No hiding from the Ryder thing

Winning has been an alien habit for David Duval this season. At Mount Juliet, though, there is increasing evidence that his downward spiral - which has seen him fall from number three in the world rankings to 12th inside a year - should at least be halted and possibly even reversed.

Yesterday was one of those days that brought us back to the radar-like drives, crisp iron play and smooth putting stroke that made him the world's number one for a time and which brought him major success in the British Open last year.

Since then, things haven't gone too well, although he did win a tournament in Japan - the Dunlop Phoenix - last October. Remarkably, that's the last time he savoured success.

In shooting a second round 65 for 136 yesterday, Duval leapt from relative obscurity to get onto the tail-ends of his friend, Tiger Woods. He may be six shots adrift of Woods, but a continuance of his birdie feast - he had eight yesterday - would at least propel him in the right direction.

"The thing I haven't done this year, the thing that I've done a little bit better as of late, is that I've put the ball in play. It's as simple as that. I played out of fairways as opposed to playing out of the rough," said Duval. "I'm feeling more confident with my play, and that comes from hitting the golf ball where I'm looking to. It comes from having a day like today, when I executed everything I was trying to do."

Duval, as he put it, "played smart". He hit 17 greens in regulation and "didn't have the chance to make a mistake", which is something that hasn't happened for a long time. His poor form so far this season can be attributed to his poor driving.

"It all stems from driving the ball poorly. I think that's where the majority of it comes from. When you don't keep it in play, you have very little chance to compete . . . your opportunities are decreased, and then it feeds into when you do have a chance, and you put that much more pressure on yourself.

"I've played for about nine years as a pro up until this year and have driven it well. That's where a lot of my strength has come from."

The evidence yesterday confirmed that Duval's driving, which had gone AWOL for much of the year, had returned, and the quality of his iron approach play was such that he moved into a top-10 position and almost, if not quite, got on to the heels of Woods.

If he keeps the driving straight, and holes putts on greens that he claimed "have impressed everybody", then Duval may be closer to returning to the winner's enclosure than it would have seemed just a month ago.