Golf fans nearly got to party like it was 1999 this weekend when David Duval came so close to rolling back the glory years by winning the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
Duval looked set for three-man play-off for the $1.12 million first prize, only to then see Dustin Johnson birdie the last to defend his title.
It was great to see Duval back in the mix for a big tournament, just like it was when he managed to finished T2 at the US Open last year.
For finishing runner-up to Lucas Glover at Bethpage last June, Duval picked up a cheque for $559,830, but the rest of his season was the latest in a run of disastrous campaigns.
Duval played 23 US PGA tour events in 2009 and missed the cut in 16 of them. Of the cuts he did make, his best performance was T55 at Pebble Beach exactly a year ago.
The result? He lost his card on the PGA Tour.
But he has had worse seasons than 2009. In 2005, he played 20 events and made just one cut - picking up a sole cheque for $7,630 to show for his complete season's work.
Back, wrist, and shoulder problems, private difficulties, and a form of vertigo have all been cited as reasons for his spectacular decline over the years, but Duval took his fall with such remarkable grace that he has turned himself from an aloof winner into a plucky underdog everyone is rooting for.
The only reason why the card-less Duval was even able to play at the weekend was because of his victory at The Players Championship way back in 1999.
That was also the year that the sun shone brightest on Duval. For 15 weeks during the final year of the Millennium, the Florida native overtook Tiger Woods as the top ranked player in the world.
In addition to his Players win at Sawgrass, he won the Bob Hope Classic - with a stunning 59 in the final round - and Mercedes Championships at the start of year, finished top 10 in three of the Majors, and helped the USA to win the Ryder Cup.
All was rosy.
Two years later he won The Open, his first, and only Major, but then later in 2001 a tournament success in Japan proved to be his last victory until...well, maybe forever.
It would have been some fairytale to see Duval back in the winner's circle last weekend but the second place finish at least provides hope that 'Double D' could be back as a player to watch.
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All eyes were on India's Jeev Milkha Singh at the Avantha Masters in New Delhi last weekend. Not only was he the crowd's undisputed favourite, he was also the highest ranked player in the field.
However, he warned everyone before the tournament that his mind was more on nappies than nine-irons after celebrating the birth of his first son at the end of January.
"I'm going to try to win this week but I'm actually more excited about the baby," he admitted.
The result?
He missed the cut by two shots. He will be back in action at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship this week - another event that 'he who shall not be named' has decided to skip.
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David Duval is the subject of this week's poll and it is a simple question we are asking. Duval hasn't won anything for nine years and we want to know whether he has another title in him? Vote now on the golf page.
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Quote of the week: "I'm very sorry and embarrassed about what happened." Who would have thought a Welsh rugby player would ever make it into Bunker Mentality? However, step forward Andy Powell who was arrested for drink-driving...in a golf buggy!
Nonsense of the week: Pebble Beach's 14th hole played up to its ridiculously hard reputation last Sunday when four players, including then title contender Paul Goydos, carded quadruple-bogey nines on the 578-yard par five hole - ouch!
Stat of the week: Dustin Johnson's win at Pebble Beach means he has now won in every year since he joined the PGA Tour, a feat only matched by Tiger Woods in recent seasons. Johnson only joined the tour in 2008, but still...
Shot of the week: We stick with Johnson and his fourth shot out of the greenside bunker to within four feet of the 72nd hole at Pebble Beach. It was a shot of fine margins as it just barely cleared the lip, but it was ultimately the shot that won him the tournament.
Surprise of the week: Duval is an obvious contender here but instead we will give the award to wily old veteran Barry Lane, who rolled back the years to finish T3 at the Avantha Masters. Perhaps even more surprising than his result though is the fact that Lane is still only 49! It seems like he has been around forever