Daly Shaves Some Shots Off His Game

This time he means it. He’s clean, he’s sober, he’s got a goatee and he’s not taking any prescription medication, so meet the New John Daly . . . version, oh, probably eight or nine.

Golf’s greatest reclamation project power-slammed his way into contention in the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic on Thursday with a wind-defying 66 at Tamarisk, even if he didn’t know the place existed until recently, and ambled to within two shots of second-round leader Fred Funk.

Through 36 holes, Daly doesn’t have a single bogey (or a double bogey, for that matter). That should have tickled his chin whiskers, but he didn’t really want to talk about it.

“Don’t want to jinx myself,” he said.

Of course. Daly’s capable of doing that without much effort. If it is going to happen, at least he’s going to do it without any of the antidepressant medicine Daly said he quit taking about three weeks ago.

He said he has a lot more energy now and wishes he had been more reluctant to take the anti-depressants when they were recommended.

“I’m just tired of it,” he said. “Tired of all the advice . . . a lot of wrong advice and it is my fault for not getting . . . a second opinion.”

He took himself off the medicine three weeks before he won the 1995 British Open, but he said he was told to start taking it again.

“Never really done anything since then,” said Daly, who has had only four top-10 finishes in the last four years.

“I am going to try without it. I feel a lot of it that I have taken has done me worse. . . . I just feel that my body is telling me what it wants to do and wants me to go off of it. Certain times in my life, I think I needed it, but right now, I think antidepressants have made me very lazy.”

There was nothing lazy about his round at Tamarisk, a place Daly discovered only a couple of weeks ago even though he lives in the off-season at Mission Hills, about a five-minute drive away. He finished in typical Daly fashion with a birdie on a 527-yard par five after a driver, four-iron and chip left him with a four-foot putt.

In fact, the whole experience was so effortless for Daly, the only thing that really bugged him was the wind that gusted to 40 mph.

“It was brutal,” he said.

Funk’s 68 at Indian Wells looked a lot better than that because of the wind that blew balls all over the place and coated just about everything with a fine layer of sandy grit. The start of play was delayed an hour at all four courses because of the wind. At Bermuda Dunes, every tent on the course was blown over except one.

“Oh, it was really blowing,” Funk said.

So far, there isn’t much room between the top players. Daly, Tom Pernice Jr. and Bo Van Pelt are tied for second at nine-under 135, one shot ahead of John Huston, Steve Pate and Jeff Sluman. Ben Bates and Loren Roberts are next at 137.

Van Pelt hit his ball out of bounds on his first hole at Indian Wells but recovered with four birdies on the front, finished with a 70 and felt fortunate.

“The gusts were so bad, I had to back off a bunch of shots,” he said.

Huston, who was two shots out of the lead last week at Hawaii after three rounds and wound up tied for 12th, said he’s playing much better because the bursitis in his left shoulder isn’t as bad as before. He also kept on his game and managed to finish at one over despite two bogeys and a double bogey.

“To a certain degree, I escaped,” he said. “I was on the verge of letting it get away from me.”

Of course, that’s sort of Daly’s life theme. He has been on the verge more than a few times, but he keeps pulling himself back from the edge. What’s more, the changes in his life are ongoing.

He recently changed coaches, from Chipper Cecil at Mission Hills to Bill Harmon at Bighorn. Harmon is the younger brother of Butch Harmon, Tiger Woods’ coach. Daly’s reconciliation with third wife Paulette didn’t work. Then there is the medication thing, his new energy level and, oh, yes, his goatee.

So why did he grow that thing?

Is it like a statement, or what?

Actually, it is a statement, all right, a typical Daly statement.

“Just forgot to shave there,” he said.

Wind Doesn’t Blow Ill for Daly: John Daly shot a wind-defying 66 and moved within two shots of leader Fred Funk after two rounds at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. Page 10

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

(D1) BOB HOPE SCOREBOARD

LEADERS

Funk: 65-68--133

Daly: 69-66--135

Van Pelt: 65-70--135

Pernice Jr.: 63-72--135

Huston: 63-73--136

Pate: 66-70--136

Sluman: 68-68--136

*

OTHERS

Azinger: 73-66--139

Stewart: 71-70--141

Duval: 70-71--141

Pavin: 73-71--144

Zoeller: 77-70--147

Couples: 72-75--147

Strange: 73-75--148