1995 / 77th PGA RIVIERA : Daly Gets Clearance for Takeoff : Golf: It’s all systems go for the British Open champion, who brings loose attitude and long game to Riviera.

The sun gleamed off his nearly bald head Tuesday morning as John Daly stood on a runway at Santa Monica Airport, getting ready to hit a golf ball with a club shaped like a clam shell at one end.

Daly’s concentration was interrupted when a small private plane stopped in his path.

“Those guys got insurance?” he asked.

Daly smacked the ball, which quickly took on the the flight plan normally assigned to small comets. The distance the ball traveled down the fairway was measured quickly.

“Five hundred fifty yards,” someone said.

Daly smiled. And why wouldn’t he? The way this golf gig is going, it doesn’t matter what course he is playing. His way or the runway, it’s all the same.

Meanwhile, the black limousine purred softly, waiting for him with its door open. There are plenty of doughnuts, the Shell stations still stock his favorite muffins and life is good.

For once, Daly has about as many worries as hairs on his head.

They don’t keep records on this, but Daly is believed to be the first player to win the British Open and then celebrate by shaving off his hair.

So there he was at the airport to make his first public appearance in the United States since winning at St. Andrews and turning into nothing more than a drive-by concession stand.

Wilson Golf, which makes clubs Daly endorses, thought it would be a good idea to have him take his new Invex driver and try to knock the cortex out of a golf ball.

According to Wilson, the driver features “bi-metal technology” and “multi-plane aerodynamics.” Potentials buyers may take equal notice of its $299 price tag, possibly requiring bi-checking accounts and multi-jobs to pay for it.

In any event, it’s pretty clear that Daly could send a golf ball into orbit even if he were swinging a garden rake.

Corey Pavin, who will be in the same group with Daly when the PGA Championship begins Thursday at Riviera Country Club, said he enjoys watching Daly drive just like everybody else. “It’s fun to see the drives fly off,” Pavin said. “It’s amazing to see how far he hits it.”

Let the record show that on runways, Daly hits it a very long way. As it turns out, Daly is a veteran airport hitter.

He said he once hit a ball 802 yards on a runway in Colorado, merely to see how far it would go.

“The altitude made a big difference,” he said.

Daly has been hitting it all over the place of late. First, he won the British Open in Scotland, then he played the Dutch Open at Hilversum. Last week, Daly played the Scandinavian Masters in Barseback, Sweden, which is about as far removed from a runway in Santa Monica as you can get.

“I’m real proud I kept my commitments,” Daly said. “A lot of people would have left after winning the British Open and said, ‘Well, I’m going home.’ ”

Daly probably would have been one of those people in times past. But here he was at a news conference, accompanied by musical fanfare, bathed in spotlights and introduced as the new British Open champion.

To take advantage, the slogan for Daly’s new driver is “Today the British Open, Tomorrow the World.” Maybe. It also could be “Today the British Open, Tomorrow Dunkin’ Donuts.”

He certainly casts a striking pose with his hairdo, which appears to be entering into a fuzzy period.

Ben Crenshaw, who will play with Daly and Pavin, said he does have some sort of identification with the Daly hairdo.

“I used to have a burr when I was a kid,” Crenshaw said.

Daly shaved it off on a bet with a buddy from Arkansas.

“I had a few Diet Cokes and I said: ‘Hell, just cut it off,’ ” said Daly, who toyed with the idea of shaving the name of his new club into the side of his head.

At Riviera, Daly plans to use the driver at Nos. 3, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, possibly No. 10, but not No. 18.

Said Daly: “Probably wouldn’t be a very good play. . . . Watch, I’ll probably hit the damn thing.”

All that’s left is for Daly to drive enough holes at Riviera to score well enough to pile up enough Ryder Cup points to make the team. He figures he has to finish no lower than third to make it.

“It’s going to be pretty hard,” he said. “But it could happen, I guess. There has been a lot of weird stuff happening in my life. Maybe there will be some more.”

Count on it.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

No Parking at Riviera

Looking to park for the PGA Championship? Riviera Country Club is definitely not the place Organizers warn that there is absolutely no parking available at Riviera and the surrounding area. All parking and will call and ticket sales will be handled approximately five miles away, at the Veterans Administration complex at Wilshire Blvd. and Barrington Ave. in West Los Angeles. PGA courtesy vans will take you from your car directly to a loading area, where buses will take you to and from Riviera. Parking and shuttle service is free of charge.

How to Get to the VA Complex

Taking 405 north

Exit at Santa Monica Blvd.

West to Sawtelle

North to the VA lots

Taking 405 south

Exit at Wilshire

West to the VA ramps onto Bonsall.