Warrick Enjoys His Daly Dose

Hey, kid, you want to get out of this U.S. Open in a hurry?

Follow me.

We’re guessing that’s what John Daly said to amateur Kevin Warrick in Sunday’s final round. Going off as the first pairing, Daly and Warrick completed their round in three hours.

With Daly setting the pace, Warrick had no choice but to keep up.

Had Warrick ever played a faster round?

“Maybe by myself on nine holes,” Warrick joked. “It was pretty quick out there. I think I held him up a few times. It was a lot of fun out there. We kept moving and we both played halfway decent.”

In their round of speed golf, Daly shot three-over 73 while Warrick followed with 74.

Daly and Warrick made for quite a pair.

Daly, playing in his 12th U.S. Open, is a chain-smoking, overweight, hard-living, long-driving tour veteran who has won two major titles--the PGA Championship and British Open.

Warrick, 22, is 6 feet 2 and says he weighs 149 pounds. He was one of five amateurs in the 156-player field.

At one point in their round, a fan yelled that Daly needed to teach Warrick how to eat.

“I definitely need to get a little bigger,” Warrick said later.

Daly didn’t stick around long enough to make conversation.

“I’m wore out,” he said as he left the clubhouse.

Well, at least it was an experience Warrick won’t soon forget.

“It was awesome,” Warrick said of playing with Daly. “He hits it a mile. I had no clue how far he hit it.”

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So what’s so tough about Bethpage Black?

Two more players scored holes in one Sunday, bringing the total to three for the tournament.

Andy Miller, son of NBC commentator Johnny Miller, aced the 205-yard, par-three third hole with a five-iron.

Later in the day, Scott Hoch, with a three-iron, made a hole-in-one at the 17th.

Hoch’s ace went over well with the local crowd, as he wore a red, white and blue shirt adorned with the outline of New York City.

On Friday, Japan’s Shigeki Maruyama made a hole in one on the 14th hole.

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Outside of Tiger Woods, the most impressive performance at Bethpage may have been turned in by 44-year-old Nick Faldo, who finished fifth after shooting three-over 73 on Sunday for a 72-hole total of 285.

It was Faldo’s best finish at the U.S. Open since tying for fourth place in 1992.

Faldo, winner of three Masters championships and three British Opens, hasn’t won the U.S. Open, although he finished second in 1988 to Curtis Strange.

Faldo played this year only after receiving a special exemption from the USGA.

“For me, this is great,” Faldo said of his finish. “This gets me an exemption. But to finish top 10, I didn’t think I could do that at the beginning.”

Faldo also offered a few words about Woods.

He thought Woods separated himself by the way he played Friday, when he shot two-under 68 in a steady rain.

“I think round two was phenomenal,” Faldo said. “He could have quite easily shot a 74, and it would have been a good day in that weather.

“But he put his head down and he played such a good round, and he didn’t want to give anything away to anybody, just in case the weather changed in the afternoon. I think that was the key bit to the week, obviously.”