DALY DARES YOU TO BELIEVE.Byline: STEVE DILBECK Are you ready? Of course, you are. You've been waiting all along. Forgiveness was never an issue. John Daly John Daly is the name of:
v. reeked, reek·ing, reeks v.intr. 1. To smoke, steam, or fume. 2. To be pervaded by something unpleasant: "This document ... of more promise, daring you to believe. Are you ready to welcome him back? To open the door to that crazy neighbor, too loud, too big, too unpredictable to truly be counted on? After a nearly nine-year hiatus, Daly returned as a PGA Tour The PGA Tour is an organization that operates the USA's main professional golf tours. It is headquartered in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, USA. Its name is officially rendered in all caps as “PGA TOUR". stop winner last week in La Jolla La Jolla (lə hoi`yə), on the Pacific Ocean, S Calif., an uninc. district within the confines of San Diego; founded 1869. The beautiful ocean beaches, in particular La Jolla shores and Black's Beach, and sea-washed caves attract visitors and at the Buick Invitational The Buick Invitational, is a PGA Tour professional golf tournament played in the San Diego, California area in the early part of the Tour season, known as the "West Coast Swing. . And two days into the Nissan Open The Northern Trust Open, formally known as the Nissan Open and originally known as the Los Angeles Open, is a regular golf tournament on the PGA Tour. It is played annually in February in Pacific Palisades, California. , he is looking like Torrey Pines Torrey Pines can refer to:
He's knocking again, threatening to return to golf's main stage, his audience eager to welcome him back. Golf can use a John Daly. It may not want a field overflowing with them, but it desperately needs someone more colorful than the carbon-copy field it normally parades every weekend. Fans, the media, other golfers - they all love Daly. He is more than just a breath of fresh air, more than this enormous talent. He is the outsider always welcomed, the good ol' country boy the country-club set embraces. Part of it is Daly is the car wreck you can't avert your eyes from. Beloved because he is so flawed, because the setbacks have been so self-inflicted. Maybe because he has messed up his life even more than most. ``A common man with uncommon talent,'' Golf World said. No one has ever argued his tremendous ability. Not just his jaw-dropping power, but his touch around the greens. Yet for all his notoriety, until last weekend Daly had won only four PGA (1) (Professional Graphics Adapter) An early IBM PC display standard for 3D processing with 640x480x256 resolution. It was not widely used. (2) (Programmable Gate Array) See gate array and FPGA. tournaments. He'd had only eight top-10 finishes. But he is so honest, so prone to pratfalls, so very human, so ultimately good-hearted, that for all his chronicled excesses, he remains one of golf's most popular players. ``The fans absolutely love the guy,'' said Briny Baird Michael Jancey "Briny" Baird (born May 11, 1972) is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour and Nationwide Tour. Baird was born in Miami Beach, Florida. , who is tied with Daly at the Nissan at 11 under. ``How could you root against him? ``It's not good for golf, it's great for golf. He is like NASCAR NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing), organization that sanctions American stock-car races, est. 1948. It held its first race in Daytona Beach, Fla. , a rock star out there.'' He's from the back roads, navigating on a modern freeway, trying to avoid another wrong turn. He seldom flies anymore, mostly driving his RV from tournament to tournament. ``My life is pretty much simple now,'' Daly said. ``I go, I eat, I play with the kids, enjoy the TVs and stuff. Just enjoy their company.'' He has four children. He is married to his fourth wife, Sherrie, indicted INDICTED, practice. When a man is accused by a bill of indictment preferred by a grand jury, he is said to be indicted. last summer for allegedly laundering more than $1.2 million in drug money five days after giving birth to son John. She pleaded not guilty, but faces a possible 20-year sentence. They drive around to tour stops now, Daly happier with his family around him and his feet on the ground and not on a domestic airline. ``I just don't like airlines that do everything just a little past the book on oil changes,'' he said. ``You get on a plane and it stinks. There's food everywhere. You get a little Diet Coke with a half-plastic cup. The food sucks. I can't stand it. You can't smoke. ``And you pay to go through all that misery. You're just paying for gas and you hope you get there.'' No one was sure Daly would ever get back to winning. He always seemed on the verge On the Verge (or The Geography of Yearning) is a play written by Eric Overmyer. It makes extensive use of esoteric language and pop culture references from the late nineteenth century to 1955. of total self-destruction. The drinking, the eating, the gambling, the cigarettes, the bad business decisions, the wrong friends. Last season he played in only 22 tournaments, missing the cut seven times. His ranking fell to 171. His time seemed over. The great promise of the former PGA and British Open champion now finally wasted. Which is why last week's win was so stunning, why it may well go down as the most popular victory of the year. ``Sure, I was surprised,'' Nissan co-leader Mike Weir said. ``It was just kind of out of nowhere. But it's great for the game. It's great for him.'' In October, Daly won the Korean Open on the Asian PGA Tour and gained a modicum mod·i·cum n. pl. mod·i·cums or mod·i·ca A small, moderate, or token amount: "England still expects a modicum of eccentricity in its artists" Ian Jack. of much-needed confidence, but in the offseason his weight again ballooned. ``I went nuts over Christmas,'' he said. ``Not much to do. I just ate everything in sight. I feel like doing that right now, too. ``I managed to gain like 45 pounds. I weighed 282 right after Christmas when I came back out here, and I weigh about 235 now.'' At that moment Friday, thunder loudly cracked over the media tent. Daly looked up and said, ``I didn't lie.'' He's loose and having fun again. Fans follow him around Riviera. Some try to sing a song from his ``My Life'' country-western CD, which if poorly received did feature several star guest appearances, including Willie Nelson. His gallery shouts out to him, to their unique star, offering encouragement, trying to keep pushing him down the right path. ``I think everybody is still in shock from last week,'' Daly said. ``And now they're even more shocked I'm on the leaderboard lead·er·board n. A board that displays the leaders in a competition. leaderboard Noun a board displaying the current scores of the leading competitors, esp in a golf tournament again this week. ``I just love 'em. They're so cool. Even something that sounds negative, if it's from a fan, I know it's positive.'' Few have known more highs and lows than Daly, still only 37, still with so much ahead of him. People want to trust him, to believe this time he truly has turned his life around, but history suggests circumspection cir·cum·spec·tion n. The state or quality of being circumspect. See Synonyms at prudence. Noun 1. circumspection - knowing how to avoid embarrassment or distress; "the servants showed great tact and discretion" . ``The proverbial rock bottom, for Daly,'' wrote Golf World's John Strege, ``may be a moving target.'' What Daly knows now is the ball is going true, and hopefully so is his life. ``I just want to do good,'' Daly said. ``My goal is not to make the same stupid mistakes I made and not trust some of the people I've trusted in the past. It's life. You learn. You live and learn. It's just taken me a lot longer than most people.'' Are you ready? CAPTION(S): photo Photo: After a victory last week, John Daly shot 7 under Friday to pull within two shots of the Nissan leaders. Gus Ruelas/Staff Photographer |
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