The galleries following the world's hottest golfer have bulged to Tigeresque proportions this week. For the members of Team Duval, the growing masses made it virtually impossible to get a close-up look at their tournament favorite during the second round of the 63rd Masters.
Friends and family didn't see what happened to David Duval at No. 15 on Friday, and it probably was just as well they didn't.
For the No. 1 player in the world, a triple-bogey 8 on the par-5 15th suddenly put lofty expectations in serious doubt.
``I had a tough hole, and I just have to play better if I want to have a chance on Sunday,'' said Duval, whose second-round 2-over-par 74 Friday put him at 1-over-par 145 for the tournament, nine shots off the lead of Jose Maria Olazabal. ``I was managing and getting around OK, but I just made a bad shot on 15 and it hurt.''
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Caddie Mitch Knox helps Duval line up a putt on the seventh green. Michael Holahan/Chronicle Staff
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After a bogey at No. 4 dropped him to even-par for the tournament, Duval birdied the par-3 sixth and the par-4 seventh to go to 2-under. But on No. 15, he hit his tee shot into the new trees along the right side of the fairway and found bigger trouble moments later.
On his third shot, Duval landed a sand wedge on the treacherous left side of the green, but the ball spun back into the pond. After a drop and one-stroke penalty, Duval chipped over the back of the green in five, chipped on with his sixth shot and two-putted for his first triple-bogey this year.
``I think that is what's so great about this place,'' Duval said. ``It makes you look foolish at times. It certainly made me look foolish on 15.''
Another lapse resulting in bogey at No. 17 dropped Duval further from contention, but he finished strong on No. 18 with a 9-iron approach to 6 feet and an easy putt for birdie.
``It just meant I had one fewer to make up,'' Duval said, ``But it was certainly a nice way to leave.''
Despite coming under intense scrutiny in his fourth Masters appearance, Duval said his frustrating round Friday was not the result of feeling the heat or losing focus.
As Team Duval roamed the galleries, led by girlfriend Julie McArthur and father Bob Duval -- who won his first Senior PGA Tour title in Pensacola, Fla., the week David won The Players Championship -- his friends said Duval has been holding up well under the microscope.
``He's always been steady and doesn't get too far up or too far down ,'' said Kevin Cook, who grew up with Duval in Jacksonville, Fla., and is a law student at Mercer University in Macon. ``He's always just confident and positive.''
Michael Craven, another childhood buddy and a member of an inseparable group Duval's parents called the Rat Pack, was amazed to see the huge galleries following the former Georgia Tech All-America.
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Nick Price (front) and David Duval wait to tee off on the fourth hole during the second round of the Masters on Friday. Michael Holahan/Chronicle Staff
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``We came out after the rain delay (Thursday) and no one was around, and we actually got to see David play three or four holes basically by ourselves,'' said Craven, who lives in Los Angeles and writes for an ad agency. ``Now, you can't even see a hole. We've been listening to him play this round, kind of going on the crowd reactions.''
Cook said Duval has tuned out the hype. Some were worried that this week's Sports Illustrated -- which features a poignant look at Duval's somewhat tumultuous life and a cover photo of Duval holding a smoking golf club -- would be a major distraction.
``With this (the Masters) being such a big deal, I don't think he wants anything that could possibly distract him,'' Cook said. ``There are some revealing things in the beginning of that article that could make him start thinking when he should be thinking about golf. Just to protect himself, he decided he was going to read it after Sunday. Julie read it, and they decided together that he should wait until next week to read it.''
Duval's chances take dip at 15
