SAN DIEGO -- A year ago in the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines, John Daly retired from golf.He shot 79-71 in the opening two rounds and said enough was enough.
"I'm done," a forlorn Daly announced as he loaded up his tournament courtesy car to exit stage right. "Just can't play like I used to. ... I'm tired of embarrassing myself."
Anytime John Daly worries about embarrassing himself, you know things have gone really bad.
Daly, however, has proven to be many things, one of the best being resilient. If he hasn't killed himself over years of reckless, wild-child behavior, then he's not going to pull the plug on golf.
And now look. Thursday at Torrey Pines, Daly shot a 5-under par 67 and is three shots back of first-round leader Sung-hoon Kang's 64. Rickie Fowler and Alex Prugh shot 65 and rookie Chris Kirk 66.
"I mean, you get frustrated," Daly said after being reminded of last year's knee-jerk announcement. "You know, this place means a lot to me. You think about winning here and stuff like I did in '04, and you see Tiger plays here every year. The top golfers play here every year, that says something. It's a special place."
The fact Daly did win this event in 2004 is a reminder of how good his golf could be.
Besides the "grip it and rip it" length that became Daly's signature, he has hands soft as clouds and the short-game ability that comes with it.
That's how he won two major championships -- the 1991 PGA as an unknown alternate and then the 1995 British Open.
On Thursday, some of that natural ability still showed. Daly was steady as he usually is erratic. He carded a seven-birdie, two-bogey round, going out in 33 and coming home in 34. He hit seven of 14 fairways and 12 greens in regulation.
On the way to needing just 25 putts, Daly's iron play was so sharp his longest birdie was 10 feet -- the par-5 sixth hole.
"Got off to a decent start," Daly said. "Hit some really good shots.
"It was just one of those days that was real solid. I managed to play the hard, hard holes really good today."
But can he do it again? For three more days?
Daly hasn't won on the PGA Tour since that 2004 at Torrey Pines. Since then he has been suspended, fined and lectured (repeatedly) by the PGA Tour. He has cleaned up, bottomed out, ballooned to over 300 pounds, lost weight, quit (retired, too), asked forgiveness, pledged seriousness, injured his right shoulder, Tweeted in anger a golf writer's phone number to ask fans to call and harass, signed a clothing endorsement deal that dresses him like a clown and really, really struggled.
Last year he finished 194th on the PGA Tour money list, earning $158,587. In 2009, he pocketed $68,815.
Now he has lost tour exempt status and needs sponsor exemptions to play anything close to a full schedule -- meaning the minimum 15 events to keep PGA Tour membership.
"You just take them as they come," Daly said of any much-needed opportunity. "I remember the people who gave them to me last year because I was real scared if I was going to get enough to keep my 15.
"Hopefully I get them this year, those are the tournaments, even if I keep my card, those are the ones that I'll go back."
Daly makes that promise of loyalty because his opportunities are finally starting to run thin. Already this year he has been turned down by last week's Bob Hope and next month's stop in Phoenix. It's a reality Daly says he just can't figure out.
"I'll tell you this: I'll never go back to the hope and I'll never go back to Phoenix, no matter what happens," he said. "I won't even send letters anymore.
"I'm just saying that if you look at my past, everything the Thunderbirds (Phoenix tournament hosts) have ever wanted me to do I'm sure I did it for them. I helped get celebrities go to the Hope. I went to their parties and did everything for them."
The problem with Daly's memory is that he loses it conveniently.
Daly's history includes accepting sponsor's invitations and then withdrawing. His personal file at PGA Tour headquarters is full of reports citing cases of not giving full efforts.
Finally, what goes around has come around.
And JD never saw it coming.
Or going.
Source: http://golf.fanhouse.com/2011/01/27/john-daly-comes-full-circle-at-torrey-pines/
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