Montgomerie tees off his US Open campaign alongside Americans David Duval and John Cook.

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The only players to have achieved the feat are Al Geiberger (1977), Chip Beck (1991) and David Duval (1999).

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Paul Goydos, Chip Beck, David Duval and Australian Stuart Appleby, the latest in the 2010 Greenbrier Classic, have also achieved the feat.

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They are a stroke clear of the field, with former major winners Justin Leonard and David Duval among a group three shots off the lead.

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Since then the American superstar has only briefly ceded the number one position in 2004 and 2005 to Vijay Singh and Ernie Els and in 1999 to David Duval.

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Sam can say that the Americans have problems too, with the likes of David Duval and Hal Sutton, but the rest of their team is much stronger than ours.

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Woods first reached the No. 1 ranking in 1997 and has maintained it ever since with brief interruptions by Ernie Els (9 weeks), David Duval (15 weeks) and Vijay Singh (32 weeks).

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However, since he has already regained the number one spot from Ernie Els, Greg Norman, David Duval and Vijay Singh during his career, trying to wrestle it back off Westwood might prove an added spur on his return.

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And for me, I can't help but stop and gaze at all the photos going through champions tunnel, and to think I'm going to be a part of that with Jack Nicklaus and Lee Trevino and Raymond Floyd and Phil Mickelson and David Duval and Tiger Woods, it's all the best of the best.

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