MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 9, 2002

David Duval

P. DAN YATES: Well, good morning everybody. We're delighted to have David Duval here with us this morning. He's runner-up a couple of times, including last year, and he's won the British Open last year, and he's won a bunch of PGA TOUR tournaments, 13, I think. So suppose we have David just make a few comments before y'all have a go at him, if you don't mind.

DAVID DUVAL: Well, it's always great to be back. I came up on Saturday morning and spent the weekend here to check out the golf course before it got too busy. A lot of golf course out there now. (Smiles.) The greens were a real treat to be on, to be able to see them for a couple of days, and what you get used to seeing late Sunday afternoon on tournament week. My golf is very good. Again, my results haven't shown that, but it's very good and I'm really looking forward to playing this week again.

P. DAN YATES: Questions, please.

Q. David, you didn't play the course after the changes until this week. Is there anything that was different or very similar to what you had heard?

DAVID DUVAL: I think the way that the changes were done, the way that they have really settled in, and they just kind of seem to fit and flow so well, I wasn't as overwhelmed as I thought I might have been. It seemed very natural to me, kind of like they had been there for quite some time. That's the best way I can explain my reaction.

Q. Everybody is so familiar with this course. Do you have to both think of, on the tee, a new place that you've got to hit it, or what about club selection; is that a problem or is it pretty straightforward?

DAVID DUVAL: Well, I think it's -- the best way I can equate it is a lot like playing at St. Andrews, is that you didn't have to hit it at certain parts of the fairway, but if you don't hit it in certain parts, that makes the approach that much more difficult. I think most of the adjustments that will need to be made here are the approaches into the greens. It used to be you just drive it down there, and you used to hit a shorter club in some holes and now when you're faced with a 5, 6, 7-iron to the first, a driving area that is much tighter on 7, same thing with 9 where it's a tighter chute and you have more club now, and same with 11.

14, you know, as opposed to hitting 9-iron in the past, I played the other day and hit 6-iron. You've got to be a lot more careful with those kind of clubs into these greens.

And then you come up to 18, which is a pretty small target and you are hitting 4-, 5-, 6-iron. I think what it does, it's going to force the players into the middle of the greens more, and hence, probably scores will be a little bit higher.

Q. 18, would you say maybe that's a three-club difference?

DAVID DUVAL: I would say it's a four or five actually, yeah.

Q. Talking a little more about 18, can you talk about the test that now poses as a finishing hole now versus before, and if you can also just talk more about your strategy on how you approach that hole now?

DAVID DUVAL: Well, for me, I'll still probably try to hit the same type of shot. However I won't be hoping to land the ball behind the trees to the right where I don't see it. Still, I'll try to hit a cut off the tee.

You have to be a little more careful off the tee because it's so tight coming out of there. And then again, if you have to make a 3, in the past to tie or win, that was certainly well within reason, and now, it's the type of hole where I think if you happen to make a 3 to tie or win, you have to rely on doing it by making a putt, a 15, 20, 25-foot putt. You know, it would take a heck of a lot of guts and a heck of a great shot to hit a 6-iron or 5-iron tight to some of those pins because the margin for error is nil then now. And I think that's how it changes the dynamic.

Q. We've heard about how dramatic the changes at 18 have been. What's the next most dramatic change in your opinion on any of the holes?

DAVID DUVAL: I think in my opinion, probably the approach to the first green. And the other one that I would say is the approach to 14. Simply because the target areas are so small on those greens anyway, and now as opposed to hitting a short iron, you're hitting in the neighborhood of a 6-iron, and that becomes that much more difficult to do that. And the holes were difficult as they were, but now they are going to be that much harder.

Q. Is a 7-wood going to stay in the bag?

DAVID DUVAL: I would imagine so. It could come in very handy.

Q. You're saying your game is good now. Why haven't the results shown it?

DAVID DUVAL: You know, I would say simply because I haven't just gone out and played and gotten out of my own way. I've been so focused on the golf ball and working on things that I needed to work on that I haven't completely transitioned out of that into just playing again, and that's what I've done so well in the past is just I've reacted to my targets and have just reacted out that way when I'm playing, as opposed to looking down on the ground, and that's all I need to do now.

Q. You've contended here on Sunday, obviously, for several years in the last few years. How have those experiences shaped your thinking coming into -- if you happen to get into that position again on Sunday, does that affect you at all or is it just ancient history?

