LAS VEGAS, Nev. -- If he had made his eagle putts, David Duval would be just two shots off the lead at the Invensys Classic at Las Vegas after three rounds. Instead he is five back.
Duval, whose form has been improving since the Ryder Cup two weeks ago, carded eight birdies and three bogeys on the TPC at Summerlin course Friday to finish the day with a 5-under 67. He's tied with a large group of players at 200, in eighth place.
Playing the nines in reverse order at the par-72 course, Duval faced eagle putts on the par-5 13th, the short par-4 15th and the par-5 16th. All missed and he walked away with birdies on those holes.
Duval's putting has been a bit irregular this week, as he's turned in rounds with 30, 30 and 31 putts respectively. He's tied for 105th in the field in putting and 104th in putts per green in regulation (1.795 for the week).
More commonly, Duval shows more skill on the greens. He has a 28.80 putting average in 2002, which ranks 67th, and a 1.742 putts per GIR average, 23rd best on the PGA Tour.
BYE-BYE BOOM-BOOM: For Fred Couples, 12 was not a lucky number in Las Vegas. Couples saw his streak of 11 consecutive cuts made at this tournament topple after rounds of 68-75-70.
Couples, who finished tied for second two weeks ago at the Valero Texas Open, has made 13 cuts in 16 events played this year, and has battled a continuing back injury that threatens his career.
"I've had nothing but problems, half of June, all of July, quite a bit in August, besides those two tournaments that I got through," Couples said in Texas. "You know, that's just been part of my kind of happening for a few years. It doesn't keep me from playing good golf. It will keep me from playing golf, and that's the problem."
Couples, who putted reasonably well this week, making 28, 29 and 27 putts each of the first three rounds, struggled to hit fairways in the Vegas desert with a swing dependent on his back.
"My good weeks are based on how my back feels. And if I finished second, which I haven't for a long time, or 42nd, it's something I can draw on and go play the next week. In a lot of these tournaments, I just haven't been able to feel really good two weeks in a row," Couples said.
GETTING THE AXE: With a surprisingly low cut -- especially so to players like defending champion Bob Estes, who shot 62 and looked to be playing on the weekend until the last part of the day -- only 70 players will be continuing on to Saturday.
But the 9-under 206 cutline isn't the lowest here, where going into the low 60s is expected if you want to perform well. In 1999, the cut was made at 11-under and included 71 players. Last year, 74 players made the 6- under cut.
CRAZY CARDS: Lee Janzen had two eagles during his round at the TPC Canyons course. He was 2-under on both the par-4 first hole and par-5 fourth hole en route to a tournament-low 62. ... Jim Furyk continued his bogey-free play, turning in his third card in a row without a mistake. ... John Daly, preoccupied with the health of his ailing mother in Arkansas, had back-to-back 42s on the nines at Southern Highlands for an 84. His card included three birdies, six bogeys, a double, a triple and a quadruple.
