"Give away my stuff and be done" - Former Open champion outlines dream farewell scenario

Former Claret Jug winner David Duval is hoping to bid farewell to The Open in 2032 if golf's oldest major is staged at St Andrews. 

The former world number one returned to The Open this week at Royal Birkdale for the first time since 2019.

Things did not go to plan for Duval, with the American carding rounds of 73-77 to finish near the bottom of the leaderboard.

But he told reporters that he hopes he has a few more Opens in him yet and ideally will say his goodbye in 2032 if the tournament is staged at St Andrews. 

"I will be at St Andrews next year," Duval said. "I will be at Lytham [in 2028], where I won, the year after that. Then I'll look at where they're playing after that."

He added: "Obviously at this point in my life and career, I have to look at kind of an exit.

"But if things hold true to the five-year St Andrews schedule, '32 would be [when] I'm 60, St Andrews [and I can] walk up 18 on Sunday preferably and give away my stuff and be done."

Duval's connection with The Open runs deep. 

He produced one of the defining moments of his career at Royal Lytham & St Annes in 2001, claiming the Claret Jug after a dramatic final round.

The American entered the final day of the championship two shots behind leader Ian Woosnam but delivered a composed closing 65 to finish 10-under par and secure a three-shot victory over Sweden's Niclas Fasth. 

The triumph was Duval’s first major championship title and made him the first American to win The Open at Lytham since Tom Lehman in 1996.

At the time, Duval was one of the leading players in world golf. 

He leapfrogged Tiger Woods to the number one spot in the world rankings in 1999 and stayed there for 15 weeks.

During his pomp, he also won the 1998 Players Championship and collected 13 PGA Tour titles.

Although his latest Open appearance did not unfold as he hoped, Duval still took plenty of enjoyment from competing again on golf's biggest stage. 

"I had a blast," he said. "My scores weren't what I wanted. It's not like they were atrocious."

Duval blamed a costly middle stretch left him battling to make the weekend, after a run of dropped shots derailed his challenge.

"I had a bad stretch, I think I bogeyed eight, nine, 10 and 11, then I got in trouble at 13 — I think it was 13 — made double, and you take those there, and I'm fighting at the cut."

He also pointed to difficulty adapting to the greens after recently playing on much faster putting surfaces on the PGA Tour Champions. 

"I really struggled from the 40-foot-plus range because I just came off of greens that were rolling 13 and a half at our Senior Players in Akron at Firestone," Duval said. 

"I left them all six to ten feet short. I couldn't hit it hard enough from long-range, and I've always been good at that over the years."

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