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.