INTERNATIONAL PRESENTED BY QWEST

August 2, 2000

David Duval

DAVID DUVAL: Been out for a few, and it's nice out there obviously. You know, it's just -- you don't ever expect anything less than an excellent golf course and excellent conditions here. And that's exactly what we have again. It's a shame there's a little haze in the sky though you can't see the scenery quite as well.

DAVID DUVAL: This is quite a nice chair, actually. You know, nothing has changed as to what happened at the British as I am sure people got to read. I have a sprain of the lower lumbar down there. I don't know all the technical terms. In the joints. Basically the same thing as if you sprain your ankle or your wrist or elbow, and it takes, you know, 6 or 8 weeks to heal. Unfortunately, I don't have that right now, that time to not play. But talk to one of the guys I work with overseas a bit. I asked him that question directly whether I shouldn't play. He said, no, you can play, but avoid hitting balls for hours on end. And afterwards, you need to avoid -- tone it back on running and different -- just watching the jarring exercises. I'm shifting because you don't want to sit down much. Sounds crazy, the sitting affects it. So it's just a matter -- then today, I guess most people know, I came in because I was having problems, but it felt, I felt it obviously through the front 9. It wasn't too bad. We made the turn. And I had to wait several minutes on the tee and seven minutes in the fairway. That was the pattern for the first three, four holes. I got over on 13. It was bad. Teed off on 14. Hit a couple more shots, but it had tightened up too much. We had been out there too long.

DAVID DUVAL: Yeah. I was home. Obviously, I did some lighter things, working out. I didn't golf at all. I didn't want to do all of it. Then I was, you know, laid down a lot. It sounds crazy, but that's about what I did.

DAVID DUVAL: Well, I, you know, it's a matter of wanting to have a little bit of competitive golf. Heck, even just if it was playing golf somewhere, which I guess I could do. If I'm going to do that, I feel like I'm going to play an event. For me, I don't want three full weeks off in between that event the Open and the PGA. And the week after the PGA we have another important week. So just wanted to give myself the best opportunity to play real well. I think I showed that overseas that I feel like if I'm feeling pretty good -- I mean, everything's back where it should be. You know, I just hope that my back doesn't -- right now doesn't cause problems and hinder my performance obviously for the next month. Then for here, I just like the scenery, I like being here. I like the weather. You know, and it's just -- they treat you real well. It's kind of -- not like we are ever treated poorly anywhere we go, but there are degrees -- there's differences. And they go to that Nth degree here. So you know, I'm going to support it.

DAVID DUVAL: You know, I go somewhere else.

DAVID DUVAL: Skyboarding?

DAVID DUVAL: Absolutely not (Laughter.)

DAVID DUVAL: Well, I think I played well. You know, like I said, I had a stretch of 8, 10 holes on Saturday where I felt everything was right where it should be again. Sunday, the same thing. Why it didn't last the whole day, those rounds, many reasons - you could argue it was my back, the weather changes. You could argue situation, whatever it may be. But I just didn't. So, you know, I certainly wish I would have been able to tee it up there 100 percent healthy simply because everything, my golf game was where it should have been. My swing was great. I was putting well. I shot 70, 70 the first couple days. I think, I'm certainly not going to -- you all know me well enough to know, I think I could have been a lot closer starting Sunday if I was fully healthy, I think I would have been closer. And then you don't know what happens from there obviously. We can all speculate. There's no reason to do that. It's just a waste of time. But I think that it's very encouraging to -- it was very encouraging for me to play my way into that position to get done, and realize that you know, certainly Tiger seemed in control most of the week. There was only one other person in that field that had to win and that was me. I put myself there and gave myself that chance with nine holes to play. That's encouraging going into the next few weeks. Because I haven't been as excited about the golf as I became over there in a while. And that's good for me.

DAVID DUVAL: You know, that's a good question, but it's hard to answer until I get out there and play. So I wish I could give you -- I know this sounds pretty -- like I'm dodging it, but I'm really not. I just don't know. You are right, probably if it wasn't the British Open over there, I probably wouldn't have played. So there might be something to that. I certainly feel like I need to -- you know, I got to make sure I don't hurt myself worse obviously. I don't think it's that type of -- I don't think I'm in that position. I don't think I'm not hurting that badly. It's that, you know, it took us about two and a half hours to play the front 9, which is not too bad with a fivesome, and we made the turn. And we played four and a half holes and it's been, you know, another almost two hours, and that's -- I think that's what the problem was today. It was just stop-and-go and waiting and sitting around. And that's where I just really got tired out. So...

