Every picture tells a story, but the one of John Daly in the Augusta Chronicle
newspaper this week tells more than one.
There is the cigarette in the mouth while he practises. That is one habit he
has not kicked.
There is the belly hanging over the trousers. Tiger Woods he ain't.
And there is the fact that this was Sunday, four days before the Masters
begins, and Daly was working on his game.
The 37-year-old remains one of the most colourful characters in sport, but
this week he has a chance to become a true golfing great and he is desperately
keen to give it a go.
Woods is the only player in the last 20 years to have lifted all four major
titles. Nobody else has managed three, but that is what Daly is gunning for.
The 1991 US PGA champion and 1995 Open winner did not even know he was playing
in the first major of the season until nine days ago when, despite a closing 80
in the Players Championship, he held on to 10th place on the American tour money
list.
"I feel like I am playing well enough right now that maybe I can contend,"
he said.
"If I can keep hitting the driver well and putt it halfway decent I should be
okay. I live to play in the Masters, like most of the guys out here. I am
totally excited to be back."
Many thought Daly might have played his last Masters two years ago. His
exemption from winning the Open at St Andrews had run out and he was on a slide
that saw him finish 112th on the US circuit in 2002 and 171st last season.
There were problems in his private life too. His fourth wife Sherrie and her
parents were indicted on drug and illegal gambling charges which carried a
possible 20-year jail term.
She eventually pleaded guilty to lesser charges and is on probation, leaving
Daly to concentrate on his career again. And what a revival he has enjoyed.
In February, thanks to a fantastic bunker shot, he won a play-off against
England's Luke Donald for the Buick Invitational. It was his first win in
America for a decade.
He has not missed a halfway cut all season. He is second in driving distance
and third in putting, two keys to success at Augusta.
"I just love the way I am playing right now," he stated. "Everybody who
knows me knows that I don't care about money at all - I just want to win.
"I can spend it faster than anybody (his gambling debts ran into millions at
one point), but I don't think about dollars when I am putting or anything. I
just want to win. That's the bottom line."
Five players have won all four majors - Woods, Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Jack
Nicklaus and Gary Player.
Daly is trying to join the nine who have captured three - Tom Watson, Arnold
Palmer, Lee Trevino, Raymond Floyd, Sam Snead, Byron Nelson, Walter Hagen, Scot
Tommy Armour and England's Jim Barnes.
If he can add his name to that second list, June's US Open at Shinnecock Hills
on New York's Long Island will give him the opportunity to join the first.
"I have always thought about it," he commented. "That would be a great
thing - awesome. And I don't think that it's unrealistic."
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