Daly Now Takes It One Hole at a Time

He is slimmer, but not by much. He still drinks diet soda, but not as often. He wears a hat, but prefers a Ben Hogan-style lid instead of a baseball cap because it doesn’t make his forehead sweat.

He worries about today and doesn’t worry about tomorrow. In truth, John Daly probably worries about one circumstance as much as anything else he can think of.

“I guess I am scared to screw up again, but you know, I’m doing good today and that’s about all I can say about it,” Daly said.

Daly did really well Thursday, good enough to shoot a four-under 66 at Winged Foot Golf Club in the PGA Championship, which seems fitting.

It was in 1991 that Daly got into the PGA as a basically anonymous alternate and somehow managed to win the thing, even though he was either tipsy or hung over the whole time.

Now it’s an entirely different Daly with a chance--yes, another chance--to make something really good happen for him since returning from his second alcohol rehabilitation program.

If you’re keeping score, Daly said you can’t really count this as a second chance.

“I believe I’ve had about 15 chances in life,” he said.

Daly, 31, might be playing the first major in which he hasn’t been hung over, drinking, overeating or drying out. It’s going to be interesting to see how he performs.

For Callaway Golf, the club maker that took a chance on Daly when no one else would, Thursday’s first round was exhilarating. A Callaway employee held a cellular phone in front of a speaker during Daly’s interview session in the media tent, and his remarks were broadcast on the company’s intercom system.

“We feel very, very delighted for him,” Ely Callaway said. “I’m personally gratified. I’m simply ecstatic about the fact that he is getting on top of himself.”

Meanwhile, on top of Daly is that white cap. He said he likes it nearly as much as his Great Big Bertha.

“I’m getting teased, though,” Daly said. “Everyone’s calling me Clarence Rose. Hell, I didn’t know I lost that much weight.”

OH, REALLY?

In USA Today’s hole-by-hole description of Winged Foot, here is how the description began on hole No. 1: “This is where it will all begin. . . .”

IT’S A MISTEAK

Jim Furyk might be the first golfer to have an endorsement handed to him on a sizzling platter when he agreed to a deal with Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse.

Furyk may be a household name, but he isn’t a steakhouse name. The public relations company’s news release spelled his name “Furky.”

LOCAL KNOWLEDGE

It remains to be seen how much Tiger Woods will benefit from Butch Harmon’s knowledge of Winged Foot, which is the course Harmon grew up on. Harmon’s father, Claude, was the pro at Winged Foot for 31 years.

Harmon, who is Woods’ coach, doesn’t even remember how many times he has played the course.

“At least 1,000 times,” he said.

Harmon walked out on the 10th green of the East Course this week so he could remember his first golf lesson: He was 5 in 1951 when assistant pro Jackie Burke Jr. taught him.

LPGA: SPONSOR WOES?

The LPGA, which has made huge strides in recent years, seems to be on the verge of backsliding.

There are rumors that the LPGA is going to lose four sponsors for 1998 and possibly five if the tobacco ban on sports sponsorship claims the du Maurier Classic, which is one of the LPGA’s four majors.

The other events believed to be in trouble are the $700,000 season-opening Chrysler-Plymouth Tournament of Champions, the $500,000 Palm Beach National Pro-Am in West Palm Beach, Fla., supported by Dr Pepper, the $500,000 Susan G. Komen International at Myrtle Beach, S.C., and the $1.2-million Sprint Titleholders Championship at Daytona Beach, Fla.

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Colleen Walker’s victory was noteworthy, but not only because it was her first in five years. Walker is one of 19 working mothers playing the LPGA Tour.

Laura Baugh, who is expecting her seventh child next month, and Laurie Rinker Graham, whose second child is due next month, are on the sidelines right now.

SENIORS: HERE TODAY, GONE SAFARI

Bob Murphy is taking some time off for a trip beginning next week, but he isn’t going to take his golf clubs with him. A pith helmet maybe.

Murphy and his wife are going on a safari in South Africa with Bob Charles and Gary Player and their wives.

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The newest senior-to-be is Larry Nelson, who will turn 50 on Sept. 10. The two-time PGA champion who also won the 1983 U.S. Open will make his Senior PGA Tour debut at the Boone Valley Classic in St. Louis, which begins two days after his birthday.

JACK KNOWS

At 57, after collecting 18 major titles and 70 PGA Tour victories, Jack Nicklaus has been around golf long enough to establish a theory about the health of the sport.

“I think the best thing that happened for the game was Tiger Woods winning at Augusta,” Nicklaus said. “All of a sudden, the fellows are saying, ‘Well, nobody’s going to dominate the game again.’ And here’s a young man [who] comes along in his first year and just sort of bowls everybody over real fast.

“What it’s doing, it’s going to make all the other guys play harder. They’re going to have to bring their game up to another level if they want to compete with this young man.

“But you also found that there are other players who can play too. . . . Certainly, Tiger is going to need some rivalries, competition, no different than when Arnold [Palmer] came along.”

Nicklaus said golf has been in a lull for the last 10 or 15 years as far as intense rivalries.

“Arnold needed to have challenges and Gary [Player] came along, I came along and then I had the [Lee] Trevinos and the [Tom] Watsons and their things.

“It’s good for the game to have those. You guys have got to write about something. The public has got to have something to attach themselves to and it helps in the excitement of the game.”

FUNNY BUSINESS

Yes, Woods has appeared on the cover of People, GQ, Newsweek, BusinessWeek and a whole bunch of sports magazines, but how do you know when you’ve really, really made it?

When you’re on the cover of Cracked. Woods is the latest object of satire in the humor magazine.

IS LEFT RIGHT?

Phil Mickelson is left-handed, but he doesn’t think that’s an advantage at Winged Foot.

Said Mickelson: “It doesn’t matter which side of the ball you’re standing on.”

ZINGER BACK

In 1993, Paul Azinger won the PGA Championship and a few months later, his shoulder hurt so much he couldn’t play.

The pain turned out to be caused by lymphoma, which caused him to sit out most of the 1994 season and changed his life.

Now 37, Azinger is still trying to find the form that produced 11 victories, but none since his PGA triumph four years ago.

This year, Azinger’s only two top-10 finishes were before March. In his last four tournaments, Azinger has a disqualification and three missed cuts.

But there was Azinger opening with a two-under 68 at Winged Foot. Somehow.

“All I’ve been through . . . it has been way harder than I thought it would be,” Azinger said. “You know, I just really feel like I can still do it. I just haven’t.

“The difference is that I haven’t been as consistent from one day to the next.”

Azinger said one consistent factor has been support from Callaway, which did not downsize his endorsement deal when he was unable to play.

“As happy as we are with John Daly’s play, we are just as happy with Paul Azinger’s success,” Callaway said.