David Duval upbeat despite slow start

David Duval began the defense of his British Open title with a disappointing one-over par 72 Thursday but insisted he had been not far from a 68.

His score left him five off the lead with dozens of players ahead of him, and his already-slim chance of becoming the first man since Tom Watson in 1983 to retain the title already looks to have disappeared.

Duval arrived at Muirfield in one of the worst runs of his career having missed the cut in five of his last seven tournaments, including the Masters and U.S. Open, and was immediately into the same routine with a bogey at the first following a wayward drive.

Birdies on four and five put him back into contention, only for another bogey on six, via a greenside bunker, to peg him back.

He turned one-under after a birdie at nine but again immediately gave the shot back on the 10th and then dropped another on the par-three 16th after another visit to the sand.

Despite the poor numbers, Duval was pleased with his day's work.

"I feel like today was like a lot of rounds this year where I've been right on the edge of playing very, very well but just haven't quite gone over that edge," he said.

"Really I was not far from shooting 68 or 69."

Last year's breakthrough major success at Royal Lytham has helped Duval to deal better with the disappointments of this season, in which very little has gone right.

"I'm not upset or mad," he said. "I know I sound like a broken record but I feel I'm right there. And when you're close to playing well it's sometimes when it feels the worst.

"But I think that for me there's a lot of great stuff left this week. There are also a lot of big events left this year and I have every intention of being fully prepared."

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