Notebook: Duval finishes strong
Associated Press
Sunday, March 26
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) _ After rediscovering his putting touch Sunday in The Players Championship, David Duval figures things are looking up for The Masters in two weeks.
"I feel very good," Duval said after shooting a 3-under 69. "I think I have some very big things ahead of me the next few weeks."
The defending champion was never a factor in the tournament, which was delayed by rain and will be completed Monday with Hal Sutton leading Tiger Woods at the 12th hole.
Duval came into the day figuring he needed to shoot something like a 62 to get back in it. He double bogeyed the par-5 second hole, however, and had to scratch his way back to finish the
tournament at 1-under.
He'll defend his title at the BellSouth Classic in Atlanta next week, then head to Augusta. His victory at BellSouth came at the tail end of a stretch of four titles over eight tournaments that
propelled Duval past Woods and into the top spot in the World Rankings.
He hasn't won since.
"I feel good about everything," Duval said. "I feel like I've played pretty well."
Coming up aces
For those in the back of the pack, it was the par-3 eighth hole that provided the biggest thrills.
Ted Tryba and Joe Ozaki each had holes-in-one on the 226-yard hole.
"I birdied the hole with a 4-iron two other times, so I just took the 4-iron and hit it into the slope," Tryba said. "It ran up there and rolled in there like a bus."
Ozaki used a 3-iron for his hole-in-one.
"It inspired me the rest of the way," Ozaki said. "I started playing better."
Ozaki was 4-over for the day through seven holes, but finished the round at even-par. After ascending the leaderboard Thursday, Ozaki finished the tournament at 3 over.
Tryba finished with a four-round score of 12-over-par 300.
He and Ozaki accounted for the fourth and fifth holes-in-one in tournament history at No. 8.
On Saturday, Paul Azinger aced the No. 17 island hole.
Practice makes imperfect
Steve Jones shot 80 the first day, rallied to make the cut by shooting 70, then finished the weekend with rounds of 72 and 69.
He said he practiced too much Wednesday while trying to choose between a pair of drivers.
"I came out the next day, Thursday morning, and I had no touch, no strength in my left hand," Jones said. I hit one bucket too many on Wednesday. I said, 'What am I doing, I normally take Wednesday off.' "
Jones finished at 9-over.
O'Meara rallies
Mark O'Meara shot 5-under on Sunday to finish the week at 3-under in 12th place and in the running for his first top-10 finish since last year's Players Championship.
The 1998 Masters and British Open Champion struggled last year, finishing 45th on the money list, his lowest standing since 1994.
"I'd hit the ball well, but I'd get on the course and wouldn't believe it, or I'd hit some bad ones and a lot of self doubt would creep up," he said. "But I saw some better signs today. My speed was good on the greens today. Hopefully, this will fire me up for Augusta."
Divots
Tournament director Ben Nelson said NBC determined the final-round 2 p.m. tee time for the leaders, even though that leaves them with no cushion should bad weather hit. The rain Sunday
continued through sunset. "I don't think it would have made a difference this week," Nelson said.
Tom Lehman entered the day
in third place, but saw his chances go downhill with bogeys on No. 9, 10 and 11. He'll play his final six holes Monday starting at 3-under, seven strokes behind Sutton.
