Golf

The David Duval Rules

The PGA Tour Policy Board made two rulings last week based on the stellar early-season play of David Duval. The first change of regulations grants the top 10 players on the money list through the Nestle Invitational exemptions into The Players Championship. Duval, who was 195th on the 1994 money list and thus had not qualified for the TPC, ranks third this season, with $359,821, having finished second at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. Thanks to the new rule Duval can count on competing in The Players, which takes place in his hometown of Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., in two weeks.

The second decision involved the criteria for being named Rookie of the Year. Last September, two months after Duval played his 10th event on the PGA Tour, the policy board determined that in order to be considered for Rookie of the Year honors, a player could not have entered more than 10 events. After his prodigious start this season, Duval pleaded his case to PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem, who was sympathetic.

"I told Tim that had I known about the rule, I wouldn't have played in my 10th event last summer," says Duval, who qualified for the Tour this year with a top-10 finish on the 1994 Nike Tour money list. "I have several incentives in my contract for Rookie of the Year."

The board decided not to apply the rule until 1996. "I'm happy to hear it," Duval says, "and really, it's not so much the money as it is the prestige. For sure it is something to shoot for. It would be great to go to La Costa [for next January's Mercedes Championships] and have your name in the record book. Now at least I have a chance to do that."

Always Albus

Jim Albus, who successfully defended his title last week at The Dominion Seniors in San Antonio with an 11-under-par 205 worth $97,500, played in 35 events last year on the Senior tour, tying Jack Kiefer and Ben Smith for the second-most events played in '94. The Iron Man Trophy went to Tom Wargo, who played in 36.

Three of those men are former club pros, and Smith used to run an auto repair shop. They are all cashing in on the annuity offered by the Senior tour. Albus, who will turn 55 in June, has played in all six Senior events this year on his way to what should be a fourth straight 30-plus season. Asked if he ever gets tired, Albus says, "Physically I never have a problem, but I do find myself getting aggravated at things I never get aggravated at. Like people moving, silly things. I start getting grouchy with my wife. It's not like there's any reason to be in a foul mood."

Not when you're making more than $1.2 million, as Albus did last year—just slightly more than his salary at Piping Rock Golf Club in Locust Valley, N.Y. "The first few years I'd push myself to play a lot as a way to stay exempt," Albus says. "Then I realized, if I went home, I'd just be playing golf anyway."

Blasting the Masters