THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

March 27, 1999

David Duval

DAVID DUVAL: I don't know where to start, so...

DAVID DUVAL: I am beat. Yeah, it was tough out there today. I mean, what do you want me to say?

DAVID DUVAL: I think it was reflective in the scores, we just got kicked around. Combination of the course being so difficult, a little bit of wind, and then the fact that the wind was moving, you know, it was probably played as difficult as I have seen, certainly at this golf course, and as difficult as -- maybe nearly as difficult as any course I have ever seen.

DAVID DUVAL: It was one of the toughest, like I just said. I mean, it was, I don't know if it was three or two or four, but it was certainly a top five.

DAVID DUVAL: I really didn't know where I stood. I wasn't -- I wasn't real concerned about it, because of -- because I had played five holes and I saw that we were in for a jolly good time today, and I was not concerned with my position at all. I was concerned with trying to play as well as I could. I know that sounds silly; but, you know, and I knew at that point that if I could stay near where I was that I'd end up having a pretty good day.

DAVID DUVAL: Yeah, yes. The thing that makes it so hard is that, you know, it is not like we are forced to play away from holes and then we will just have a 30- or 40-foot putt that is flat. We have a 40-foot putt that goes up over a 5 foot rise, and that is what really makes it hard for you and wears on you.

DAVID DUVAL: Oh, I was -- it was kind of funny -- I was standing on a drain, but I just wanted to clarify where the nearest point of relief was. I thought I knew, but it was just -- because I was actually going to be straddling it now as -- and I didn't know if my actual feet like hanging over was considered, I was still not taking complete relief or not, and so, I just wanted to make sure I was doing the proper thing.

DAVID DUVAL: Not necessarily for this week. I think, as I said out there, if we had to do this every week, I don't think there would be a whole lot of people who would play golf. It is very, very difficult. I think today was, I would agree with a lot with what has been said about as far as kind of U.S. Open/ Masters combination, playing very thick, high rough to very undulating fast, rock-hard greens, and the mix is very challenging.

DAVID DUVAL: Well, I hit a few that, you know, the one really that sticks out, I am curious if anybody was watching, did anybody knock it on the 13th hole? Was anybody able to keep it on with the exception of being way left or way short?

DAVID DUVAL: Just kind of trickled off. I thought I had a pretty nice shot there. I was way through the green. That is one place, but you can access the greens still, but you certainly could not access the hole locations.

DAVID DUVAL: Well, I don't feel like I got anxious at all out there. I kind of, I think, as the day wore on I realized how good just making a par on each hole would be. So that is just kind of what I tried to do.

DAVID DUVAL: Boy, I don't know what happened on the first one. I was hitting it, I thought I could play it okay because of the up-slope. But there again, I was playing -- I mean, I am not kidding you, the grass was this long (indicating a foot) I was trying to play out of.

DAVID DUVAL: Yeah, we couldn't. It was hard to find. Actually ended up being past the ball, closer to the green, looking back down the slope, because it was kind of going back down in. I thought I could hit it okay. I just barely moved it and then, of course, I am faced with a shot that I was -- I don't know if I could chip it that close again. I mean, that was as hard as the first one probably. At that point I was very happy to make a bogey there.

DAVID DUVAL: Well, I hope that they stick to their guns and keep the course playing like it is, because I think it would -- it would be a heck -- it would be a shock to go out there and be able to stop the ball. You kind of got into the mode of expecting something very, very hard; and so I would hope that they keep it like it is. They might need to -- people, I am sure if some players are going to want them to revisit their strategy for next year's course setup, but I don't know what -- I don't see how you can change it now.

DAVID DUVAL: Going to be very difficult, yeah. And I imagine the wind will blow a little bit tomorrow too. If they keep it playing like it is, it is going to be interesting to see how many people can stay under par.

DAVID DUVAL: Well, I don't think it will, because I believe they have been putting some on it every night so they don't die. I assume they will do the same thing and not put excess of water.

DAVID DUVAL: I spoke to him briefly, yeah, last night. He said he hung one on the lip on the last hole for 60, so, I told him he still would have been one short (laughter).

DAVID DUVAL: Well, that depends. Like I have said out there, well, what is your definition of unfair is? If being forced to, you know, we can all knock it on the green out there while we are playing. We can hit a good golf shot and be on the green. Now, if you think that forcing a player into having to putt from 30, 40, 50 feet and doing it up to -- up big tiers, down big, you know, all that, then, yeah, if you don't think that is unfair, then if you think that is reasonable, then it wasn't. The thing that, like I said yesterday, you are playing out of very, very long, very thick rough. And if you miss a green with the way they are now, you are going to pretty much make a bogey. You can't -- you can't chip it close.

DAVID DUVAL: I think we had 147 yards and I hit a pitching wedge right just a little bit right of the hole; not even trying to hit it up there really. I thought if I really killed one it might get up there and becausely hit it so hard it may be stop. But other than that, there was no way to stop it up there. So I fully expected to be below the hole having to putt up over that big rise.

DAVID DUVAL: There will be tomorrow if that is the case, if I stay there. But right now, it really doesn't matter. We are going to have a difficult day tomorrow and obviously -- and it is going to be a long day just because of conditions. We are going to be out there a long time and you better be on your toes.

DAVID DUVAL: Yeah, I heard -- I don't know exactly what happened. I heard some greens while I was playing my third and then when I got up there they were a lot of noise and so I actually waited 'til both players had then gotten onto the green. I imagine I think one player might have hit one in the water another player might of hit two; is that right? So it was -- you know, it was loud and so I just waited. I had another long putt there up a big rise, so I was not I was not in any hurry.

DAVID DUVAL: Yeah, I mean, I am in a good -- in a great place. And tomorrow is going to be a different day. I think we are all probably guessing as to what the golf course is going to be like and how it is going to play. And you just go from there.

DAVID DUVAL: It would be wonderful. It is hard to say right now because aim long way from that point. But if things work out tomorrow I will be more than happy to tell you how it feels when I am done.

DAVID DUVAL: There was a lot of stuff on there.

DAVID DUVAL: Yeah, hit it hit 7-iron to the right of the green. Chipped to about six feet maybe: 4, I hit a sand wedge to about six inches. 5 I missed the green to the left with a 6-iron, chipped about 30 feet long, 2-putted. 7, I hit it in the front bunker, knocked it out about 18, 15 feet, maybe and 2-putted. No. 9, I pulled a sand wedge into the left bunker and hit out to about 30 feet probably. And 2-putted for my bogey. We have gone over 10. 12, I hit it right off the tee, and had a nice lie over there on the dirt and hit a good sand wedge to about 12 or 14 feet behind the hole. And I believe 18 is the next thing that happened and we covered that: That was 8-iron anyway out of the fairway. That was a pretty poor shot.

DAVID DUVAL: That has no bearing on how I play tomorrow, no.

DAVID DUVAL: I would really love to see him play well and win the golf tournament as much as anything. But will not be thinking about what he is doing tomorrow while I am playing.

DAVID DUVAL: Not really. We signed our cards and I was shuttled to over NBC cameras and local TV all that, so no.

DAVID DUVAL: Golf course just got me going. I was even unaware that I had even done that. So that was just my me being less than courteous, I guess. It was a slip. That is all.