DORAL-RYDER OPEN

March 8, 1997

David Duval

DAVID DUVAL: Isn't that something? That was great, huh?

DAVID DUVAL: I parred No. 3. I parred No. 7 and I parred No. 12.

DAVID DUVAL: The first hole I hit a 3-iron over the green and chipped back to a couple of feet, maybe, 2 feet, something like that. On the second hole, I hit a sand wedge to about 10 feet. The double-bogey, I hit it into the bunker and hit it out and it rolled over the green. I chipped back to about 4 feet and missed that. No. 5: I hit a 9-iron to about 12 feet. No. 6: I hit it in the fairway bunker, hit it in the green-side bunker, blasted out just off the green and missed that, about 15 feet, probably,. Want the pars, too? 7 was a good par. Greg and I were both up against the lip. I was a little more on the up-slope, and we both hit out short of the green, and I chipped up to about 10, 12 feet; made that for par. No. 8: I hit a sand wedge to about 12 feet behind the hole. No. 9: I hit a 6-iron to about 3 feet. No. 10: I hit a 2-iron for my second shot to about 6 feet and 2-putted. And No. 11 --

DAVID DUVAL: 258 yards to the hole. That's not Tiger stuff. That's just a lot of wind behind it. (Laughter.)

DAVID DUVAL: On 10?

DAVID DUVAL: No, I was in the fairway. No. 11: I hit a 7-iron to about 15 feet, maybe, 12 feet, something like that.

DAVID DUVAL: Tee into the fairway bunker, and didn't have much of a shot, and hit an 8-iron out. I wasn't sure I could get the 8-iron over the lip, and it went into the left rough, and then I had 205 yards to the front and how many ever, it was like -- hit a 5-iron on the green to 40 feet and 2-putted. 13: I hit a 3-iron into the bunker and managed to get it out, just barely, and 2-putted from about 60 feet for bogey. And No. 14: Again, my ball hit into the fairway bunker, but it popped out and I hit a 9-iron; hit on to the green and rolled all the way over the green and I didn't chip that well. And No. 15: I hit a 9-iron symbol the front bunker, I actually hit a very good shot. I had a rock behind my ball, too, it just got out to about 8 feet and I missed that. And then on 16 -- are you all tired yet? (laughter) I hit a sand wedge to about 15 feet, just on the fringe. On 17: I hit a pitching wedge to about a foot and a half. And, then 18: I hit it next to the tree, next to

No. 1 and then hit a 9-iron into the fairway and a sand wedge up there about 15 feet and 2-putted.

DAVID DUVAL: I didn't overcome it. That was the bad part. It got me. But, yeah, the way -- the way the round went and the way Nick was playing, I sure didn't think 12-under par would be leading the tournament. But, it was just a day where I was actually hitting the ball very well. I think I hit maybe 2 drives that were a bit wayward, but other than that, I hit it pretty much where I aimed it and it didn't carry the trap or it bounced a little different, but just kind of had to hang in there. It was very surprising after I bogeyed 13 and 14 and then I hit it in the front bunker on 15 and I think I was leading all of a sudden. And, I just was behind, and I made two bogeys. So, it was just a weird day, just very up-and-down, I think, for everybody.

DAVID DUVAL: Oh, yeah, very routine. I hit a nice drive on the fairway, 7-iron on to the green and 2-putted.

DAVID DUVAL: I was in 7, I think.

DAVID DUVAL: It's unreal. It seems to be everywhere. It seems to be hard, gobbling up all the balls. But, I think that's just part of the course. That's the way it's been designed and set up. I think it's kind of rare when you miss a green and are actually chipping the ball and not hitting from the bunkers. So, I think that's why you see so many people there. And, you have to, the way it's set up -- I guess you don't have to -- but the way the wind has been blowing, you could choose to play out and around some of them. But, for me, if I hit a solid drive and get into the air with the wind behind me, a lot of these bunkers, I can't carry the furthest points, but I can carry to some other points, and I feel like it's been worth the risk to try that. And, today, I hit it into a couple of them that I actually didn't expect to. I thought I hit it plenty good to get over them, but it just didn't carry.

DAVID DUVAL: Nothing. Actually, I hope I hit the ball as well as I did today, then I feel like I'll have a good chance to do something good tomorrow. But, other than that, I think one of the biggest benefits of this course might present to me is that the way it's built and designed, you can't -- you can't ever get ahead of yourself, because if you do you're going to make some big numbers or you're going to make some very easy bogeys, like I did. And I think that could be a great benefit tomorrow, because you can't ever think ahead.

DAVID DUVAL: Actually, David Feherty asked me that. I don't know, I haven't dropped any actual weight in a while, but I keep losing size, I think, for one reason or another, which is good. My 34's are a little big right now. I think a year and a half ago I might have been able to get a leg in a 34, but that was about all.

DAVID DUVAL: About 30. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 30. I measured myself one time at a smooth 226. Fat boy. But I worked hard.

DAVID DUVAL: That was about September of '95, my first year. I went for a run. I was fed up and went running and weighed myself when I was done and said, man, I've got a lot of work ahead of me (laughter.). I actually thought the scale was probably broken.

DAVID DUVAL: The biggest part is that I feel so good. I can go out and actually worked out this morning before I played. I think energy is so much higher and you just feel so much stronger and better. And I think that kind of relates to your head, too, when you don't get physically tired you can stay that much sharper.

DAVID DUVAL: I do, yeah. I'm a lot more conscious of what I'm doing and what I eat. And I feel -- which is the best part about it, and the hardest part is to get to the point where I've gotten where you get it in your blood, working out, and feel guilty when you don't get the opportunity to do it or just choose not to.

DAVID DUVAL: I did it on my own pretty much. I mean, I had some help from a guy, I bought a machine from, but that was kind of over the phone. But the biggest part of it is all I had to do, it's pretty simple, was aerobic work, cardio work to get the weight off. And, now I'm starting into the weights, actual weight lifting.

DAVID DUVAL: Well, so far, for me, I feel like I've played it pretty aggressively. I think there are a few holes that kind of get into your head and you tend to play away from trouble. Like No. 4 is a good example. You have -- I think it played about 245 yards today, and if you hit it on the right half of the green, the ball is going to roll and roll down the slope and roll into the water. So you almost have to, if you're not hitting just right, aim it towards the bunkers. For me, hoping it will just cut a little bit. Because the numbers you can make on some of holes are very big.

DAVID DUVAL: I was in the left, in the second one.

DAVID DUVAL: Besides the fact I hit a bad one? I just -- I don't know if I could -- the ball broke right and I hit a poor putt. I hit a very poor -- that was about the only poor putt I hit in the day. And it just kind of went to the right and just didn't have any authority on it. It just wasn't stroked very well.

DAVID DUVAL: Well, there was some overhang in front of me, and then there's a palm. I had a clear shot, if I wanted to try to hit the green, but the tree was a bit in my way. I would have had to swing a little flatter than I normally do and I wasn't sure if I'd kind of reroute it back to my normal play. And, if I did that, I was going to hit the tree on my down swing. I was faced with a hard shot, because I only had about 70 yards to hit it into the fairway. I couldn't pull out a sand wedge because it would go into the tree. I ended up hitting a 9-iron. It was a pretty good shot but still fairly close to the water.

DAVID DUVAL: No, I didn't really. I was just in so many different places and all over the course that I didn't have time to keep up with him.

DAVID DUVAL: Not in his mannerisms toward me or my caddie, no, not at all. He's a gentleman and he said, "well, good luck tomorrow," and just signed the card and we both left.