DAVID DUVAL: It gives me some confidence in that I've done that coming off of not playing well in here, coming off of playing well and coming off of not even playing. (Laughter.) You know, I've kind of run the gamut on it.

So, I'm expecting some really good things this week, and I think the thing that benefits me the most is I know exactly what it feels like, and it's not just from one time; it's from three, four, five times, whatever it may be. And so I know how Sunday afternoon, I'm going to react and how my body is going to react and what my emotions will be, and I think that can only help.

Q. What does it feel like?

DAVID DUVAL: Well, you have to really temper your excitement, your nerves. It's a great challenge to really stay focused on what you're doing at the time, as opposed to thinking ahead, whether it be a hole or two, or to what the outcome may be. The rush is hard to explain, really, and the adrenaline is so strong. And it feels like it's the only place I'd ever want to be. It's kind of where -- it's kind of what you work for and where you want to be and how you want to feel. You feel ecstatic and you feel sick at the same time, so it's an amazing -- a lot of amazing things go through your head and through your body that day.

Q. People watching on TV are going to be seeing a lot of the front nine. On that part of the course, is there anything that's a favorite of yours to play?

DAVID DUVAL: I think No. 1 has not been talked about much. I don't know the exact stats, Mr. Yates might be able to help, but it seems like it's the fourth or fifth most difficult hole of the week and I think it's probably going to be even that much higher in that ranking.

Some of the things you don't get to see on television on the back nine, on the front, of dramatic elevation changes, a few huge rolling undulations in greens.

I think that for a short shot, the shot on 3 is about as demanding as they come in this game. That middle to long iron that you have to hit to 4 green is an amazingly difficult shot. Same thing with 5. Just hitting that green is an accomplishment.

I mean, really we could just start on 1 and go 1 through 18 and talk about how difficult it is. Same thing with 6, hitting it in the right areas with the right tiers.

The only kind of softish pin on 6 is that back left, middle left because you have two-thirds of the green where you can hit it and still be okay, but if the pin gets in the front left, back right a couple of times, you really have to be in the proper areas.

The depth of the 7th green is just -- I think it's the -- the depth is about the difference between a 9-iron and pitching wedge. It's a 12, 13-yard depth that requires extreme precision. And No. 9, dealing with the tiers of that green is very difficult, especially now that you are hitting more club.

Q. Do you feel you've handled your emotions better each time you've been in contention? Can you see a progression?

DAVID DUVAL: I think so. I think I've done a better job of staying focused on what I'm doing and not getting ahead of myself, and really performing. Last year was a heck of a test for me because I started out with a chance, I think I was four back or three back, and bogeyed the very first hole and had to make a 4-footer to do that. Then I made a couple of quick birdies, I made a ten-foot putt for bogey on 4, and just to kind of stay with it like I did last year, and reel off some birdies off that, I think I've shown that I can play under the conditions and the circumstances. I feel that's what lacked here for me in the past is -- the things that happened so well for me on Sunday and Saturday at Lytham, a couple of those good bounces and a couple of key putts that went in are the only thing that's been missing here for me.

Q. With the emotions that you described so colorfully here, the ecstatic and sick things, were they the exact same things you felt at Lytham or is it different here?

DAVID DUVAL: I think it's a little bit different here, probably because a couple of reasons. One of which would be the familiarity of the event. It doesn't move. We're always playing here. You kind of know the shots you're going to be faced with ahead of time.

I think the other, the second reason, and there's probably a few others, but second, main reason I would say, is that because there's no let up. There's really not a place that you can take a breath and just hit it down there and hit it on to the green and just kind of 2-putt and take a little bit of a breather. That doesn't happen once you step on the first tee. That's why when you walk off this golf course after playing a competitive round here, you're just beat up.

Q. This is your second major since winning your first major, and having proven that you can win a worldwide event, do you enter this tournament with a little bit more dynamic confidence or relaxation?

DAVID DUVAL: I come in here with great expectations of myself, but at the same time, with the intent of just trying to play again, something I haven't done in quite some time, forgetting about playing great and forgetting about trying to play great. I did such a good job of that at Lytham and I did such a good job last year here. I played really, one of the best weeks I played last week was at the PGA. I believe had I putted like I did at the Open Championship, I may very well have won that golf tournament.

