[Despite an injury to his wrist that forced him to miss the four Tour events preceding the Masters, Duval shot a very fit 71-66-70 and then, playing two groups ahead of Sunday's leaders, unreeled seven birdies in the first 10 holes to grab a share of the lead with Woods. Duval, who was in the hunt on Sunday before losing to Vijay Singh at Augusta last year and to O'Meara three years ago, kept track of Woods as best he could. Roars would rattle through the pines, one neighboring rill to another, and frankly,] It seemed like a lack of them, ... I was thinking, I'm in it. |
[Duval knows he faces an uphill battle.] People talk about the grip change being so hard, but for me that has been the easiest thing, ... The hardest thing has been changing the way I release the club. I'm still not doing that like I want. I still have a tendency to do it the way I used to, and with the grip change, that's not a good mix. |
A little bit. Maybe not as much as I used to. |
Are there little steps or small victories involved? Sure, I guess. Buy my goal isn't to make cuts. I know I'm playing well enough to win tournaments. It's a matter of staying with it. |
Confidence is such a fragile and precious thing. |
Even when he was 50 to 55, 57, 58, you kept thinking that magic he brings would somehow show up. It really wasn't until he had health problems with his hip and his back that it changed. That's the magic of Jack. |
Frankly, I'm playing well enough to win tournaments. |
Good question. We'll find out. |
He seems to be playing well. He's hitting it solid, and pretty straight and long. It's a good combination here. |
How can you interpret it that way? Explain that to me, please. |
Hyper-mobility in the joint, where it moves around too much. It keeps popping around and flares it up. That's my guess. |
I don't think this answers whether I can get it back. But I still know how to play, how to compete. |
I don't think this answers whether I can get it back. But I still know how to play, how to compete. Standing on that tee, I knew I had to make at least one birdie, if not two. And you can't hit it as good as I did on those holes. The heat was there, and I did it. |
I feel like I won the golf swing battles. Now it's a matter of building confidence again. |
I finally scored. For the round I played as far as ball-striking, it was one of the worst of the year. |