DAVID DUVAL: Well, if it was the first round, I would have kept playing and tried to finish, and hope that I didn't, you know, make all those bad minus points and stuff. But at the same time, if it's tomorrow, we would have been playing a little bit quicker and might not have been out there as long and even if I did tighten up, it would have been maybe on 17 as opposed to 14. It's a whole different scenario so it's hard to speculate on that.

DAVID DUVAL: I certainly feel like I'm a better golfer than I've showed for the last 12 odd months. 14 -- whatever it may be. You know, as we know, there's a lot of luck involved with our game at that level. And you're talking about winning those events. There's a lot of bounces and things of that nature. You know, I certainly had a streak that -- it was very good. I don't want to say it was comparable, it was quite as good, as how Tiger's been playing 18 months now, whatever it may be. But you know, it was winning, winning three. Which is pretty stout. And I certainly, like I say, feel I'm better than I've showed lately. But for various reasons, I just haven't played as well. And that's just the nature of this game. I feel like, like I said, I really was excited what happened at the British. I feel it sets me up great for the rest of the year. We can't talk enough about. Actually I was tired of talking about it because I was asked so much, but you can't say enough about the importance of holing putts. As much as we realize that hitting the ball helps, and you know, Tiger might have an advantage because he hits it so much further than a lot of people. But making some putts can, you know, that stuff can be just so good for the player who's making them and so deflating for the people you're playing against. You just start holing putts and doing those type things, that's what wins you golf tournaments. I wasn't doing that for a long time there. I really feel good about that part. I think I showed that really over at St. Andrews. And oddly enough, as I said over there, I feel like it all came together on the weekend at Loch Lomond where I shot 5 over for the weekend, but I really felt like I left there thinking some really good things were ahead. It was kind of -- you know, why that happened, I don't know. Why it happened when I did it at 5 over, I don't know. But you just get the feeling back a little bit in your hands, and you know, start setting up properly and get over it. And it's amazing, I know I'm going on and on, but it's amazing what holing those 5-footers and a few 8-footers and every now and then a 15-footer will do for your golf game. Because it all funnels back in. You just -- you can play a little bit further from the hole and play a little more to the fat side and do this. You know, it just really kind of relaxes you a lot. That's why it's just so so important to be a great putter.

DAVID DUVAL: You know, I don't have a reason for it, no. I made a few little changes, in that, you know, I tried to put myself in a better position, addressing the ball as I was, you know, setting up to putt. I did that by shortening the putter a little bit, making it a little more upright. Just kind of bringing me, you know, kind of back over the top, back on top of the ball a little bit better. Maybe that's a place, maybe that's really what I'd been fighting for so long. Not getting there. When you're-- I'm a firm believer, if you're inside the ball, you know, you just are not going to be or if you're over, you're too far over the golf ball, you're not looking down and not able to swing it properly on that line. And that's how I think, you know, you need to putt. And I think that's how you putt great. That's how I've putted great in the past. Those things I changed there at Loch Lomond, just kind of carried over into the British.

DAVID DUVAL: I do. I do. I think it's, you know, my first Open was at St. Andrews so the whole, the stands, the first 1 and 18, the clubhouse lit up at night, you know, all these things, I fell in love with it right off unlike a lot of people who didn't, I guess. I mean, people grow to like it and such. Actually I guess I did play the week before in Carnoustie that set up really running. But you don't encounter -- at least I haven't. And I'm not the most widely traveled guy who's seen all these places, but I've played a few of those courses over there. St. Andrews is you know, -- here, when Muirfield Village is here -- you fly it everywhere at Muirfield. And you don't roll it any more than any other golf course than you do at St. Andrews, if you know what I'm saying. So that is truly a lot of putts from 30 yards, and these -- you certainly will do that at, say, Carnoustie where you're going to bounce balls in a bit more, or some, Lytham -- you might bounce them in, but you don't have this big field. In essence, St. Andrews is just a giant field. We all know that you can, if you are feeling real good about your golf game, you can hit it further right off the tees and if not, just hit it left everywhere. That holds true on every hole. With the exception of the little loop right there of the 9th and 10th, and 12th. So, you know, I do enjoy, because you encounter so many different things, I feel I'm pretty handy playing those shots. I did encounter a few through the week that I didn't execute obviously. But I also pulled off some putts from 70 yards and things of that nature, that you know, it's amazing that you see the players do that, I think it really speaks of the field they do have and the skill they do have when you see that occur.