But I come in with expectations of myself, but at the same time without much expectations, of really just hoping I can do a good job of just going and playing again. I know that if I can do that, then I have a great chance. And that's where I need to get my head to again.

Q. Obviously this tournament seems to consistently bring out some of your best golf. Have you ever been able to put your finger on some reasons why that is?

DAVID DUVAL: One is because I have just always enjoyed being here. I felt comfortable here. Some of that probably predates my participation in the Masters tournament back to coming up here when I was in high school with a member, Mr. LeBlond, and playing, and then coming over when the Yates' hosted the Tech team with some other members. So I kind of was familiar with what the club was about and how the -- how it looked inside being in the clubhouse, just the kind of small things that can be a little bit overwhelming initially. And I think just the relationship you gain over the years with the membership and the staff here, you know, it's a bit of coming home again each year, and I think those are some of the reasons I've played so well.

Q. Obviously you've had a few tournaments here where you could have won. Have you ever left feeling like you should have won?

DAVID DUVAL: I felt like '98 I should have won, yes. I felt like probably -- I think it was 2000, I should have won. This is just personal stuff, but, you ask the guys who did and they will tell you the same thing. I felt, obviously, last year I could have. Yes, I missed a couple of putts on 16, 17, 18 but I made absolutely every one of them from 1 to 15, so I got a lot out of my round on that day. '99, I was a little far back. I had a chance, until the 11th really.

Those would be the two I would say I felt like I should have.

Q. Not just yourself but some of the other top players in the Top-10 they have all had really good finishes here over the years. Why is it that this event has allowed some of the best players to play their best golf, if they have not necessarily won, but a lot have tied for third, fourth, that kind of thing?

DAVID DUVAL: I would imagine some of it, some of the feelings I just described. You get used to being here, you expect to be here, you expect to play great here, you develop a good rapport with the people around the club.

I think as far as the golf itself goes, it requires a very good thinking combined with precise ball-striking and then good strategy putting, and then obviously making putts.

Any time that you get in a golf tournament, I feel that requires you to, especially with some of the changes that have now been made the last few years, it requires you to drive the golf ball well, requires you to think well in your approaches and then execute those shots, and then requires you to realize that 6-foot birdie putt you have isn't a birdie putt; it's a par putt. I think those are the things that make the top players come to the top a lot here.

Q. Talking about familiarity and comfort, things like that, can you talk about some of the routines and rituals that you have developed coming here year after year?

DAVID DUVAL: I try, the last few years -- last year I came off an injury coming in, and this year I came in the same time. I come in here a little early. Again, going back to having played here when I was at Georgia Tech and stuff, I kept getting asked, "Have you gone to Augusta and played"? Well, no, I haven't.

"Well don't you want to see the changes?" Well, I'll see them soon enough, and I know what it's like in January and February here. I didn't want to play a golf course that was different from the one we are seeing here this week. I knew it was going to be difficult anyway and I didn't want to have a pre-tournament mindset before I got here of, "Oh, boy."

So, I come in here a little bit early and try to do a really good job of pacing myself, and nine holes here, nine holes there, maybe one full round during the week before the tournament starts, and then spending some time putting and chipping and just giving yourself -- because I think you hear all of the players talk about the excitement of being here and you hear -- you even hear some players talk about just of playing here.

So I think that part of my approach is that I know what I'm going to feel like and how excited I'm going to be to be here, so I come in early to really pace myself and kind of wean myself off of that excitement and just slowly ease into approaching it like it's another golf tournament.

Q. In terms of eating at the same restaurants, staying at the same places, tipping the same clubhouse guy, things you do year-in and year-out can you give us some examples of that?

DAVID DUVAL: Tipping? (Laughter.) They allow tipping here? (Laughter.) Wow. I'm in trouble.

Well, for me, the last several years, I don't know the exact number, but three, four years maybe, I've rented a couple of houses relatively close. Eat in virtually every night with the exception of maybe going over to the IMG house or going and seeing the Nike people and eating over there one night. Really, that's it. It's pretty boring. We're not going down to restaurants and doing these kind of things. You all can see how busy it is. You look out at Washington Road, it's a complete zoo, so try to avoid that as much as possible. Just treat it as easily as I can, and again, just try to enjoy the week and not make too much of it.

Q. What is Sunday night like after contending and not winning?

DAVID DUVAL: Well, the first time it was a bad night. '98 was a tough night. Looking back on it, a couple of funny things happened that afternoon as the tournament ended. That night it was tough to swallow.

