David Duval Has 14 On Par-5 Seventh At The Open

After starting well the American had a poor stretch of holes that included a 14

David Duval Has 14 On Par-5 Seventh At The Open

Former world number one and 2001 Open Champion David Duval can be forgiven for thinking he was in for a good day during the first few holes of the first round at Royal Portrush. He birdied the first two holes and then had a couple of pars to be two-under par after four holes. His mind was probably wandering and dreaming of a fairytale finish of lifting the Claret Jug come Sunday.

How quickly he was bought back down to earth if that was the case. On the par-4 5th Duval undid all of his good work with an eight. A bogey followed on the par-3 6th but things went from bad to worse for the American at the new par-5 7th.

To many this is a birdie opportunity but Duval managed to walk off the green with what was originally scored as a 15 on the leaderboard. However this was quickly brought down to a 13 and then changed again to a 14!

How exactly this happened is fairly complicated to explain.

Duval hit two provisional balls off the 7th tee and believed he was playing his third provisional for most of the hole when he eventually realised he was playing his second. This led to him going all the way back to the tee to start all over again. Confusing we know and that explains why it was initially scored as a 15, then a 13, and finally a 14. The picture bellows helps explain the mix-up better.

What can be confirmed is that this was the highest score at The Open since the PGA Tour started tracking hole-by-hole records in 1983. Duval then rounded out the front nine with a par and another bogey to post 48.

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Another player who had a nightmare start to The Open was Rory McIlroy who carded a quadruple bogey eight on the par-4 first. This included his very first shot going out of bounds and a penalty drop after finding thick rough to the left of the green.

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