THE OPEN RELATED STORIES The Open Home Page The Open Scores Round 4: Tiger Woods seals two shot victory Round 4: Emotional Tiger Woods thanks late father Round 4: Players give Hoylake top marks Round 4: Ernie Els continues impressive Open run Round 4: Marius Thorp wins Silver Medal Round 4: Sergio Garcia takes positives from Open Round 4: Chris DiMarco consoled by second place Round 4: Tiger Woods edges ahead of field Round 3: Sergio Garcia in sight of first major title Round 3: Ernie Els happy to still be in the mix Round 3: Putting problems keep Woods back Round 3: Chris DiMarco counts on experience Round 2: Woods and Els set for showdown Round 2: Singh & Monty amongst cut casualties Round 2: Ernie Els relishes being in contention Round 2: David Duval frustrated again Round 2: Phil Mickelson well off the pace Round 2: Poor showing by Ryder Cup hopefuls Round 1: Woods makes move with eagle on 18th Round 1: Clarke to take break to care for wife Round 1: Seve Ballesteros happy with opening 74 Round 1: Ernie Els finds putting touch again Round 1: Garcia amongst early front runners Leading contenders for the British Open Tiger Woods ready for Open defence Geoff Ogilvy enjoying life as a champion Weather set fair at Hoylake Phil Mickelson in confident mood Tiger Woods & Nick Faldo fued simmers Trevor Immelman pulls out of Open Players expecting to score low at Hoylake Ben Curtis has sights on second Open title Montgomerie still optimistic about breaking duck Rest of the World catching the Americans Hoylake ready for a new chapter Europeans seeking a Major turnaround Trevor Immelman celebrates birth of first child Tiger Woods is bookmakers favourite Hot, dry and fast Hoylake awaits players Nick Faldo & Tiger Woods row diffused Hoylake a mystery to the whole field John Daly plays "The Cavern" Retief Goosen not confident heading into Open John Senden joins record number of Australians Woods starts Open defence with Faldo The Open Preview Course Guide: Hoylake - Royal Liverpool 2006 European Tour Schedule GOLF TODAY TOP STORIES Greg Norman struggles at Troon Ochoa leads with flawless 65 Mike Weir amongst leaders Four share lead in Russia Padraig Harrington hungry for more success Michelle Wie to play on PGA Tour again GREAT GIFTS FOR GOLFERS Golf Breaks to Portugal & Ireland Half Price Golf Vouchers InstructaCard - your portable pro! The Father & Son Golf Ch'ship Golf Insurance

David Duval frustrated again

David Duval has been saying all year his golf has been a lot better than his scores and Friday at the British Open was no different for him.

The American former world number one shot a second successive round of two-under-par 70 and felt he should have been at least four strokes better.

"I hit almost every fairway and almost every green, I just didn't get the putts to fall," the 2001 champion told reporters after finishing eight shots behind the pacesetting Tiger Woods.

"I'm playing really well and I'm four under. I don't know if I've played well enough to be 12 under, but I've played well enough to be eight, nine or 10."

Duval, whose relative free-fall from the top of the golfing pile in 1999 has been one of the most perplexing stories in the sport's history, could only hope his putting improved over the weekend.

"I've just got very little out of it," the 34-year-old said. "I'd be pleased if I could play as well the next couple of days as I have the first two.

"All I need to do is make a couple of putts and I could put up some good scores. You can't control the ball better than I did today. As I've said for many months, I'm playing well."

In 1998, Duval led the U.S. money list with earnings of more than $2.5 million.

The following year he became the third player to shoot a magical 13-under-par 59 on the PGA Tour before eclipsing Woods as the game's number one on March 28 1999.

In 2001, he finally clinched his first major title after several narrow misses, a closing 67 earning him a three-shot victory over Sweden's Niclas Fasth in the British Open at Royal Lytham.

Since then, however, there have been no further additions to the Duval trophy cabinet.

He struggled with his swing and a series of injuries and his world ranking plummeted.

Understandably frustrated, he decided to take a seven-month break from the game at the end of 2002 before returning for the 2003 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills.

He gained a fresh lease on life when he married his girlfriend Susie Persichitte in early 2004 and is a proud father to four children in Denver, Colorado.

Duval has played more regularly on the PGA Tour this season, with his best finish in 16 starts a tie for 16th in the last month's U.S. Open at Winged Foot.