Kiawah Island, SC (Sports Network) - John Daly shot a 4-under 68 on Thursday
at the PGA Championship. He is two back of another portly, fun golfer named
Carl Pettersson.
With half of the field still on the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, Daly could
find himself more strokes behind, but it's unlikely.
Granted, the wind hasn't really started blowing, but the safe bet is that Daly
will be two behind after the round is completed.
Is this an amazing occurrence?
Maybe, but there have been some signs.
Last week, in a rare appearance on the PGA Tour, Daly tied for fifth at the
Reno-Tahoe Open.
The rarity stems from the fact that Daly has no status on the PGA Tour. He
hasn't won on tour since 2004 and must rely on past champions status, or
sponsor's invites.
Daly has taken to playing some on the European Tour to get into competitive
form.
"Don't get me wrong, I love the European Tour, but it would be great to play
at home," Daly said after his round Thursday. "Either way, it doesn't really
matter to me. I love playing both tours, but like I said, my goal would be to
be back on our Tour, no doubt. But there's that option, and it's not a bad one
to be honest with you."
Daly started his 2012 season with a fourth at the Qatar Masters on the
European Tour.
Last week, Daly tied for fifth at the Reno-Tahoe Open, an event played
opposite the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational Firestone Country Club.
"Last week was great. I know it was opposite of Firestone, but still," Daly
said. "As good as all the players are these days, it doesn't matter where
you play good, you're still playing against some unbelievable players. No, I
just want to play. It doesn't really matter."
It would be easy to dismiss this 68 on Thursday as an anomaly. Daly's earned
those questions, but would it shock you to know that he has one round in the
80s this year?
Or, would it surprise you to know that Daly has four rounds of 67 or better in
the final round in four of his last eight starts? He doesn't always seem to
have much of attention span when things aren't going his way, but those four
rounds show you something.
Remember a few more things about Daly.
He only has five PGA Tour wins, so the number of public embarrassments are
greater than wins, but he has two major titles.
That is one more major than Hall of Famer candidates Davis Love III, Jim
Furyk, Fred Couples, Ian Woosnam or Justin Leonard.
It's two more than Colin Montgomerie, Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia or Steve
Stricker.
And this wouldn't be the first career resurgence for Daly.
After he fell into an abyss after his Open Championship victory in 1995, Daly
rebounded to win the 2004 Buick Invitational. It came at the end of his 10-
year exemption for the victory at St. Andrews and he got two more years on
tour.
In 2005, he handed the WGC-American Express Championship to Tiger Woods when
he missed a 2-foot par putt in a playoff.
Daly's been down before and came back.
You shouldn't be remotely stunned if Daly falls down the leaderboard on
Friday. Just don't assume it will happen.
The Sports Network