GOLF / MAL FLORENCE : Given Time, Daly Shows He Can Win

When John Daly won the PGA Championship in 1991, he was established as sort of a Paul Bunyan-type figure with the media and public.

Virtually unknown before the tournament, Daly awed everyone with his prodigious drives.

As quickly as he won, however, he was written off, some doubters suggesting that he would never win again.

After all, he was only 25 at the time, a tour rookie competing against more experienced players. Let’s see what he’ll do in the future, was the general attitude.

It took Daly only 13 months to silence his detractors, when he won the B.C. Open in September.

“A lot of the media was acting like I had been out here for 15 years,” Daly said. “Last year was my first year on tour.

“Look at Greg Norman. He went almost three years before winning another tournament and look how good he is.”

Daly will compete in the Franklin Funds Shark Shootout starting Friday at the Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks.

He will have Payne Stewart as a partner in the 10-team competition.

“In this type of format, he’s going to have to coach me a little bit,” Daly said. “If he wants me to hit a one-iron off the tee, I will. The last thing I want to do is put Payne in the woods. I’m going to let him coach me and I’ll just hit it.”

“Grip It and Rip It” is the name of Daly’s recent golf book--his code on the course that attracts huge galleries wherever he plays.

“It’s awesome,” Daly said of the galleries. “I hope it never ends. It’s great knowing when you tee up you’ve got people pulling for you. That’s two or three shots (advantage) right there. I hope it never changes.” Daly has seemingly made as much news off the course as on, with a reported palimony suit threatened by Bettye Fulford, now his wife; an altercation with a flight attendant, and other incidents.

“It has been a John Daly soap opera,” Daly said. “Things have been blown out of proportion. And a lawyer distorted everything. But love conquers all.”

John and Bettye have a 5-month-old daughter, Shynah, and they live in Castle Pines, Colo., near the golf course that is the site of the International tournament.

“It’s three stories, 6,500 square right off the 15th hole at International, about 300 yards up in the woods,” Daly said of his home. “You wake up and see mountains and trees. I’m focused on family life more than ever before. The baby gives you different priorities.”

As for his celebrity, or notoriety, Daly said resignedly: “I’ve had some good and bad press, but bad press is better than no press at all.”

Daly is known for his long drives, but he has a nice touch around the greens.

“I’ve always worked on my short game more than my long game,” he said. “I have four wedges in my bag. I use a one-iron or two-iron, but I don’t carry a three-wood. I feel if I can’t get there with a one-iron, I hit the driver off the ground. When it’s raining, I carry the one-iron. In dry weather I carry the two-iron.”

Daly said he doesn’t hit as many greens as other tour players because of his style of play.

“I’m usually firing at the flag stick. I’m not one of these middle-of-the-green-type players.”

Daly said that he started playing golf because of his admiration for Jack Nicklaus. But he relates to veteran Fuzzy Zoeller now.

“I’ve learned a lot from Fuzzy, because he tells me things in a funny way and gets his point across,” Daly said. “He tells me to play golf the way you want to play, write your own checks and don’t listen to anybody.”

Daly’s advice to the average weekend golfer is simple: “Swing the way you want to swing. Just work the club face. I just say, ‘Keep it simple, stupid.’ ”

Daly also says he has a more moderate lifestyle now.

“I don’t drink the whiskey anymore, but I still want to have fun,” he said. “I just drink light beer. It’s protein. You can wash your hair with that stuff.”

Bland behavior and conformity seem to be the code for many tour players. Daly is different, saying what he thinks, doing what comes naturally, even if he suffers the consequences.

“I’m only 26 and I have a lot to learn out here,” he said. “I’ve made mistakes. But I’ve had more decisions to make in one year than anybody in a lifetime.”

His ultimate goal?

“I want to win the Masters. It has always been my dream.”

The “Allergan Swing with the Legends” golf tournament will be held today at Industry Hills. The event is sponsored by the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Assn. to benefit Tissue Banks International.

Jack Kaplan, a member of Brentwood Country Club, has been elected president of the Southern California Golf Assn. He succeeds Paul Jenkins of Eldorado CC and Fairbanks Ranch CC, who completed his one-year term.

A golf collectors’ trade show will be held next Saturday and Sunday at the Erawan Garden Resort in Indian Wells.

The Brookside Women’s Golf Club defeated Division 1 Knollwood on Oct. 26, winning the net play title for the second consecutive year in the Los Angeles County Women’s Golf Assn. tournament.

American Golf’s Junior Winter tournament will be held on Dec. 31 at Skylinks golf course in Long Beach. Entry deadline is Dec. 18, or when the field is full.

Daly, Craig Stadler, Peter Jacobsen and Fuzzy Zoeller will play in the Pro Stakes golf championship Jan. 2-3 at Dove Canyon CC in South Orange County. It’s a 36-hole event.