for par.
No. 7, 439 yards, par 4: 2-iron. 7-iron. 2-putt from 40 feet. 2-foot putt for par.
No. 8, 358 yards, par 4: 3-wood. Sand wedge. Chip with 3-iron. 6-foot putt for par.
No. 9, 451 yards, par 4: 3-wood. 8-iron. 8-foot birdie putt.
No. 10, 453 yards, par 4: 3-wood. Sand wedge. 4-foot birdie putt.
No. 11, 512 yards, par 5: Driver. 4-iron. Pitching wedge. 4-foot birdie putt.
No. 12, 207 yards, par 3: 6-iron. 2-foot birdie putt.
No. 13, 447 yards, par 4: 3-wood. 7-iron. 2-putt from 12 feet. Tap in for par.
No. 14, 569 yards, par 5: Driver into bunker. 5-iron. Sand wedge. 10-foot birdie putt.
No. 15, 156 yards, par 3: 8-iron. 1 1/2-foot birdie putt.
No. 16, 364 yards, par 4: 2-iron. Sand wedge. 6-inch birdie putt.
No. 17, 130 yards, par 3: 9-iron. 2-putt from 20 feet. 5-foot putt for par.
No. 18, 543 yards, par 5: Driver. 5-iron. 8-foot eagle putt.

That is a ridiculous quality of ball striking. I appreciate that the course wasn't the sternest test for top tour pro's but of all the 59's I have been aware of, Duval's stand head and shoulders above the rest as just being an exhibition of ball striking.