Invensys Classic notebook: With wild days behind him, Daly now contending for title

Victoria Sun

Friday, Oct. 12, 2001 | 10:42 a.m.

Talented, but troubled.

Dashing, but destructive.

John Daly's life has been full of contradictions.

But 10 years after he emerged as a relative unknown to win the 1991 PGA Championship as the ninth alternate allowed into the field, he may have finally found his way on -- and off -- the course.

The 35-year-old Daly carded a career low 9-under-par 62 and set a course record at TPC at the Canyons in the second round of the $4.5 million Invensys Classic for a total 14-under-par 129. Daly, who entered the day with a share of 15th place, improved to a tie for third, four strokes behind tournament leader Tom Lehman.

"I just go play," Daly said of his outlook after he hit 17 of 18 greens and made nine birdies. "I just don't let anything bother me that much any more.

"I think I finally settled into my own self and said, 'Look, you don't have anything to prove.' I don't get upset over shots any more. I don't press anymore. I'm just playing loose, real aggressive like I used to."

Daly teed off today at the TPC at Summerlin and will play there through Sunday's final round.

His attitude change has been largely responsible for the fact that he's having his best year since the 1991 season, when he also finished third at the Tour Championship and made 21 of 33 cuts to earn a career-high $574,783, putting him 17th on the PGA Tour money list.

Though he hasn't won a PGA Tour tournament since the 1995 British Open, he finished fourth at the Bell Canadian Open, fifth at the FedEx St. Jude Classic and ninth at the Phoenix Open. Of the 23 tournaments he's played entering the Invensys Classic, he has made 15 cuts.

Last week at the German Open, he finished second.

"This is definitely the most consistent I've ever been," Daly said. "It's been just a wonderful year, solid and consistent. I'm just not doing anything stupid."

Daly's storied career has been marred by two vices commonly associated with Las Vegas: drinking and gambling.

His hardest fall came after he won the British Open at St. Andrews in 1995. Daly went through several alcohol rehab programs, including a stop at the Betty Ford clinic.

For the most part, his fans remained loyal, even when his actions on the course were bizarre. Out of frustration he would take 18s and 13s on holes.

At the 1999 U.S. Open, he intentionally hit a moving ball out. After he missed the cut, he vowed he'd never play the Open again. But he was back at the 2000 Open, where he took a 13 on the 18th hole at Pebble Beach and missed the cut again.

A year ago, Daly said he stopped listening to doctors who tried to counsel him, and started listening to himself.

It was then that he also stopped taking prescribed antidepressants, a move he said has increased his energy level.

Now that he's happily married and raising children, he seems to have put his wildest days behind him, saying that he would be enjoying Las Vegas with his family instead of alone at a bar.

"I think the fans want to see me do well," Daly said. "They want to see me keep trying, whether I shoot a high number (or) low number; as long as I keep trying I think they're excited I'm playing well.

"And it feels good to play good for them because it has been a drought.

Before this year it had been a long drought.

"I think I relate to them the way they relate to me. Everybody goes through problems. Mine just got publicized more."