REUTERS/Gary Hershorn
You might be able to guess which golfer in the photograph is eccentric pro John Daly. But it would have been a bit harder to figure out that he’d be holding the day one clubhouse lead at the British Open.
Despite sporting an insane outfit during a ceremony for past British Open winners held yesterday, John Daly was all logic on the course today, shooting a six-under 66 at St. Andrews to hold the clubhouse lead. (Though dressed no better — Daly accomplished the feat in psychedelic purple pants, a baby blue sweater vest and a pink shirt.) As Golf.com’s Alan Bastable points out, it’s been 15 years since Daly last won a major tournament when he took the British Open in 1995.
“It’s good to be sitting here,” Daly said afterwards. “I think this is the first time I’ve seen the media center at the British Open since ’95.”
Will he hold the lead? It’s unlikely. Tiger Woods had a solid day too, and lurks a stroke back at 67. And, as Bastable puts it, Daly is a “walking, talking, Marlboro-smoking, Diet Coke-slurping time bomb, a player prone to punctuating a string of birdies with an out-of-bounds tee shot, a four-putt or an ugly ‘other’ on his scorecard.”
Still, it helps to have the fan favorite in the mix. (via Golf.com)
Update: Daly lost the clubhouse lead after Rory McIlroy shot a 63, tying the record for the lowest round ever shot in a major tournament.