Finally, another postseason for David Duval: Closing birdie putt seals a spot in Schwab Cup

David Duval is finally back in a post-season playoff in golf.

The Jacksonville native birdied the final hole last week at the SAS Championship in Cary, N.C., on a 5-foot putt to finish in a tie for 11th and move from 78th on the PGA Tour Champions Charles Schwab Cup money list to 71st with $171,001, inside the top-72 that advanced to this week's Dominion Energy Charity Classic in Richmond, Va., the first leg of the three-tournament Schwab Cup playoffs.

Duval shot 8-under 208 at the Prestonwood Country Club, seven shots behind winner Rod Pampling. He birdied three of his last six holes and shot 71 in the final round, after rounds of 68-69.

"With the way the year has gone, I haven't gotten to play as much as I wanted to," Duval said after the round. "So, I shouldn't be in that position [needing a birdie on the final hole to qualify]. All the work is starting to pay off. I'm starting to see some results, starting to see the golf ball do what I want it to do. That's what I do it for, controlling the golf ball and I feel like I'm in control of it again."

It's only the second time Duval has qualified for post-season golf. He reached the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup playoffs only once, in 2010 when he finished 117th on the points list. He won his 13 PGA Tour titles, including the 1999 Players Championship and the 2001 Open Championship, between 1997-2001. The FedEx Cup didn't start until 2007.

Duval will have some work to do at each step. The top-54 on the money list after this week will head to Boca Raton for the TimberTech Championship Nov. 3-5 and the top-36 following that will play in the Schwab Cup Championship in Phoenix Nov. 9-12. Duval is $160,835 behind Woody Austin, who is 54th entering this week, meaning he likely would have to finish among the top-five to have a chance of advancing.

Two other local players are in the field in Richmond this week, Vijay Singh of Ponte Vedra Beach (12th on the money list) and Jim Furyk of Jacksonville (72nd).

Andy Bean and the gator

Andy Bean told people he didn’t really wrestle an alligator.

But that’s what the legend held over the years about the 6-foot-4, gentle giant and 11-time PGA Tour winner, who passed away on Oct. 14 of complications due to double lung replacement surgery.

Bean, who was 70, was a native of Georgia and moved to Lakeland when he was 15 years old, where he lived the rest of his life. He played golf at the University of Florida with a legendary lineup that included a pair of PGA Tour winners, Jacksonville native Woody Blackburn and Gary Koch, as well as 1976 U.S. Amateur champion and current Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley.

Bean missed winning two majors by one shot, to Tom Watson at Royal Birkdale in the 1983 British Open and to Payne Stewart in the 1989 PGA Championship at Kemper Lakes.

Now, about that gator.

The narrative was that Bean wrestled a gator at a Q-school site in Central Florida and threw it into a pond.

But he said he merely swatted it on the tail as he passed by the bank of a water hazard, causing the reptile to scurry into the water.

“I walked over to the gator, who was more scared of me than I was of him,” Bean said during an interview at the Tour’s stop in Doral in 1977. “I grabbed his tail and he jumped back into the pond. That’s all there was to it."

Steph Curry honored by golf Hall of Fame

Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry is the recipient of the World Golf Hall of Fame’s Charlie Sifford Award, presented each year to those who advance diversity in golf.

The Sifford Award is named for the Hall of Fame member who was the first African-American to play full-time on the PGA Tour and the first to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. The award was created in 2021.

Curry will be recognized during the 2024 World Golf Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in Pinehurst, N.C., on June 10, three days before the first round of the U.S. Open at Pinehurst.

Curry, the all-time NBA leader in three-point shots made, is an avid golfer who has played on sponsor invitations in Korn Ferry Tour events.

He launched Underrated Golf in 2021, which seeks to provide equity, access, and opportunity to student-athletes from every community by balancing participation in the sport to truly reflect our society. In 2019 he funded the Howard University golf team for six years.

Korn Ferry schedule released

The PGA Tour unveiled a 2024 Korn Ferry Tour schedule that makes stops in six countries and 17 states.

There will be 26 events, with the first six taking place outside the U.S. The season begins Jan. 14-17 with the Bahamas Great Exuma Classic, with another event in the Bahamas a week later, then stops in Panama, Colombia, Argentina and Chile.

The Visa Argentina Open is a 117-year-old event but will be a co-sanctioned Korn Ferry Tour tournament for the first time. The winner also will earn a spot in the British Open.

The first U.S. tournament is only 90 minutes from the First Coast: the Club Car Championship at The Landings Golf & Athletic Club in Savannah, Ga., April 4-7, with Golf Channel airing portions of all four rounds.

The four-event Korn Ferry Tour Finals will be in Boise, Idaho, Nashville, Columbus, Ohio, and French Lick, Ind. The top-30 on the Korn Ferry points list will earn PGA Tour cards for the 2025 season. The No. 1 player on the list will be exempt to the 2025 Players Championship and U.S. Open.

Miguel Jimenez, Jerry Kelly picked

Miguel Angel Jimenez, Jerry Kelly and Steven Alker were announced as the first round of chairman's picks for the World Champions Cup Dec. 7-10 at The Concession in Bradenton.

The three-team match play event will pit the U.S., Europe and an International team. Furyk is the U.S. captain, Darren Clarke the European captain and Ernie Els the International captain.

Tournament chairman Peter Jacobsen will make one more selection for each team. The final players on the six-man teams will be drawn from the Schwab Cup points list.

Already on the U.S. team are Steve Stricker and David Toms. Vijay Singh of Ponte Vedra Beach and Retief Goosen are on the International team and Bernhard Langer and Colin Montgomerie are on the European team. The captains will also play.

PGA TOUR

Event: ZOZO Championship, Thursday-Sunday, Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club, Shiba, Japan.

At stake: $8.5 million purse ($1,530,000 and 500 FedEx Cup points to the winner).

Defending champion: Keegan Bradley.

TV: Golf Channel (Wednesday-Saturday, 11 p.m.-3 a.m.)

Area players entered: Tyson Alexander, David Lingmerth, Keith Mitchell, Sam Ryder.

Notable: Bradley defeated Rickie Fowler and Andrew Putnam by one shot. … Also playing are Collin Morikawa, Xander Schauffele, Adam Scott and Saith Theegala.

LPGA TOUR

Event: BMW Ladies Championship, Thursday-Sunday, Seowan Valley Country Club, Korea.

At stake: $2.2 million purse ($330,000 to the winner).

Defending champion: Lydia Ko.

TV: Golf Channel (Thursday, 5-8 p.m.; Friday-Sunday, 5:30-8 p.m.).

Area players entered: None.

Notable: Ko shot 65 in the final round and beat Andrea Lee by four shots.

PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS

Event: Dominion Energy Charity Classic, Friday-Sunday, Country Club of Virginia, Richmond.

At stake: $2.2 million purse ($396,000 to the winner).

Defending champion: Steve Alker.

TV: Golf Channel (Friday-Sunday, 2-5 p.m.).

Area players entered: David Duval, Jim Furyk, Vijay Singh.

Notable: Alker beat K.J. Choi by one shot. … This is the first leg of the three-tournament Charles Schwab Cup. The top-72 on the Schwab Cup points list advanced. … The top five on the points list are Steve Stricker, Steven Alker, Bernhard Langer, Stephen Ames and David Toms.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: David Duval earns spot in PGA Tour Champions Schwab Cup with late birdie