BACK FROM THE ROUGH ONE OF GOLF'S MOST POPULAR STARS PUTS PAST BEHIND AND RECLAIMS GAME.

Byline: Dave Shelburne Staff Writer

Long-hitting John Daly, one of the most exciting, popular and troubled players in professional golf, comes into this week's Nissan Open at Riviera Country Club back on his game, and then some.

The 14-year PGA Tour veteran, whose history includes British Open and PGA championships, 11 tour driving titles, alcohol abuse, divorce and weight problems as well as a fan base that gives him unrelenting and boisterous support, is coming off his first tour victory in nearly nine years.

He accomplished it - at last week's Buick Invitational in La Jolla - with monster drives, sensational scrambling and a short game so delicate that he saved par or better out of bunkers 11 of 13 times.

He also enjoyed his share of luck, notably a putt that rolled entirely around the cup before dropping for par while he was clinging to a 10-under-par total over the final four holes that eventually got him into a three-man playoff.

He prevailed there - with a birdie out of a bunker after attempting to reach a water-fronted par-5 green in two shots - to deafening applause from fans who roared their approval throughout his 69-66-68-75-278 at the Torrey Pines north and south courses.

``I just love them, and they have kept me going and going,'' Daly said of his fans, one of whom asked him to autograph a beer can, another who exhorted the chain-smoking Arkansas native to ``Put the cows in the barn, let's go,'' and all of whom helped swell galleries that rooted for him to pull off his first victory since the 1995 British Open.

``It's a little bit like NASCAR,'' said Stuart Cink, who played in the final group with Daly on Sunday. ``There's a lot of whooping and hollering out there.''

``He's a crowd favorite. He was getting a lot of chants,'' said Luke Donald, who lost in the playoff.

``When things are bad, they still pull for me,'' Daly said. ``It's a friendship that I'm very proud to have with the fans.''

Daly's victory was popular with his fellow touring pros, as well.

``I take my hat off to Johnny,'' said Chris Riley, who lost to Daly in the playoff. He's been through a lot. To see him win is great.''

``I think it's great to have anybody who has gone through the things he's gone through and succeed,'' said Tiger Woods, who was bidding for a second consecutive title at the Buick Invitational. ``What he's done to his body. ... For him to get through all that and still succeed is pretty impressive.''

In winning the largest paycheck of his career, the 5-foot-11, 242-pound Daly - down from a high of 282 pounds - also demonstrated that his game is as much about management as the grip-it-and-rip-it reputation spawned by a massive backswing that sometimes approaches 360 degrees.

The man who has won 11 of the past 13 tour driving titles actually laid up on his final regulation hole rather than attempt to reach a water-fronted green with a risky shot out of a slight divot.

Of course, he went for it on the same hole in the playoff, lashing a 3-wood from a better lie after his 310-yard drive landed in the middle of the fairway.

``I thought it might put pressure on those two guys to hit their wedge shots pretty close,'' Daly said. Daly's attempt from 262 yards cleared the lake named after Australian Bruce Devlin - who took five swings trying to get out of it in 1975 - but his ball bounced into a greenside bunker, leaving him 27 yards uphill from the cup.

Advantage Daly, it turned out. His 11th sand save of the week concluded with a 10-inch birdie putt that held up for the victory after Donald's putt missed right and Riley's putt horseshoed around the cup and back at him.

``What touch he has for a guy who hits the ball a long ways,'' Riley said. ``That's why he's won his majors. He has great hands.''

Daly is inclined to cite great friends, who have supported him throughout a troubled decade that has included tour suspension and lost sponsorship as well as his alcohol, weight and marriage problems.

That kind of support helped one of the game's longest hitters end one of the tour's longest win droughts while competing on one of the tour's longest courses - 7,568-yard Torrey Pines South, which will host the U.S. Open in 2008.

Daly didn't smoke the course, but he smoked the half-course, negotiating the pressure-filled back nine Sunday puffing a cigarette for nearly every hole.

``I thought I smoked a pack,'' he said, adding that was not unusual for him.

``It was pretty much the same,'' Daly said. ``My slogan is, who needs fitness when you have great equipment?''

Dave Shelburne, [phone]

dave.shelburne(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

photo, box

Photo:

(color) John Daly, who has battled problems his whole career, won the Buick Invitational on Sunday - his first PGA Tour victory in nearly nine years.

Lenny Ignelzi/Associated Press

Box:

NISSAN OPEN