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Thirteen: unlucky for some. Particularly if your name is David Duval.
That’s how many shots it took the former world No.1 to play the par-5 eighth at Royal Portrush in today’s opening round of this year’s Open.
The 47-year-old, the ‘Champion Golfer of the Year’ in 2001, had started his round with back-to-back birdies, followed by a brace of pars.
Then it started to unravel.
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An eight at the par-4 fifth dropped him back to two-over. A further bogey followed at the par-3 six.
Then came the shocker at seven.
According to Sir Nick Faldo, commentating on television, the calamitous 13 included playing the wrong ball – something that Faldo himself did during the 1994 Open.
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In the end, he was out in FORTY-EIGHT. Reminder: he birdied the first two.
As if the ignominy of carding double-digits on a single hole wasn’t bad enough, Duval also set a new record for the highest score at The Open in the 21st century. It is, in fact, the highest score in the championship since hole-by-hole records began in 1983.
The previous high was 11, clocked up by four players. Henrik Stenson was the most of those, in the 2011 championship at Royal St George’s.
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