Misery for Duval at the 17th

David Duval stretching at the first tee

History will not be kind to David Duval's final round at the 129th Open Championships at St Andrews.

Unfortunately for the world number two, his demise came predictably at the notorious 17th - the 'road' hole.

At that stage, the American was lying on 11 under with no chance of catching eventual champion Tiger Woods, but with a solid chance of finishing tied second with Ernie Els and Thomas Bjorn.

There was little prospect of what was to follow after his tee shot which landed on the right side of the fairway, the ideal side to attack the green.

Bunker

But his second shot went straight into the bunker by the side of the green. In a horrible place at the front of the trap, Duval twice hit shots into the face of the bunker before electing to take a penalty drop and knocking a shot onto the green, but away from the pin.

Two putts later and the ball had finally sunk, but Duval had carded an eight, taking him back to seven under and out of the top ten.

Such a finish to his round had seemed unthinkable during the opening nine holes, as he made four birdies to put some pressure on his playing partner Woods.

Playing a similar game to Woods, taking irons on quite a few of the par fours, Duval consistently landed his approach shots to within 15 feet or closer.

Testing times for David Duval during the back nine

After turning for home on 14 under, Duval failed to better his tally.

Instead a bogey at the 12th hole ended any realistic chance that he had of making a pursuit.

The hole, a 314-yard par four, is the type of hole that Duval and Woods find well within their range from the tee. Both players went for it, with Woods going past the hole and Duval coming up short.

But Duval failed to get over the bank with his second and his third shot was also underhit, which left him with a tricky par putt which he failed to make.

A bogey at the next hole and at the 16th brought him back in touch with the pack at 11 under, before the nightmare at the 17th.