In need of a healthy outlook

With little fanfare and at a tournament in which he's competed the last three falls after having never played in it, David Duval today will resume his comeback quest at the Viking Classic in Madison, Miss.

If you're thinking you haven't seen much of Duval in 2007, give yourself a gold star. He made five starts early in the year and hasn't played since the Nissan Open in February. Duval, 35, chose to remain at home to take care of his wife, Susie, as she goes through a difficult pregnancy.

Dudley Hart, 39, is another veteran who has been off the Tour for a lengthy stretch to take care of health issues (11 starts in 2007, but none since April) and Ben Crane and Jonathan Kaye make three.

Crane, 31, has played just six times this season, but not since the Byron Nelson Championship in late April. According to his agent, Tommy Limbaugh, Crane has had a number of MRIs on his back, all of which have been negative, so rest, and not surgery, has been the call. There was a chance he was going to return for the Viking Classic, but Crane (who ranked between 19th and 75th on the money list in each of his first five seasons) will remain sidelined.

So, too, will Kaye, the two-time winner on Tour who hasn't been seen since Q School almost a year ago. Having finished 135th on the money list (he had been no worse than 79th in any of the previous seven seasons), Kaye was at Q School to improve his status when a nagging foot injury worsened. It led to a surgery that may have appeared routine, but it's required so much rehabilitation that Kaye, 37, is sitting out all of 2007. More than likely, Kaye and Crane will be granted medical exemptions, so as to have full status for the start of 2008.

Two other notable players - Chris DiMarco and Brett Quigley - got in a good deal of play before they chose to address medical issues. DiMarco had surgery on his shoulder, Quigley on his right knee.

"I was on two crutches for a week, now I'm down to one," said Quigley, who is rehabilitating in Rhode Island.

When he came home from the hospital, he concedes he couldn't have imagined getting onto the golf course. But now? "We'll wait and see how it feels," he said.

It's not out of the question he'll tee it up in the final two events of the season, Oct. 25-28 in Port St. Lucie, and the following week at Disney World.

"They're both in Florida and I may be itching to get out there by then," said Quigley.

Good causes

Only to the small percentage who play with great skill is golf a game involving numbers. To the huge majority of us, it is a great game that produces priceless camaraderie, which is why it's all about the people you meet along the fairways.

Never is it a surprise to hear about golfers rallying around charitable causes or getting together to pay homage to a great friend, but in the past week that point was driven home a multitude of times.

Sean McDonough and his sister, Erin, have worked tirelessly to raise upward of $2 million for children's charities in Massachusetts, and their sixth annual tournament at the International in Bolton was another smash hit, one that their late and great father, Will, would have heartily approved of.

It's hard to imagine there's been a more noble golfer than Bill Foley, whose 70th birthday was the focal point of a surprise gathering of the many great friends he has collected throughout his life. Happy birthday to the 1964 State Amateur winner.

The shock of John Mineck's death is still with the many of us who felt privileged to call him a friend, so gathering for a tournament at the place that is a testament to his great vision - the Boston Golf Club in Hingham - provided a chance to raise a staggering amount of money that will be used to create a charitable foundation bearing his name.

The doors of the International also swung open for a tribute to Boston College hockey coach Jerry York as part of the Francis Ouimet Scholarship Fund's "Spirit of Golf" campaign. On hand were teams of golfers from Boston University, Harvard, Northeastern, and Bentley, and, of course, the coach's home club, Oakley Country Club in Watertown.

King-size tribute

On his 78th birthday (Sept. 10), Arnold Palmer got to take a good look at himself - at least as he appeared during those years when he was golf's best player and dynamic "King." Palmer was the guest of honor at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in his native Latrobe, Pa., where a life-size statue of him was unveiled. "I wish I were that young," Palmer quipped about the statue created by artist Zenos Frudakis. That same day, a similar statue was unveiled in Ireland at a Palmer-designed course, Tralee . . . Former New England PGA standout Ron Philo Jr. earned a singles victory and helped the United States defeat Great Britain and Ireland, 13 1/2-12 1/2, at Reynolds Plantation in Greensboro, Ga., in the biennial PGA Cup, a Ryder Cup-like competition for club pros . . . When Mark Wiebe stormed to a four-shot victory in the SAS Championship, he became the 12th player to win in his Champions Tour debut. In Wiebe's two PGA Tour wins - the 1985 Anheuser-Busch Golf Classic and the 1986 Hardee's Golf Classic - he received a combined $162,000, but for winning the SAS he got a $300,000 check . . . It's into that irresistible world of money that Colt Knost could hardly wait to jump, which is why he turned down invites to the Masters, US Open, and British Open to turn pro. The US Amateur and US Amateur Public Links champion has accepted a sponsor's exemption into the upcoming Valero Texas Open.