Again, Mark O'Meara has been really good to me since I was a younger player, and so my disappointment balanced with the excitement for him, to kind of complete a career, if you will, or certainly take that step towards completing a career, was a tough thing to deal with.

The other times, I guess '99, I think, wasn't nearly as bad. 2000 was a little difficult because I was right there and just for lack of a few putts, maybe a bad decision here and there. And then last year wasn't terrible at all. I started a little further back than I would have liked but did everything I could on Sunday, and so I felt really good about that.

Q. Do you feel like you're at a disadvantage -- Tiger, as good as he is, knows they can win here, and a lot of guys like Phil and yourself have not proven that. Is that a big disadvantage?

DAVID DUVAL: Well, first of all, I would disagree a little bit with what you said. I feel like I've proven that I can win here. No, I don't have a coat sitting upstairs in the locker, but under the circumstances of having a chance starting the final day, I've put you up the scores. I just have been beaten.

But at the same time, you're right, in the sense that I have not proven that I can win here. So I don't feel like it's a -- I might agree with you more if you remove Lytham, but I think I've completely proven that under those circumstances of the biggest, most important championship tournaments in the world, that I can play and perform and win. So, I feel good.

Q. The changes that were made, how many fewer birdies are there out there?

DAVID DUVAL: That's a heck of a question. I don't know how I would put a number on that, or how, what kind of number you put on the increased difficulty of the golf course. I'm probably like most of y'all in this room; I don't know where they are going to put the tees. So I don't imagine they will be on the back edge of every hole. I guess it will depend on the expectations of wind and weather and such. But I would think that the difficulty has gone from, increased by probably three quarters of a shot to a shot and a half, for sure. And the biggest places that those will be reflected are the first hole, the 14th hole, and the 18th hole. I think that's where those scores will be that much -- that little bit higher.

Q. Do you think these changes were necessary?

DAVID DUVAL: Were they necessary?

Yeah, I do think in the end think that they were necessary. Because, you know what I think now what Augusta National has given itself and the Masters Tournament is more options, and that's what was necessary. If we were playing the golf course like it has been the last several years and we get this rain that's expected the next few days, then you might have seen another 15, 16-under. But I think because of these changes, even if you get that type of weather where the conditions get softer like really it hasn't in the past several years because of weather, you can still -- scores can still be more manageable, I guess, if you will. I don't think you'll see that 16 or 17. You could, if you get a player who is putting just unbelievably great. But I think you'll see 70s, a lot of 70s each day, 71, scores that are kind of more reflective of the other majors, I guess.

Q. What's wrong with 15 or 16 or 17-under winning?

DAVID DUVAL: I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

Q. Don't you usually get the guys that are playing the best at the end of the week anyway?

DAVID DUVAL: Yes, I do.

I don't think there's anything wrong with it. I would personally agree that the way the scores were getting there is what was wrong with it, in that it was -- it was being done with wedges and 9-irons and just blasting it over the bunkers on 18 or over the trees even to the right.

So, you know, now you really still need to hit the golf ball hard off the tees, but you also better pay attention to where it goes. Where in the past, I think you had to hit the golf ball hard off the tee, but it didn't matter as much where it went.

Q. Related to that, what's your theory on whether or not the longer hitters have more of an advantage than they used to or not?

DAVID DUVAL: Well, given everything else being equal, a player who is longer, as opposed to a player who hits it 20 yards shorter, and if they are hitting their irons and putting the same, I'm betting on the guy that is 20 yards longer.

But I think on a golf course that requires more middle irons and such, there's not -- I don't think there's a great difference of approach from a 7-iron to a 4-iron on -- 7-iron might be a little bit, but certainly from a 4, 5, 6-iron, I don't think there's a lot of different approach into how you hit it into a green. You're not attacking too often with a 6-iron into a major championship.

So I think what has happened is although in the end, I would say it has helped out the longer hitter, but if you are having a player who is a medium hitter who is striking the ball well, I think his chances are very good, as well.

Q. Did Lytham change you as a person or a player, and if so, how?

DAVID DUVAL: I don't think it has as a player. I know it hasn't as a person.

As a golfer, I'm probably like everybody in this room who plays golf, you sit there at times thinking, Man, what am I doing? How can I hit that kind of shot?

