Daly May Be Ready to Rule : PGA: Rookie awarded the decision over television viewers. He leads Stadler and Knox by three shots after a 69.

John Daly’s big-bash game held up nicely Saturday at Crooked Stick, and so did his nerves and his heart when PGA officials informed him after the 18th hole that his caddie might have violated a rule on the 11th green as Daly was lining up a putt.

Daly shot a three-under-par 69 Saturday for a three-day total of 11-under 205 that gave him a three-shot margin over Craig Stadler and Kenny Knox going into today’s final round in the last of the major events on the schedule this year.

But before his scorecard was signed and official, Daly had to be taken to a CBS truck to review a tape of the incident after three viewers watching at home called the PGA to say that caddie Jeff (Squeaky) Medlin might have violated rule 8-2b saying the caddie may not touch the putting green to indicate a line for putting.

The rule reads: “When the player’s ball is on the putting green, the player, his partner or either of their caddies may, before but not during the stroke, point out a line for putting, but in so doing, the putting green shall not be touched. No mark shall be placed anywhere to indicate a line for putting.”

Medlin, a veteran Tour caddie who is normally the regular bag-toter for South Africa’s Nick Price, told officials in the CBS truck he was not helping Daly with his line, and Daly’s playing partner Bruce Lietzke also went into the truck with PGA of America officials to view the tape.

Ironically, it was Price’s withdrawal that allowed Daly to be in the tournament.

Daly had not signed his card in the scorer’s trailer. If he had signed a scorecard and then been penalized by officials, he would have been disqualified from the tournament. If it were determined that he had violated rule 8-2b before he signed the card, he would have been penalized two strokes but would have been allowed to continue to play.

“When he (Medlin) pulled the flag out, he said it goes left and back right,” Daly said. “When he put it (the flag) down, he asked me if I needed (the flag tended when Daly was putting). I just told him I didn’t need it.

“We probably saw it (the replays) six or seven times,” Daly said. “All I wanted to do was find out if it would cost me a two-shot penalty. It would have bothered me. It would have hurt me, but I would have dealt with it.

“They asked me (in the truck) what my line was. My line was the left lip. He (Medlin) was kind of hurt. He didn’t think he did anything wrong. We talked about it and they made the decision right there.”

Lietzke said: “The real issue was if he (Medlin) touched the line of the putt. If he was resting the flag on the green, then it falls to John to say where his aim was. He was aiming at the left side of the cup. I thought it was a good ruling.”

Larry Startzel, chairman of the PGA of America’s National Rules Committee, said: “There was no confusion as to whether the flagstick was touching. That was a given. The confusion was in trying to ascertain the player’s line of the putt. It was a left-to-right putt, the ball rolled left to right, it broke that way. Based on that, where the caddie had the flag, it was not the line of the putt. Had it been a right-to-left putt, we would have had a problem.”

Added Jim Awtrey, chief executive officer of the PGA of America: “I thought it was the perfect ruling. We’re very happy with it.”

It also was a popular ruling. Daly went around the golf course Saturday with a crowd pumped to fever pitch as they watched the longest hitter on the Tour--perhaps in all of golf history--navigate 7,289-yard Crooked Stick and distance himself from the rest of the field.

Lietzke, in fact, said Daly “had Arnold Palmer type receptions out there, especially on those irons that stayed up there for a minute and a half.” When the day was over, heads were still shaking in awe at the length of his soaring drives (a 311 1/2-yard average Saturday) and his lofty position on the leader board.

Playing in the final group of the day with Lietzke, oohs and aahs accompanied almost every shot the 25-year-old hit, and his 69-205 stood up for a three-shot advantage over Knox and Stadler. Knox had 70, Stadler a 69.

There was not much movement at the top of the pack, although Bob Gilder shot the lowest score of the round with a 67 that left him at 210 and Andrew Magee got himself into contention with a 68 that also left him at six under.

Nick Faldo stayed very much in contention with a one-under 71 that left him at 210 and Lietzke, using his long putter, kept his cool to shoot par 72 and was only four behind his playing partner, Daly.

He also was in awe of this young player who got into the event as the ninth alternate early Thursday morning.

“Not only is he 80 yards ahead of you off the tee, he hits and he walks out ahead of you. If I wanted to talk to him, I would have had to jog out there. I had to say nice drive and nice shot when we got to the green.”

Daly gave his caddie a lot of credit. “Me and Squeaky got something going,” he said. “When I get over my driver, he says, ‘Kill.’ ”

The 468-yard, par-four 14th served as an example.

Daly hooked his drive around the corner and over the hazard on the dogleg hole, a 260-yard carry, and left himself with only 170 yards to the hole--for him, an eight-iron. He two-putted for par.

His drives put him in spectacular position all day.

Daly hit an eight-iron second shot on the 457-yard fourth hole within tap-in distance.

On the 600-yard fourth, he was just short in two, chipped to 18 inches and had a second consecutive birdie.

A five-iron to the 195-yard fifth gave him a 12-foot putt. Another birdie.

He hit his approach into the water on the eighth and made double bogey, but rallied on the par-fives on the back nine.

He reached them both--including a 258-yard one-iron second shot on the 11th, where he two-putted for birdie.

That put him back at three-under for the day and he matched a bogey on the 17th, where he missed the green, with a birdie on the 445-yard final hole, where he hit an eight-iron five feet from the hole.