John Daly is known for his easy-going demeanor, huge drive, and love of Diet Coke.
However, the big hitter was unable to make a single successful tee shot at the Hogue Classic, a PGA Tour Champions tournament.
Instead, Daly looked like a 25 handicap player on a local municipal course. he shanked the tee shot On the first hole of the tournament, he surprised both the audience and himself.
Daly stepped up and addressed the ball before mishitting and looked as if he was ready to hit his first tee shot. The starter then announced his name at address and interrupted his pre-shot routine.
This must have upset Daly, because Daly’s tee shot went nowhere. He hit a double-bogey six on the opening hole and struggled on the front nine.
Two more bogeys and another double bogey followed, and Daly finished with a 6-over 41.
But the two-time major champion steadied the ship on the back nine. He got his first birdie of the day on the par-4 12th hole, then another birdie on the par-5 15th hole.
At this point, Daly was at the bottom of the leaderboard at five over for the day. But he ended the day much better than he started it. Daly finished with two consecutive birdies and shot a 3-under 33 on the back nine for a total of 3-over 75.
Thailand’s Thongchai Jaydee shot a 9-under 62 on the first day and heads into the second round with a one-stroke lead over Padraig Harrington and Paul Broadhurst.
Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through.Be sure to check it out @_PlayingThrough Cover more golf. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko In the same way.