Minding their Q's

Those leaves you see falling? It can only mean that the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament will soon be upon us. As if there isn't enough of a challenge with the three traditional stages, a prequalifier has been added, so consider it a four-stage test for some. Fortunately, Step 1 went well for Michael Welch of North Quincy and Tim Acquaviva of Andover. Welch used a nine-birdie burst in a third-round 66 to finish at 12-under-par 276, tied for ninth, and easily get through his prequalifier at Spring, Texas. Acquaviva went 67-69 over his final two rounds to shoot 278 and finish joint 18th and make it through. In St. Augustine, Fla., Russ Lipinski of Amherst, N.H., failed to make it through his prequalifier. Another prequalifier is going on in McKinney, Texas, with Jim Renner of Plainville, Kevin Silva of New Bedford, and Justin Goodhue of Glastonbury, Conn., part of the field. Competition at the first of 10 first-stage sites will commence Oct. 23 . . . The first stage of LPGA Tour qualifying was a rough go for a number of New Englanders, as five missed the cut in Rancho Mirage, Calif. - Briana Vega and Jaclyn Sweeney of Andover; Libby Smith of Essex Junction, Vt.; Anna Grzebien of Narragansett, R.I.; and Kim Augusta of Rumford, R.I. . . . James Antonelli of Marshfield CC teamed with Jimmy Dee of The Ridge Club to shoot 4-under 65 and squeeze out a one-stroke victory in the NEPGA Senior-Junior Championship at Wannamoisett Golf Course in Rumford, R.I. Three teams shared second: Frank Dully of Kernwood CC and Bob Giusti of the Country Club of Halifax, Mick Herron of Bay Pointe and Mark Heartfield of Sankaty Head Golf Club, and Paul Parajeckas of Pleasant Valley and Jeff Seavey of Samoset Resort . . . Jump-started by an 8-under 64 to start, Jeff Curl stormed to a three-shot win in the North American Pro Golf Tour's season-ending Tour Championship at LeBaron Hills CC in Lakeville. Though he had his lowest finish of the nine-tournament campaign (a tie for 13th), Geoff Sisk of Marshfield earned Player of the Year honors for a second straight season. Sisk, who won three times and placed in the top five seven of nine times, led the money list with $41,643. Dustin Cone ($29,553) was second.

Local ties

Team Massachusetts finished 11th in both the men's and women's competition at the US Golf Association's State Team Championship. At the Woodlands in Texas, the Bay State contingent of Bill Drohen of Bradford CC, Frank Vana Jr. of Marlborough CC, and Kevin Quinn of Charles River CC totaled 433, or 11 shots behind the winner, Texas. The leading New England individual was Charlie Blanchard of Tiverton, R.I., who shot 214 to tie for seventh, though his team finished joint 22d. New Hampshire (T-18) was the second-highest New England finisher. For the women, Team Mass. consisted of Susan Choi of Natick, Tara Joy-Connelly of Duxbury, and Lisa Anderson of Middleton . . . One of the few days of rain we had in early September failed to dampen the spirits at the 22d annual Dennis Four-Ball Championship. Contested at Dennis Highlands, the championship was won by Kevin Carey and Jim Horvath, whose 65-67 -132 total afforded them a three-shot cushion over the Franklin CC entry of Brian Higgins and Brad Stewart . . . He's been a long-running hit on the amateur scene since his junior days and now that he's 55, Mark Plummer of Maine shows no signs of slowing down. When he prevailed in a three-way playoff to cop the New England Senior Amateur, it was just the latest achievement for the longtime member at Augusta CC. The week before, Plummer became the first player to complete the triple of victories at the Maine Junior, Maine Amateur, and Maine Senior championships . . . There was a bizarre ending to the Super Senior Division at that New England Amateur when Fred Kask (Weathersfield, Conn.), citing an injury, was unable to participate in a playoff. Thus, the title went to Jim Holbrook of Indian Ridge CC, whose closing 74 -152 allowed him to storm from behind . . . Another sure sign that fall is upon us? It's the Norfolk County Two-Ball Championship. The 25th annual is scheduled for Oct. 13-14 at Presidents GC in North Quincy.

Help from Hasselbeck

Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck is lending his support to make sure that a Boston institution, the Jimmy Fund, gets assistance all the way from Seattle. The Chris S. Elliott Memorial Golf Tournament is held in honor of a man from Seattle who died of glioblastoma, a rare form of brain cancer. Hasselbeck, the Westwood native and former Boston College star, has recorded a public service announcement on behalf of the tournament, which is the West Coast ambassador for the Jimmy Fund Golf Program. For information, refer to the website chriselliottfund.org. . . The women from Boston College finished tied for fourth in the Colonial Intercollegiate in Williamsburg, Va. The Eagles' top scorer was Natalie Draganza, a sophomore from Newport Beach, Calif., who shot 73-78 to get into a share of eighth. Sarah Whitney, a freshman from Hingham, shot 77-80 and helped William & Mary finish sixth. Also finishing tied for fourth was the University of Richmond, whose lineup includes sophomore Victoria Kidder from Boston via Noble & Greenough . . . Davis Mullany, a freshman from Great Barrington, shot 70-73 to take medalist honors and help Dartmouth win the Dartmouth Invitational at Hanover GC.

Jim McCabe can be reached at jmccabe@globe.com.