Hoylake, England – There are times when major championships are won, not by 72nd-hole dramatics but rather by being able to steady a shaking ship in a tournament’s early going.
So it was for David Duval in Thursday’s opening round of the British Open. A steady day that included a spectacular sand save on the 16th hole ended at 2-under-par 70. While that’s four shots behind 18-hole leader Graeme McDowell, it certainly beat some of the alternatives.
“It sounds like a cliché, but it’s true: You can’t win a tournament on the first day, but you can shoot yourself in the foot and be done with it,” Duval said. “I thought I played well, hit the ball solidly and did a good job of managing my game.”
The 560-yard, par-5 18th was one of the easiest holes of the day, playing at average of 4.622 strokes. Standing on the fairway with an 8-iron in hand for his second shot, Duval actually flew the green, but got up-and-down for a birdie. That wasn’t as impressive, though, as his par two holes earlier.
The 16th, a 554-yard par-5, was the easiest hole Thursday at a ridiculous 4.301 strokes, with 12 eagles and 93 birdies. Duval was in position to add to that total, but he yanked his approach shot almost smack against the edge of a greenside bunker.
Given little recourse, Duval played his third shot out almost behind him to the side of the bunker, then pitched up to about 10 feet before making the par-saving putt.
“If you hit it in there you just go in and proceed with what you have to do to get it done,” Duval said.
Comeback player
The last time Greg Owen made a splash in the golf world, it was decidedly negative. The Englishman had a careless three-putt on the 71st hole to lose the lead in the Bay Hill Invitational, then saw his 30-foot attempt to gain a playoff lip out. He finished second to Rod Pampling.
On Thursday, Owen had one of the day’s best rounds, shooting a 5-under 67 to tie with four other players behind McDowell.
“I think I’ve learned to stay patient and just trust what I do, and if the golf gods are in my favor, then I’ll be good enough to win,” he said.
There was a decided lack of good karma in March back in Florida. Owen said Thursday his poor finish at Bay Hill stemmed from a rushed attempt at a tap-in for par on No. 17.
“(It) still hurts me now even thinking about it,” he said. “But it’s golf. I just hope I’ll never do it again.”
Welcome, Mother Nature
Most players felt the rains that hit the area Wednesday night turned Royal Liverpool into a different course from the one they had practiced on all week, a change that was welcomed.
“If it hadn’t rained, it wouldn’t have been unplayable, but it wouldn’t have been a true links golf test – it would have been too hard,” Fred Couples said of the previously bone-dry conditions.
“When you’re flying balls on the front of the greens and they’re going all the way through and down embankments over the back, that’s not links golf. And that’s what we were on our way to seeing.”
