Daly's win a great tonic for golf

BY Bruce Young | US PGA Tour | 2004 Buick Invitational | Wrap | 16 Feb 2004

With Australasian Tour Chief Executive Andrew Georgiou in recent weeks calling for the “sexing up” of the tour down under, the USPGA Tour got just about all the sexing up it could handle when it’s “likeable rogue” John Daly, returned to the USPGA Tour’s winners circle today after an absence of nearly nine years.

It is true he did win on the European Tour at the 2001 BMW International and the Kolon Korean Open last year, but his last USPGA Tour win was the 1995 British Open at St Andrews where he headed off Constantino Rocca over the four playoff holes.

Like him or not, admire him or feel sorry for him, John Daly adds spice to the PGA Tour and, as his legion of fans urging him on today would attest, he still has a great following from those who love to see the bad boy made good.

Daly’s recent form had hardly given a suggestion that this was about to happen. In his last fifteen starts in 2003 he made just three cheques and although his start this season was a little bit more promising, a win of this magnitude seemed a long way off. He had a solid start to the Bob Hope in his first event of the year, eventually finishing 30th and was 54th last week, not bad considering his end to 2003, but hardly the form to signal a win after so long out of contention.

In an emotional after tournament celebration Daly would say that this has been his greatest win. “I’ve won two majors,” he said “and nothing can take them from me but I’ve never won an event with Tiger in the field and it feels good.”

Daly had played a delightful bunker shot from some forty yards at the par five eighteenth, the first playoff hole against Chris Riley and Luke Donald, to within a few inches to set up a guaranteed birdie. Donald could have made it a great weekend for English golf should he have won. His fellow countrymen Brian Davis and Paul Casey had provided the quinella at the ANZ Championship in Australia yesterday. Both Donald and Riley however would miss their chance of continuing the playoff when they missed birdie chances from within six feet and the trophy was Daly’s.

The tears flowed from Daly as he realised what he had accomplished after such a long drought and so much drama on and off course. Fifteen months ago Daly was arguably one of the saddest figures the game has ever seen when, after throwing his putter in the lake at the 18th green at Hyatt Coolum during the Australian PGA Championship, he cast a long and lonely figure as he walked back up the 18th fairway to his accommodation and his plane tickets out of there. It was at a time when so much focus was on his wife and her brush with the law and while his tantrum that day bordered on being inexcusable, there was hardly a person on the course who didn’t feel for the big man.

Golf needs Daly, more especially as he is now, his charismatic presence and amazing hitting powers, a tremendous drawcard for both the golf fanatic and first time tournament visitor.

Daly had started round four with a narrow one shot lead over Stewart Cink and both started shakily with Daly taking a double bogey at the third and then Cink taking consecutive bogeys at the fourth and fifth. Despite an outward nine of three over 38, Daly still held the lead on the tough South Course and it is perhaps fitting that he, the game’s longest hitter would go on to win on one of the PGA Tour’s longest courses. It hasn’t always worked out that way with Olazabal winning two years ago here, but it clearly helps.

Luke Donald and Chris Riley both birdied the last of the regulation holes to set a target for Daly who, surprisingly, did not birdie the last and the playoff was on.

Luke Donald, a winner in his rookie year in 2002, is destined for even bigger things. He has already had a couple of top twenties in his third season on tour and this second placing followed up a 7th place here last year suggesting that he likes the courses at Torrey Pines.

Mickelson’s nine birdies in round four, on another day, may have been good enough, but a double bogey at the 12th would cost him dearly, eventually finishing one behind the playoff. It did illustrate however that he is well and truly back and he now lies in 2nd place on the money list behind Singh. He came out on top this time in his clash with Woods and Singh and the events leading up to and including the Masters are awaited with interest.

Speaking of Woods he did well in his first event for six weeks, a last round 69 getting him to within two shots of the playoff but with the congestion in the leaderboard he finished in a tie for 10th. It augurs well for this week’s Nissan Open, an event where he has regularly played well but has yet to win. He will be up against Singh again this coming week who will hopefully have benefited from his involuntary weekend off.

Woods suggested he was pleased with the way he was hitting the ball. He missed a lot of fairways but with that run under his belt, we may well see him back winning before long.

Australian Stephen Leaney, in just his third USPGA Tour event as a card holder, did extremely well, getting to within one shot of the lead on the front nine today. He faded on the back nine to eventually finish 21st but he will feel, as a result of his effort, that he has earned a place on the USPGA Tour.

Amongst the other Australasians, Stuart Appleby, Robert Allenby, Aaron Baddeley and Grant Waite were all tied in 40th position with Rod Pampling 66th.