DAVID DUVAL: Wasn't very many. I don't think you get in contention there hitting it in many. I hit it in one ,I think the first or second round on the 2nd hole or 3rd hole. I think I was in a total of 4 maybe.

DAVID DUVAL: The best way to answer, if my golf game is perfectly good enough to win this event right now - it is in shape enough to win this week, and it's going to be in shape enough to win at Valhalla and then at Firestone. I think I showed that it was good enough to win at St. Andrews. At least I felt that way. Now, the wild-card is whether I can stay loose and swing freely. I really don't think it's going to be a problem tomorrow. But we'll find out. I just really don't think it's going to be an issue.

DAVID DUVAL: Well, you know, I don't remember every hill on the golf course to be perfectly frank. I remember, obviously, it was very hot for a while. We did have a front, I think, on Wednesday that knocked out all the humidity and wasn't too bad the rest of the week if I remember. I don't -- what else did you ask me?

DAVID DUVAL: Yeah. I've always -- I have for a number of years now tended to move the ball to the right a little bit. You know, I've had a big success on Nicklaus golf courses because of that. He sees the ball moving it a little bit to the right too most of the time. So I've done well on those type of courses. I seem to recall enjoying that golf course a lot. I recall not playing particularly well. I made the cut but I remember I wasn't -- I certainly was not on top of my game by any means that week. But I -- I kind of, you know, left there feeling like it was, you know, it's kind of weird to say now four, five years later, whatever it may be, but I felt it was the kind of course I could play well on because I think it set up well for me.

DAVID DUVAL: Well, I don't believe so. I think -- I think they are being made longer. I don't know to what extent you're talking about. Getting to 74, 7,500 or even more? I don't keep up with all the statistics and the stats of it. But from what I understand, the scoring average out here, has not drastically changed. The winning scores at the various events has not changed drastically. It's kind of -- I don't know. I get a real kick out of it when I hear the players who played before us talking about how there should be a one ball or equipment only. It's the kind of talk like some of them I think talk like they didn't take advantage of the technology of their day. When steel shafts and stuff came out they said: No, I think I'm going to stick with these old aluminum shafts. That didn't occur. They sought out balls that went the furthest and such. You don't get a whole lot of mention of the way the courses are kept now, too, along with the advancement of the clubs and balls and things of that nature. We tend to have thicker, higher rough more consistently. The greens tend to be harder and faster. The fairways are certainly not any wider nowadays. So it all goes hand in hand a little bit. So I think a lot of the golf courses you see, they do put some tees -- backed up some tees to bring some fairway bunkers back into play and such. When some of those big hitters were playing in their day, those bunkers weren't in play for them either. So... I guess the answer is no.

DAVID DUVAL: Well, I haven't -- you know, I didn't get to do much over at St. Andrews. I probably won't do a whole lot this week. I did some last week. There's no typical thing, per se, you know, the most important thing for us as golfers is to be cardiovascular fit. You certainly want to have some very good core strength through your midsection and your back and such. So I work on those things a lot. I certainly -- I do obviously traditional strengthening exercises through weights and such to make sure to -- as much as anything, a lot of the stuff I did was to bring my body back into balance from my strength on my left side and right side, and the strength on the front of my body to the back of my body. What we do is so one-sided, and most people are, even if you don't play golf. Most people are very noticeably stronger with their right arm if they're right-handed or left arm, vice versa. I worked on trying to balance that out in the feeling that, you know, that would be beneficial to prevention of injuries long-term ,when you don't want one side of your body to really overpower the other and such. Those are the type things I do. And like I said, I will do traditional things -- weight lifting to strengthen those parts. You do get to a point where you're just, you know, I mean, enough is enough. You know, I'm focusing a lot right now -- I feel like I'm very fit cardiowise. But I think you continue to do that stuff to maintain it and continue to work on core strength.

DAVID DUVAL: Thanks.