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David Duval's woes continue
David Duval stood on the green for 10
minutes chomping gum. He was waiting for the notoriously slow Bernhard Langer
to get a ruling from an official, make a drop and hit not one shot, but two.
Finally, Duval got his chance
and, what else? He missed.
Another bogey. Another bad
day. And coming up Saturday, another missed cut at the Masters.
Duval stood at 14-over par
when darkness mercifully ended his day Friday, with eight holes to go in his second
round.
Once the best player in
the world and considered the top rival for Tiger Woods, Duval will miss the cut
here for the second straight time and for the sixth time in seven stroke-play
events this year.
Stalking away from the course,
he declined an interview request.
``You can write whatever
you want, but you're not going to get it from me,'' he said.
Indeed, the performance
spoke for itself.
Errant off the tee, rarely
making mid-range putts, Duval played 28 holes and made five double bogeys and
five bogeys. He finished the day only one stroke better than 63-year-old Jack
Nicklaus, who shot an 85 -- his worst round ever on the PGA Tour -- and was at
15-over when he called it a night.
Adding insult to the whole
thing, Duval will have to get up early Saturday to finish his round, playing eight
holes before picking up the $5,000 consolation check that goes to all the players
who don't make the cut.
``We'll see you tomorrow,''
a man in a green jacket said to Duval as he left the clubhouse.
``Yeah,'' Duval said, ``but
not for long.''
SECOND TIME AROUND: Augustan
Charles Howell III said his second time at the Masters has been much less nerve-racking
than the first.
He played his first round
at 1-over-par 73 and was still at 1-over when play was called because of darkness.
``I'm not as savvy as most
of the people out there,'' the 23-year-old former NCAA champion said. ``I just
wanted to come out here and not hurt myself, and I think I did that as much as
possible.''
Last year, he shot 291,
finishing in a tie for 29th.
COODY REMEMBERS: It has
been 32 years since Charles Coody held off Johnny Miller and Jack Nicklaus at
Augusta to win the tournament and earn his lifetime exemption.
To the 65-year-old Texan,
it still seems like yesterday.
``I had a hell of a week,''
he said. ``If I played solitaire that week, I won. If I had a gin game, I beat
everyone I played. My concentration was great all week and I had a great time.''
TOO LONG: Like so many other
players, Jose Maria Olazabal said the wetness of the course only accentuated the
length.
Last year, Augusta National
officials added almost 300 yards to the course, bringing it to 7,290 yards.
The two-time champion says
he doesn't think it's what the founders of Augusta National had in mind.
``I think if Bobby Jones
woke up right now, right here, he would not be happy,'' Olazabal said. ``They
designed a course to reward all kinds of skill and abilty, not just those who
can hit it 300 yards.''
Does Olazabal think it would
be worth taking his complaints to the chairman, Hootie Johnson?
``I don't really think they're
interested in my thoughts,'' he said.
DIVOTS: Only seven players
finished the first round under par ... With three birdies to start the day, K.J.
Choi matched the best start by a first-time player at the Masters, tying Milon
Marusic, who did it in 1953. ... Sergio Garcia went from the leaderboard to a
meltdown. He finished the day at No. 11 after a bogey-double bogey-bogey run that
included a missed two-foot putt after which he chucked his putter toward his bag.
He stands at 2-over.
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