John Daly back in control, Tiger 4 back
By RON SIRAK / AP Golf Writer
MAMARONECK, N.Y. (AP) - John Daly was back in control of his
life and his golf game at the PGA Championship.
Four months ago, he was in an ambulance, fearing he was dying
after another descent into alcoholism ended in a drunken rage
in a Florida hotel.
On Thursday, a slimmer and sober Daly shook his head in calm
amazement as he looked back over his record-tying 66 at Winged
Foot Golf Club, searching for the words to explain his struggles
on and off the course.
"I'm always scared what's going to happen next,"
Daly, who burst on the scene when he won the 1991 PGA Championship
at age 25, said after his 4-under-par round tied for the first-round
lead with Davis Love III.
"I used to pump my fist in the air when I made some putts
and stuff," Daly said, almost as if dazed by his performance.
"I don't know. I think it's just more relaxed."
On a day when Winged Foot played as easy as it gets, Robert
Allenby bogeyed the last hole and was at 67, while two strokes
back at 68 was a group that included Greg Norman, Justin Leonard,
Tom Kite and Paul Azinger.
Phil Mickelson, Lee Janzen, Mark O'Meara, Tom Lehman and Jim
Furyk were among another large group at 1-under-par 69.
Tiger Woods, Ernie Els and David Duval were among those at
even-par 70.
But only Love could match Daly, who combined his awesome power
with wise club selection, brilliant iron play and steady putting
to close with three consecutive birdies on very difficult holes.
Through it all, Daly walked along under his unfamiliar white
Ben Hogan-style hat with eyes fixed ahead, only casually acknowledging
the gallery with a wave of the hand.
Driving with a 3-wood on the three closing holes - par-4s measuring
457, 449 and 448 yards - Daly hit drives of 301, 312 and 292 yards
and was able to flip short irons at the flag on the soft, receptive
greens.
He rolled in putts of 5 feet, 4 feet and less than a foot for
a 31 on the back nine and a 66 that matched the competitive record
at Winged Foot set by Fuzzy Zoeller in the second round of the
1984 U.S. Open.
"It was three of the hardest holes in golf, or pretty
close to them," Daly said. "It just really made my day.
It's just a wonderful feeling to birdie all three of those."
Love also handled those holes, making birdies on Nos. 17 and
18 to get a share of the lead.
"I holed a few putts right off the bat," said Love,
who was the only player to get to 5-under par, hitting 6th hole
at that mark. "That gave me some confidence.
He gave that back with three bogeys in six holes beginning
at No. 8, then closed with birdies on the last two holes.
"I picked it up coming in," Love said.
Softened by rain on Wednesday, Winged Foot was vulnerable to
anyone who kept the ball out of the wet, 6-inch-deep rough.
"This is probably as easy as it's going to get,"
Kite said. "Winged Foot is not going to take this lying down."
Woods felt the kick of Winged Foot. For the third consecutive
major championship he was plagued by a big-number hole that sabotaged
otherwise fine play, making a double-bogey 7 on No. 12 when he
drove into the right rough and needed four shots to get out.
The Masters winner played in the glamour group of the day -
this year's three major championship winners. Woods and U.S. Open
winner Ernie Els had a stirring birdie exchange on the front nine,
making six between them in a four-hole stretch beginning at No.
4.
"It was really neat because we were kind of trading off
birdies," Woods said. "You're feeding off one another
and you can definitely feel the positive energy out there."
But it was Leonard, the British Open champion, who was the
tortoise outlasting the faster-starting hares. He hit only seven
greens in regulation but, beginning with an intentionally bladed
sand wedge that found the hole on No. 9, needed only 11 putts
on the last 10 holes and shot a 68.
Leonard used only 24 putts on the day, compared with 32 by
Woods.
"I made all the putts that I needed to make inside 8 or
10 feet," Leonard said after he missed seven consecutive
greens starting at No. 11 and one-putted all of them.
"You know, I can't last like that all week," said
Leonard, referring to how punishing Winged Foot can be when a
player misses the greens.
Daly, who walked off the course after nine holes in the second
round of the U.S. Open at Congressional in June without bothering
to tell his playing partners or caddie, seemed determined to turn
his life around this time.
"Golf and this disease are pretty similar," he said.
"Golf is an addiction. So is alcohol."
Daly, 31, became one of the most popular players in recent
history after he got into the 1991 PGA Championship as the ninth
alternate and won by overpowering the Crooked Stick course with
the incredible length achieved by a wrap-around swing.
But Daly, who started drinking when he was 8 years old, ended
up in alcohol rehabilitation in 1993 and was suspended the PGA
Tour officially once and unofficially another time for rowdy behavior.
He won the British Open in 1995 - sober - but started drinking
again last summer and finally lost control in March at the Players
Championship.
He went on a bender the night after the first round on March
27 and ended up smashing his hotel room and frightening his wife,
Paulette, before friends were called to subdue him. He was taken
to a hospital with an erratic heart beat.
"I thought I as going to die," Daly said. "I
want to remember that night the rest of my life, how bad it really
was. If I could do that, it's going to get me through a tough
day."
This time, he has added a nutrition and therapy program to
his alcohol rehab.
"I believe I've had 15 chances in life," Daly said.
"I've had a lot of chances in life. Yeah, I guess I am scared
to screw up again, but I'm doing good today, and that's about
all I can say about it."
Refusing to speculate on how the tournament - or his life -
will come out, Daly once again drew a parallel between the game
he loves and his struggles.
"Basically, it's one day at a time and one shot at a time,"
Daly said.
That could be a winning formula for both Daly's life and the
79th PGA Championship.
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