Even after John Daly's recent run of success, it is easy to wonder if there is a grenade waiting around the next corner.
It has been that kind of career for golf's lovable big man, who won his first PGA Tour event in nearly nine years at the Buick Invitational and followed with a fourth-place finish at the Nissan Open. He has never finished in the top 10 in three straight tournaments, which he can do this week at the Chrysler Classic of Tucson.
Daly has been through three divorces. There have been two trips to alcohol rehab. There was a PGA Tour suspension for erratic behavior. He has gambled excessively and lived compulsively. His weight has ballooned, and there has been medication to control his urges.
And last summer came perhaps the greatest blow of all. Just days after the birth of his first son, Daly's wife, Sherrie, and her parents were indicted on federal drug and gambling charges.
So what does he do? Ranked 299th in the world, having finished the 2003 PGA Tour season by missing three cuts, withdrawing from three tournaments and being disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard at another, he wins, and then plays like it is no fluke.
At least one person out there had no doubts.
"I know the guy, I know the person. Once you know him, it's a little different," said Daly's friend Fuzzy Zoeller at last weekend's Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am. "You don't really know the person inside, the heart he's got. He's got a big heart, trust me. He's been through a lot of battles, a lot of it self-inflicted. But he still keeps battling. It's like he has to do that to keep himself motivated. I'd like to see him keep himself out of trouble, enjoy the game of golf. He's a great kid. He'll do anything for you."
Daly shot 64 Friday and called Zoeller that night, the excitement of his voice resounding through the phone. It has been a long time coming.
When he emerged on the scene in 1991, hardly anybody knew him. He was the ninth alternate at the PGA Championship, got in the field and won. With a personality bigger than life and a grip-it-and-rip-it attitude that endeared him to fans, Daly drew supporters from outside the game before that became fashionable with Tiger Woods.
He won two more PGA Tour events, then won the 1995 British Open in a four-hole aggregate playoff over Costantino Rocca at St. Andrews. And he didn't win on the PGA Tour again until two weeks ago.
There were so many ups and downs, so many starts and restarts. Daly still was a popular figure because he could hit a ball a mile and do it on command. But there were too many subpar performances, too many tanked rounds. He took to selling merchandise at tournament sites and recording records and was becoming a sideshow.
Through it all there were two obscure, non-PGA Tour victories last year that showed there was some game left.
His victory at the Buick Invitational moved him from 299th in the world to 85th. He jumped to 64th this week and is sixth on the PGA Tour money list with more tournament winnings than he has ever made in a season.
A Masters invitation will be forthcoming if he can stay in the top 10 on the money list or move into the top 50 in the world after the Players Championship.
"He's got more talent than anybody I know," Zoeller said. "He's probably the first big hitter who came through with a short game. Johnny's short game is unbelievable."
So is his story.
AROUND GOLF: The Futures Tour, the developmental tour for the LPGA, is coming to the Tampa Bay area for the Next Generation Futures Golf Classic on March 26-28. A pro-am will precede the $65,000 event March 25 at East Lake Woodlands in Oldsmar. ... Nothing is official, but next year's Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am at the TPC of Tampa Bay could be a week later, moving to the last week of February. The Champions Tour will begin its season next year with two events in Hawaii, pushing back the Florida events by a week. ... This week's Match Play Championship is offering the first $7-million purse in golf, with the winner getting $1.2-million, which would have been enough to lead the money list in 1991. ... The United States Golf Association will give exemptions to the NCAA individual champions into the 312-man qualifying field for the U.S. Amateur and the 156-woman field for the U.S. Women's Amateur.
