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Golf
© St. Petersburg Times, published March 21, 2003
ORLANDO -- The number looked a lot worse than what really transpired.
At least that's the way David Duval viewed his 79 during the opening round of the Bay Hill Invitational.
The 2001 British Open champion continues to struggle, but two weeks ago he was diagnosed with positional vertigo, which can cause dizziness, among other symptoms. Duval said he felt fine Thursday; it's his golf game that has yet to heal.
Duval has missed three cuts in four stroke-play appearances this season and lost in the first round of the Match Play Championship.
He shot a second-round 80 two weeks ago at Doral before the vertigo diagnosis. Although the number wasn't much better Thursday, Duval saw improvement.
"I hit the ball pretty damn solid," he said. "All you can report is the score and the consequences of that. But I'm happy with the way I'm hitting the ball. I had some trouble, but the shots I hit were very solid."
GROWLING BEAR: It is a rare day when Jack Nicklaus does not stop to talk about his round. A double-bogey, triple-bogey finish after the first round likely had something to do with it.
Nicklaus, 63, who is trying to get his game in shape to play in next month's Masters, declined to talk to reporters after shooting 82 that included 45 on the back nine. Nicklaus made the turn at 37 but had two double bogeys and a triple bogey in his last six holes.
ARNIE'S LAST ROUND: Tournament host Arnold Palmer shot 87 and could be playing his last round in a PGA Tour event today, something he often has hinted at recently.
"I'm not going to worry about that," Palmer, 73, said. "I'm going to play golf, and whether it's on the PGA Tour, the senior tour or in somebody's back yard, I'm going to be playing, somewhere. I'm not that sentimental. ... Hell, I've had so many last rounds, I'm kind of getting tired of the last round."
ODDS AND ENDS: The last time a score of 3 under par led a PGA Tour event was at the 2002 U.S. Open at Bethpage Black. ... Six players were tied for the lead -- just like last season, the last time that many tied for the opening-round lead in a tour event. No players managed to get around Bay Hill without a bogey. ... The hardest hole of the opening round was the par-3 second, which yielded just five birdies. The par-3 17th was the second hardest, with six players hitting the green in regulation.