Doing 83, Daly Gets Moving Violation

After beginning so brightly, John Daly’s U.S. Open ended with the same eccentricity and confusion that has marked his career.

No, he didn’t walk off the course before the end of the final round, but he did essentially the same thing. He took an 11 on the par-four No. 8 after absorbing a two-stroke penalty for clubbing his ball while it was still moving..

It was after his fourth shot, a second consecutive putt that rolled not-quite-up the hilly green, then rolled back down.

Before the ball had stopped rolling, Daly walked over and clubbed it, polo-style, with his putter. The impact sent the ball rolling back over the green and about 20 yards into the fairway.

He was immediately assessed a two-stroke penalty for hitting a moving ball. Four strokes later, he finished the hole.

Eighty-three strokes after he started it, he finished the round in last place, with a four-day total of 309, or 29 over par.

And to think that after his first-round 68, he was tied with four others for second place.

His explanations were as inconsistent as his behavior.

“I lost my patience,” Daly said. “I told myself, ‘I’m not gonna let the ball roll down the hill again.’ I wasn’t going to stand out there and let them make me look stupid.”

“Them” is the U.S. Golf Assn., which, unlike in regular PGA Tour events, is charged with setting up this course. Because this is the national championship, the course is annually set up as the toughest of the year.

Daly said that his action was not merely frustration, but a need to protest the USGA’s difficult pin placements. He said he was making a statement for his fellow tour members.

“That’s what the USGA does, it loves to embarrass the guys,” he said. “I’m going to stand up for everybody and pay my fine.”

Tom Kite, Daly’s distracted partner, didn’t exactly derive that message from his behavior.

“I didn’t interpret it like that,” he said, later adding, “He lost his composure.”

Daly apologized to Kite afterward. But Kite, like most of Daly’s fellow pros, just shook his head.

“He said his was sorry. . . . There’s not much you can say,” Kite said.

When asked if there was any excuse for the outburst, Kite said, “It doesn’t help your golf score, if that’s what you mean. . . . I guess people have different breaking points.”

While ripping the same course he praised when he shot so well the first day, Daly reached that breaking point again. He said he is so mad with the USGA, he is not going to play in any more U.S. Opens.

“I’m not going to Pebble Beach next year and watch the USGA ruin that golf course too,” he said. “I don’t even consider this a major anymore. My four majors are going to be the British, the Masters, the PGA, and the Tour Championship.”