Daly shot a 14 on the par-5 18th hole Thursday at Pebble Beach,
hitting one shot into a backyard and dumping three more in the
Pacific Ocean. He stormed off the course with a 12-over 83 and
withdrew from the tournament.
``It's amazing how quickly it went,'' said Daly's caddie, former
NHL player Dan Quinn.
The meltdown occurred a year after he led the Open through most
of the first round at Pinehurst, N.C., only to shoot a
septuple-bogey 11 on the eighth hole in the final round. He
actually hit a putt while it was still rolling, drawing a two-shot
penalty, and finished with an 83 and a 29-over 309 to rank last
among players making the cut.
Afterward, he blasted the U.S. Golf Association and vowed never
to play in another Open.
``The USGA loves to embarrass guys who play in their
tournaments,'' Daly said. ``I don't consider the U.S. Open a major
anymore.''
Daly, a two-time major winner whose career has been plagued by
alcoholism and gambling problems, apologized a few days later and
returned to the Open this year at Pebble Beach.
``I was real excited,'' said Quinn, who filled in after Daly's
regular caddie hurt an ankle. ``It was fun through 16 or 17 holes.
He was playing good. He just got all beat up at the end. One little
swing and it was like, 'Oh, my God.'''
Coming off a bogey at 17, Daly went to the final hole a
respectable 3-over for the round. But his tee shot scooted under a
fence and into the backyard of a home that borders the right side
of the fairway on the picturesque 18th.
After seeing his ball was out of bounds, Daly trudged back to
the tee and hit two more shots - both hooking into the crashing
waves of Carmel Bay. He then pulled a 5-iron out of the bag and
laid up safely with his seventh shot of the hole.
Another layup left him only 115 yards from the green, but Daly
plopped his ninth shot into the water again. Forced to drop in the
bunker, the ball wound up against the seawall and he took a
left-handed swing at his next shot, No. 10 for those counting. The
ball remained in the bunker while the crowd groaned.
Daly finally blasted out of the sand, two-putted for the 14,
quickly signed his scorecard and headed for the locker room without
commenting. By the time reporters reached the building, he already
had collected his belongings and left.
``It is always unfortunate when a contestant withdraws prior to
completion of his regulation rounds,'' said Marty Parkes, spokesman
for the USGA. ``We are very sorry that John's struggles at the end
of his round today caused him to withdraw.''
Daly's fellow players took the news in stride.
``Surprise,'' Jack Nicklaus said sarcastically. ``No one knows
what is going on through his mind. I like John. He's a fun guy to
be around. But, obviously, he's his own worst enemy. He's not going
to get better until he gets those demons out of his head.''
Stuart Appleby wasn't very sympathetic, either.
``I think he forgot that you're trying to get the least amount
of shots on a hole, not the most,'' Appleby said. ``I don't
understand what he has to keep doing that to himself. He's not
doing it to anyone else. He needs to be a bit kinder to himself.''
This wasn't the worst hole for Daly in tournament golf. In March
1988, he hit a 3-wood into the water six times in the final round
of Bay Hill Invitational, taking an 18 on the par-5 sixth hole.
After the latest blowup, Greg Norman called Daly ``too good a
player to do that to himself.''
``He still had a very good chance to win the tournament,''
Norman said. ``It's unfortunate. But he's in his own skin. He makes
his own decisions and he has to go with that.''
Daly, who won the PGA Championship in 1991 and the British Open
four years later, withdrew from the 1997 Open after 27 holes
because he had the shakes from trying to give up alcohol.
Last September, three months after his troubles at Pinehurst, he
was dropped by his top sponsor, Callaway Golf. The company said he
had resumed drinking and gambling, and tore up his contract when he
refused help.
Now, another disastrous entry on Long John's scorecard.
``I feel bad for the kid,'' said Quinn, who was trying to line
up a late-night flight home to Pittsburgh. ``He's a great guy. He's
so talented.''
"I made a lot of crucial putts, and you have to do that in a
U.S. Open,'' said Woods, who spent two hours working on his stroke
late Tuesday afternoon.
John Huston took advantage of being in the second group off,
when sunshine bathed Pebble Beach with only a fresh breeze. He had
a 4-under 67, his best start ever in a U.S. Open.
Right behind was Bobby Clampett, who knows Pebble better than
anyone else, having grown up on the Monterey Peninsula. In his
first U.S. Open since 1986, in his first tournament of the year,
Clampett birdied four of the first 10 holes and finished with a 68.
"Can you believe this?'' Clampett said. "It was extremely
emotional for me. At times out there, I was fighting off the
tears.''
Just as amazing as Woods's 65 was the fact he made no bogeys, a
rarity in any U.S. Open. Woods saved par from 15 feet on the 11th,
made a 10-footer on the hourglass green at No. 17, and got
up-and-down four other times for par.
The fog kept the greens from getting too crusty and the wind was
moderate at best. Clearly, this was the day for scoring. But as so
many others found out, the U.S. Open is never a championship to
attack at will.
Hal Sutton, who holed an 8-iron from 136 yards for eagle on the
opening hole, was at 6 under until he missed the green left on the
par-5 14th and paid dearly.
His chip from spinach-like rough went over the pin, down the
slope and off the front of the green. He failed to get up-and-down
and finished off his round of 69 with another bogey on the 18th
when he hit into the rough off the tee.
Because of the fog, he didn't realize he was in the rough until
he got there.
"I elected to hit 3-iron to where I could see," Sutton said.
Phil Mickelson, the runner-up at Pinehurst No. 2 a year ago, got
off to a rocky start but made birdies on three of his last six
holes for an even-par 71, along with England's Lee Westwood, Paul
Azinger and Tom Lehman.
Not everyone was that fortunate.
David Duval had a 40 on the back nine with bogeys on both par 5s
and had a 75. Jeff Sluman, the runner-up at Pebble Beach in the '92
Open, had a 78.
Still, no one was willing to concede to Woods quite yet.
"He put up a very good score,'' said Sergio Garcia, who wore
knickers to honor the late Payne Stewart and had a 75. "But if you
shoot 1 or 2 under, he could struggle very easily on this course.
You can go 2 or 3 over just like that.
"The tournament is not over,'' the 20-year-old Spaniard said. "It just started.''
Woods hasn't shown much capacity to struggle anywhere, much less Pebble Beach. On his last competitive round on the spectacular course along the rugged California coastline, he had a 64 to cap off his thrilling comeback.
Woods immediately thrust himself into the thick of the championship with a tap-in birdie on No. 4 and a 15-foot birdie putt on the dangerous par-3 seventh hole. He made another nice save from the thick collar around the eighth green, lofting a chip to a foot.
"I don't think anyone is trying to catch me,'' Woods said. "Everyone is trying to set themselves up for a nice little run on Sunday.''
At this rate, that might not be possible.
Told that his 65 was a U.S. Open record at Pebble Beach -- Gil
Morgan and Wayne Grady had a 6-under 66 in 1992 -- Woods shrugged.
"If I do it four straight days, it would be pretty good,'' he
said.
