Duval's Open preparations: putter and a knife

For his first tour of Pinehurst No. 2 on Monday, David Duval relied primarily on two pieces of equipment -- a putter and a knife.

Duval decided to wait an extra day to play a full practice round for the U.S. Open because of the blisters on his right thumb and forefinger, courtesy of second-degree burns from a tea pot handle.

As for the knife?

After five holes, he decided it was time to slice open the blisters.

"It went everywhere," Duval said with a grin.

Duval, the No. 1 player in the world ranking and already a four-time winner this year, believes he'll still be smiling on Thursday when he tees off in the first round.

"I'm not worried about this," he said.

Duval burned his fingers Friday morning when he tried to pick up a tea pot off the gas stove in his new house in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. He didn't practice over the weekend, arrived at Pinehurst on Monday morning and walked the course with a 9-iron, two wedges and his putter.

He walked off the yardage with caddie Mitch Knox and planned to chip and putt around the signature humpback greens of Donald Ross. But he skipped the chipping after one hole because he could only grip the club with three fingers.

Tom Loss, a Seattle doctor and USGA rules official, persuaded Duval to slice open the blisters to accelerate the healing.

"I may as well get used to it now," Duval said. He plans to play a practice round Tuesday with all 14 clubs in the bag -- and plenty of tape on his fingers.

Duval did try one full swing on the 11th hole, walking back to 9-iron range. But he caught it fat and came out of the swing, the ball stopped 60 yards short of the green. Duval stared at his fingers, shrugged and walked on.

Along the way, he caught his share of grief from other players.

"It was all in good fun," he said. ``What can I say? As long as I can tee off on Thursday, it'll all be good fun."

AP