John Daly, for those too busy making plans to visit Rory McIlroy’s infamous 3-iron on display at Doral to notice, had a pretty good outing last week in Puerto Rico.
John Daly revisits the scene of his second-round 90 at Innisbrook
Fresh off his first top-10 finish since 2012, John Daly brings his fire power -- and memories of a second-round 90 -- to this week’s PGA Tour stop in Tampa.
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Though he hasn’t won a PGA Tour event since 2004, the two-time major champion posted his first top-10 finish since 2012 at the Puerto Rico Open. And who knows, maybe his T10 outcome on the other Donald Trump track hosting a tour contest last week will propel him to victory at this week’s unheralded Valspar Championship.
Yeah, probably not, what with Adam Scott and his new-found success with a short putter, world No. 3 Henrik Stenson, and the precocious Patrick Reed among the contenders in this week’s tuneup for the Masters.
And then there was that 90 he posted at last year’s tourney, where he revealed -- long before Tiger Woods’ chunks and skulls dominated the headlines -- that he had the yips.
Daly shot a 90. But he did sign for a 90. Took a 12 on the 16th hole, but more concerned about the yips.
— Doug Ferguson (@dougferguson405) March 14, 2014 “It’s my head, my hands, and I can’t stop it,” Daly told the AP’s Doug Ferguson last year. “On a short stroke, I get quick. On my normal, long stroke, I come up. Even my legs are moving. I should just go put myself in a straitjacket and try that. I’ve always been a quick putter, so I should never get the yips. But I got ‘em. I got ‘em bad.”
While a victory is a long shot, Daly, who captured his first professional win in 10 years in December in Turkey, will likely put on a bomb-and-gouge show for Copperhead fans.
“I’ve just been killing it all week,” Daly told reporters on Saturday after carding an even-par 72 at the Puerto Rico Open. “You know, same old thing. Make some putts, hit it this good and … just keep doing what I’m doing and hopefully make some more putts.”
If it were all just about fireworks and not accuracy (he tied for 72nd in finding fairways off the tee in Puerto Rico), Daly could have put more of a scare into last week’s first-time tour winner, Alex Cejka. Long John came in second in driving distance, averaging some 309 yards with the big club that blasted one 368 yards on the 18th hole on Saturday.
“The ball‑striking is great,” Daly said. “Just didn’t hit it close and just didn’t make anything on the back.”
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