Coody's second round was 15 shots better than his Thursday effort

The 68-year-old, who won here in 1971, made light of the 155 yards that have been added to the course this year.

Coody had an 89 on Thursday so this was a fine comeback in his 40th Masters and a moral victory for the old guard.

But Coody's was not the only remarkable round on Friday, as David Duval bounced back from a 10 at the par-five 2nd to claim six birdies over the next 16.

The former world number one was 18 over after his calamity at the 2nd, and 19 over after a birdie and two bogeys over the next four holes.

It's just hard to fathom because I have played with (David Duval) in Ryder Cups and Presidents Cup and seen him at his best Phil Mickelson Quotes of the day

But from there the 34-year-old former Open champion was five-under for the last 12 holes to finish on three over for his round, 15 over for the tournament.

His back nine of 32 is the equal best so far this week but he will need a major turnaround in form if he is to continue to play at the highest level. His five-year exemption for winning the 2001 Open runs out this year.

Duval's decline is mystery to his fellow pros.

"It's just hard to fathom because I have played with him in Ryder Cups and Presidents Cup and seen him at his best," said Phil Mickelson.

"It's just hard for me to visualise him at anything but his best. He's just a tremendous talent and I just can't understand what's going on because he has a lot of game."

Rocco Mediate, who has experienced his own problems with form and fitness, agreed with Mickelson.

"All of a sudden things change, your body changes and you can't play anymore," he said.

"It's not because he stinks. It's something happened that he can't find back what he had before.

I'd like to be remembered as a nice guy and a fairly decent player Charles Coody

"You just get chewed up, thrown out. It's just so hard."

Coody's fine display, on the other hand, will be welcomed by the dwindling band of former champions who still take up their honorary place in the field.

In fact, the round could have been even better as he was one under after 15 holes only to drop three shots over the next two. This brought Coody back to two over for his round, and 19 over for the tournament.

"I'd like to be remembered as a nice guy and a fairly decent player," Coody said.

"I know I'm not a Hall of Fame golfer. But nice guy and good family man, that would be good enough for me.

"I have a lot of respect for the tournament. That's one of the reasons I won't play anymore. I don't want to embarrass the tournament."

The inclusion of ageing former champions in the field has always been an Augusta tradition, but the changes to the course in recent years have made this custom less and less tenable.

A few years ago, club chairman Hootie Johnson wrote to three former winners - Billy Casper, Doug Ford and Gay Brewer - asking them to give up their automatic spots in the field.

Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus took the hint and quit in 2004 and 2005 respectively, making this the first year since 1954 that neither has been in the Masters field.