By Bob Thomas
Florida Times-Union sports writer
Morris News Service

PONTE VEDRA BEACH - David Duval carried more than his clubs to the first tee at the Stadium Course yesterday morning.

He also carried the mental burden of how an ailing left shoulder might hold up during his first competitive round of golf in nearly a month.

Duval's shoulder, which had previously developed tendinitis, held up just fine.

``Not even a twinge,'' the Ponte Vedra Beach resident said after firing a pain-free 2-under-par 70 in front of a modest but supportive gallery.

``I'm very pleased,'' Duval said. ``You just don't know what to expect. It's kind of like starting the year over.''

With three missed cuts, a withdrawal at Doral and less than $13,000 in official earnings after six events, Duval was just happy to be back on the course.

``I'm just excited to be playing,'' he said. ``It doesn't matter whether it's here, at the B.C. Open or Memphis.''

Actually, it might matter a little more, considering he grew up with the TPC at Sawgrass virtually in his back yard and made a brief and undistinguished Players Championship debut last year with consecutive 78s.

``The key is get it in the fairways first,'' said Duval, who hit all 14 fairways but only 12-of-18 greens. Still, he needed only 28 putts to get around the course.

Not bad for only eight days of practice.

Duval's performance didn't surprise Charlie Rymer, a Tour rookie and a former teammate of Duval's at Georgia Tech.

``We played a couple of times earlier this week, and it looked like he was swinging a lot better,'' Rymer said. ``A few weeks ago he was hitting a lot of 'Atlanta Braves' Fred´ McGriffs - one hand on the club.''

Playing with Ian Woosnam and Billy Andrade in the first morning group, Duval made the turn at even par, courtesy of a 25-foot par-saving putt at the par-5 ninth.

Salvaging par after dribbling his third shot 20 feet from the rough proved to be the turning point.

``You want to make a birdie first instead of a bogey, because you always feel like you're crawling backward,'' said Duval, who put his game in fast forward with short putts for birdie at Nos. 11 and 12.

Rolling in a 16-foot birdie putt at the difficult 14th hole, Duval made a brief leaderboard appearance at 3 under, only to fall back after failing to birdie the par-five 16th and bogeying from out of the lakeside sand trap at No. 18.

Still, Duval had no misgivings about a first-round performance that left him five shots off the lead.

``I'm not competitively sharp, like I would be next week or the week after,'' said Duval, who would like to extend the string of first-time Tour winners to four consecutive weeks.

``That 'winning´ is always on my mind,'' he said. ``I try to have the discipline not to play if I can't win.''

Mission accomplished, so far.