Open May Be Closed to Dallying Daly

With his blowup 14 on No. 18 on Thursday, John Daly may have played his last U.S. Open. The bombastic winner of two major championships has been pushing his luck with the U.S. Golf Assn. and now the governing body can rid itself of a headache.

Daly exhausted his last exemption to the Open after earning a five-year free pass with his 1995 victory in the British Open.

Daly will have to earn his way back into the U.S. Open, a longshot given his erratic play of late. He has finished 72 holes in two of his last seven tournaments, ranks 152nd on the PGA Tour money list and has one top-30 finish this year.

Daly’s history with the U.S. Open is also anything but chummy.

At Congressional in 1997, playing shortly after another attempt at alcohol rehabilitation, he walked off the course in the middle of the second round.

Last year, at Pinehurst No. 2, he was penalized for hitting a moving ball and then blasted the USGA, saying he would never play another U.S. Open.

Daly retracted his comments two days later in a written apology but, after withdrawing Thursday in the wake of yet another course meltdown, Daly’s wish to never again play in this championship may have been realized.

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Dennis Paulson, who earned his first PGA Tour victory last week by winning a playoff with David Duval at the Buick Open, withdrew from the U.S. Open on Friday because of back and rib injuries. Paulson finished at nine-over 151.

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So sorry, Monty.

Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie, a dominant force on the European Tour, will need a miracle over the weekend to win his first major. After Friday’s round of 74, Montgomerie is at five-over 147 for the tournament.

Montgomerie nearly won the 1992 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach before falling to third behind winner Tom Kite and runner-up Jeff Sluman.

Friday, Monty blamed poor midday weather for his shoddy play.

“Wrong time of day, I’m afraid,” he said. “You look forward to this tournament, and you prepare well and then you get the wrong end of the draw. It hurts. It’s a shame.”

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It was also a rough day for Hale Irwin, the 1990 U.S. Open winner. Friday, Irwin shot a seven-over 78 and stands at four-over 146.

“The greens, I wouldn’t say they’re impossible, but they’re pretty close to it,” he said.

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The weather forecast for today is for early morning fog, followed by sun, then more fog. More of the same is forecast for Sunday.

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From Loren Roberts, on his fog-delayed first round that ended Friday: “Sure, I’m happy with it, especially since it took 24 hours to play it.”

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A public interest group sued the Pebble Beach Co. and Monterey County on Friday, claiming proper permits weren’t obtained for the U.S. Open.

The county, however, said permits are not necessary, and it was not under an obligation to require them.

“There was no circumventing or deliberate omission of any permitting,” said County Supervisor David Potter, whose jurisdiction includes Pebble Beach.

Potter is also on the California Coastal Commission, which did not require any permits, either, he said.

The Responsible Consumers of the Monterey Peninsula filed the lawsuit in Monterey County Superior Court. It seeks to have holders of future events the size of the U.S. Open obtain permits.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.