Like I said, not necessarily since Lytham, but really since probably the U.S. PGA, I've struggled a little bit, mentally and physically, and I don't mean with injuries, but just with my game. And like anybody, and I guess I've started making the mistakes that the amateur golfer makes, which is really getting focused on swinging the golf club and hitting the golf ball, which is the wrong way to play this game. The game is about -- it's not down here at your feet, it's out there at your target and it involves what you have to write on your card.

Although I believe what I've been doing has been necessary for my game to get it back to where it is, at the same time, I now have to kind of stop that and just move forward and play again and react better. And is that attributable to Lytham? I don't think so. Lytham was probably -- purely based on ball-striking is probably the third best I hit it of the four majors last year. I feel like I hit it really good here and the U.S. PGA, but Lytham was by far the best putting. This one was second, I think.

But I did the things, and I've looked at the stats and I know I've said it and people say, well, that's not exactly what the stats say. Well, I don't care about the stats, but from here to here, the length of this table, eight feet, those are the important ones and I didn't miss them that week. That's why I won that golf tournament.

So, I just, again, I don't feel like I'm a different player or a different person. I just want to -- you know I'm just aiming to be the player that I was and know that I can be.

I've been sidetracked unfortunately. Right now I feel as good on me as I have in couple of years; you know, nothing on me hurts. I feel healthy again, which has been the better part of two years that I have felt that way. I'm expecting great thing, but at the same time, I'm not forcing it, I'm trying not to hurry it. I'm just trying to work my way back there and take my time.

Q. Can you talk about what the 7-wood does for you, on this course particularly?

DAVID DUVAL: My thinking on using that kind of club was that it would be that much easier to get up into the air, maybe that much more versatile with chipping, with playing out of the first cut of rough. Certainly going to be able to -- it's an easier club to hit of a hanging lie than a 2-iron would be. And some of it, I personally believe, and the people who know the technology better that maybe could better answer this, might say I'm wrong, but I kind of believe that the way the construction of the golf ball has changed, that that kind of club is more suited to the golf balls that are used today, as opposed to just a piece of metal, a real small blade without much loft down there. I think that kind of club matches up better with today's balls. You're not looking at compressing the ball as much as you did in the past and spinning it. Those are characteristics that are almost built-in with the urethane covers and the hard cores and things like that.

I think you just try to -- it's a part of, we talk about how the game is changing and the players are bigger and stronger and it's going further, but you have to start matching up equipment, too, a little bit. Give me five more years and I might have a 9-wood. (Laughter.)

Q. What's the yardage range?

DAVID DUVAL: 230 to 250. The 250 is kind of a stretch, but under optimal, yeah.

Q. I'm sure you haven't spent a lot of time thinking about it, but are you disappointed to see that Jack is not playing this year and may not play in another Masters?

DAVID DUVAL: Very, I think like anybody else. I'm a big fan, and when you think of the Masters Tournament, you think of Jack Nicklaus. And for me, especially, you think of 1986, because of my age. You think of Arnold Palmer and Gary Player and Seve Ballesteros, Sam Snead, Byron Nelson. Those are the people you think of. And to see them not participating, you know, you realize that the game is changing. It's slowly changing. It's unfortunate, I think we would all go out there just to watch Jack play. But he's a proud man with an unbelievable record, and hopefully he finishes on his terms.

Q. What's the loft on that 7-wood?

DAVID DUVAL: I don't know. I think it's somewhere around 19 to 20-degrees.

Q. Does it have a name?

DAVID DUVAL: No. Seven. (Laughs).

Q. If you win this week, will you call it a David Wood?

DAVID DUVAL: I doubt it.

Q. I think Ray Floyd made a 5-wood famous when he won?

DAVID DUVAL: He used the five when he won, yeah, for just a couple shots.

Q. Is that what you're doing?

DAVID DUVAL: That's what I'm thinking. It's no different than carrying a 2-iron. It's not like you use a 2-iron a lot. It's the same kind of thing.

Q. Have you checked with Tiger that he also feels ecstatic and sick at the same time or do you just assume it?

DAVID DUVAL: I promise you he does. And if he tells you differently, he's lying. (Laughter.)

Q. Since the Players, have you found time to read your father's book?

DAVID DUVAL: I have not, cover to cover, no. I'm holding out my critique.

P. DAN YATES: Thank you all for being here.

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