Chain-Smoking Daly Dominates on Day 1

Golf's wild child putts his way to 2nd with 3-under 67 in Tulsa
By Jesse Andrews,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 10, 2007 5:50 AM CDT
Chain-Smoking Daly Dominates on Day 1
John Daly smokes a cigarette on the 16th hole during the first round of the Canadian Open Thursday July 26, 2007 in Markham, Ontario, Canada (AP Photo/Adrian Wyld, CP)   (Associated Press)

John Daly, the hard-living golfer and author of the confessional, "My Life In and Out of the Rough," came out gangbusters on Day 1 of the last major event of 2007, the PGA Championship. Sustained by Diet Coke and Marlboros, the 41-year-old withstood 110-degree heat and put on a bravura putting show in the front nine.

He trails only Graeme Storm, whom Golf magazine identifies as "an obscure Englishman."  Daly has won just one tournament in the last 12 years and slipped to 423rd in the world ranking; he had played no practice rounds, opting instead to play slots at a local casino. "That guy's amazing," remarked Ernie Els. (More golf stories.)

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