SAN FRANCISCO - John Daly hit one ball so far that it sailed over the green of a par-4 and led to double bogey. He hit another so far he had 8-iron into the 552-yard 10th hole for eagle.
As a windswept and wild day was ending Saturday in the American Express Championship, Daly looked into the sky behind the 18th at Harding Park and saw the vapor trail from a Blue Angels airplane exhibition that went up and down with loop-de-loops in between.
How fitting.
Despite a bogey-par-double bogey start, Daly had 3-under 67 and a one-shot lead over Colin Montgomerie. Daly rode his prodigious tee shots to 31 on the back nine - the tougher of the two nines - to position himself for his first victory in 19 months.
"It's a lot of fun, but it's stressful," Daly said. "It's great to be in this position, but it's not the easiest thing to do."
Montgomerie put himself in the final group by bouncing his approach off the mesh skirt of the grandstand on the 18th into deep rough and following with a deft chip to save par for his 69.
"John and I come from different ends of the scales in a lot of ways," Monty said. "He's a good lad, and he did very well today."
Too bad Tiger Woods' scorecard didn't have a few sketches of the places he saw Saturday. He was in the trees and under a car, and he hit his last tee shot so far to the right with the wind at his back that it flew over the rough, bounced off a cart path and went over a 25-foot hospitality tent. It might have gone all the way into the parking lot except it bounced off a fan's leg and settled onto the tent's stairs.
After a free drop he knocked it onto the green, and his 15-foot birdie putt made a horseshoe around the cup without falling and left him at 68. He was two shots out of the lead with Sergio Garcia, who had a bland round - 15 pars, three birdies, the only guy without a bogey.
"Pretty much saw most of Harding Park," Woods said.
Graeme McDowell saw too much of the 18th hole. He was tied for the lead when he stepped to the tee, and after bouncing through the cypress trees he wound up with quadruple-bogey.
"Golf is a cruel game," he said.
Daly was at 9-under 201. He has won his past four times after leading after 54 holes, most recently at Torrey Pines last year.
Montgomerie, who last week ended his 19-month victory drought, hasn't heard this much noise since he outplayed Woods in the third round of Wood's British Open win at St. Andrews.
"The crowd is boisterous, which is positive in every way," he said.
He gets one more day with Daly and knows what to expect - not so much the cheering from the crowd but the lack of chatter between himself and Daly.
"I hit it 250 yards, and he hits it 400 yards," Montgomerie said. "We weren't talking that much because he's that far ahead."
LPGA TOUR: Nicole Perrot moved into position for her first win, shooting 7-under 64 for a three-stroke lead at the Longs Drugs Challenge at Auburn, Calif. Perrot had 14-under 199. Liselotte Neumann (64) and Hee-Won Han (66) were 11 under. Second-round leader Dan Coe-Jones of Tampa shot 72 and was tied for seventh, six shots back.
CHAMPIONS TOUR: Dana Quigley shot 8-under 64 for a one-stroke lead over Loren Roberts in the Greater Hickory Classic at Conover, N.C. Quigley had 12-under 132. Roberts (65) started the day atop the leaderboard at 4-under with three others after the first round was stopped by rain.
EUROPEAN TOUR: John Bickerton shot 2-under 69 to take a one-stroke lead over second-round leader Stuart Little (72) in the Abama Open de Canarias at Tenerife, Canary Islands.
