Birdie on Final Hole Brings Clean Victory to Sober Daly

The victory was special, and not just because it was his first in two years or because it brought him $216,000.

“This is the first tournament I’ve won on the PGA Tour in a sober manner,” John Daly said Sunday after sinking a five-foot birdie putt on the final hole to win the $1.2 million BellSouth Classic at Atlanta by a stroke.

“I’m still shaking,” he said. “Thank God it’s over.”

Daly finished with a par 72 in winning for the third time on the tour. Sharing second were defending champion Nolan Henke and Brian Henninger, who made an eight-foot eagle putt on the last hole.

Daly, the 1991 PGA Champion, hadn’t won since the 1992 B.C. Open. He returned to the PGA Tour in March after a three-month suspension for his conduct during a tournament in Hawaii and a stay in a treatment center for alcoholism.

“It’s a great win, knowing I worked hard before I came back,” Daly said, adding that he would celebrate by driving to his home in Memphis, munching donuts all the way. “I don’t think two years ago I could have pulled that off. This is a great feeling to win again.”

Daly led the last three rounds and finished with a four-round total of 14-under-par 274 on the Atlanta Country Club course.

Needing at least a birdie to win on the par-five, 499-yard finishing hole, Daly, who had been using a two-iron off many of the tees on the tight, tree-lined course, hit a driver more than 300 yards down the fairway. His approach landed in a trap on the left of the green, and he blasted out to within five feet, sinking the putt after Henninger had made his eagle.

“It looked about 20 feet,” Daly said of his final putt. “I can’t remember winning a tournament where I had to birdie the last hole.”

Henninger, who splits time between the Nike Tour and the PGA Tour, played the final two rounds with Daly and shot 71 Sunday.

Henke had a 69.

“I knew I had to make two birdies in the last three holes,” Henke said. “I knew 18 was a par-four for John.”

Daly came out strong with birdies on the first two holes, suggesting he might have an easy day. However, he ran into trouble on the fourth, beginning a string of three consecutive bogeys.

Daly got a stroke back with a birdie on No. 8, narrowly missing a six-foot eagle putt. He saved par on No. 9, then bogeyed No. 10. He also birdied the 14th before falling out of the lead with the bogey on the par-three 16th when he three-putted from 40 feet.

“I just kept plugging away,” he said. “It was somewhat of an inconsistent day. The greatest thing about this day is I know I can still win a golf tournament.”

Others learned, too. Daly’s galleries were huge.

“It looked like a football crowd,” he said. “It was incredible. The last two days were unbelievable.”