By David Duval
Special to The Augusta Chronicle

Masters rookie David Duval, a four-time first team All-American at Georgia Tech, is sharing his thoughts with staff writer David Westin for a daily diary this week. Duval, a fourth-year professional, earned his Masters invitation by finishing among the top 30 money winners on the PGA Tour in 1995. He was 11th with $881,436. This year, Duval is 22nd on the money list with $226,066. He has finished fourth and third in his last two tournaments.

I shot 1-over-par 73 Thursday, but after being in bed all day Wednesday, I didn't know what to expect. I don't feel very good right now, either.

I woke up Tuesday morning feeling real bad. I played a practice round and after that I just hit the wall. I was done. I went in and had lunch and felt like I couldn't hardly move. I've been hurting since.

I don't know if it's a virus or what. I think it's some type of flu bug, that would be my guess.

On Wednesday, I didn't leave the house I'm staying at. I talked to a doctor here and he said he could give me antibiotics but it probably wouldn't help. So I figured, why take them?

I'm a lot better than I was Wednesday but I'm still not real good. I felt sick to my stomach until about No. 13.

I was going to tee off no matter what. If it got to where I couldn't move, they would have had to bring me in. I was going to start for sure.

It affected the way I played on the first several swings and some toward the end. I was tired. It just didn't feel the same today. I didn't feel like I knew what the club face was. I didn't have control of it. When you're all messed up, nothing feels the same.

I had a late tee time Thursday, which I thought would give me time to recover. I felt all right Thursday morning but I was congested real bad. I'm tired, I feel weak. It just kind of zaps you. Friends of mine who were following me said I was really dragging out there the last several holes and I was. I lost my energy. When you get tired, you just don't have quite the control of the golf club. When you're in between clubs, it makes it more difficult.

I was a lot less nervous than I thought I'd be. It was probably because I was sick. I didn't have the energy to be nervous.

I had birdies on two par-5s, Nos. 8 and 15. I bogeyed Nos. 14, 16 and 17.

The best shot I hit all day was 3-iron on No. 15 to about 10 feet. I almost made the eagle putt, but I lipped it out. I hit a good putt.

Other than that, I was just trying to put it here and put it there and try to get a feel for the course. I feel like I know that much more about the course for today's round.

I hit some shots that bounced this way and that way and you say how does it do that? But you know that coming in so it really doesn't bother you a whole lot.

I felt like I was going to throw up going on No. 5. Thank goodness I didn't.

It's not the best of timing but I think if I'd been playing poorly and got sick I would have been real disappointed. Knowing I was playing well, I felt maybe I could play my way through it and I still have that opportunity.

Greg Norman's 63 is unbelievable. It's great playing. It wouldn't surprise me if he did it again today. I think at this point in time that he's head and shoulders above everybody else. Whatever he does on the golf course doesn't surprise me. He does some tremendous stuff.

I'll teeing off today at 11:18. My playing partner is D.A. Weibring.

Copyright ©2000 CNN/Sports Illustrated, a Time Warner Company and
The Augusta Chronicle, a division of Morris Communications Corp.
Comments or questions? Contact the webmasters.

Terms under which this service is provided to you. Read our privacy guidelines.