Duval refuses to let go

Defending Open champion David Duval saw the Claret Jug slip further from his grasp, but refused to concede that his reign was over just yet.

Sat, 20 Jul, 2002 - 15:50

Defending Open champion David Duval saw the Claret Jug slip further from his grasp, but refused to concede that his reign was over just yet.

Duval shot a 70 to leave himself at level par after the third round, six strokes behind the overnight leaders, and he is determined to hang on to his title until the last possible moment.

‘‘It is not quite over yet - you never know,’’ said the American. ‘‘But I have a lot of work ahead of me.

‘‘I felt if I could get myself to three, four or five under for the tournament then anything was possible, and I was close to doing that but didn’t quite finish it off.

‘‘It’s not the fact I am six behind, although that’s a big gap anyway, it’s that there are a lot of players between me and the lead.

‘‘Being the defending champion has been wonderful, I have been very honoured and proud to have been champion for the year.’’

Duval again likened his golf to a ‘‘broken record’’ as he failed to make the most of the chances he created.

‘‘I am playing okay but not really taking advantage of my opportunities and not finishing off my rounds,’’ he said.

‘‘I have done that every day here, and it has been like a broken record for me for a few months. The good thing is, I do have the opportunities.

‘‘I have been thought well, been fairly steady and managed my game well, but have made some bad shots and not taken advantage of my chances.

‘‘It is frustrating, but that’s the game of golf and I have played only a couple of rounds of golf in my life where I have walked off entirely happy with everything that happened on the day. Maybe I am a perfectionist, but that is how it is.’’

British Open Leaderboard - third round

6 under - Ernie Els (Rsa) (36)

Shigeki Maruyama (Jpn) (36)

Padraig Harrington (36)

Duffy Waldorf (USA) (36)

Bob Tway (USA) (36)

5 under - Soren Hansen (Den) (36)

Carl Pettersson (Swe) (36)

Des Smyth (36)

4 under - Jeff Maggert (USA) (41)

Thomas Bjorn (Den) (38)

Mark O’Meara (USA) (38)