It’s Same Daly, Only a Different Approach

Tanned, rested and unshaven, John Daly returned to the scene of his latest personal reinvention Tuesday at Torrey Pines and said he was happy to report he’s not any different.

“I’m still the same ... fat, out of shape, all that good stuff.”

That could mean that when the Buick Invitational begins Thursday, we will see a Daly identical to the one who showed up last February and reversed a nine-year winless streak with some vintage good stuff, such as knocking a bunker shot from 99 yards to within seven inches of the cup on the first playoff hole -- and winning.

That was Daly’s first PGA Tour victory since the 1995 British Open, a span in which he became known more for his failings, on and off the course, than his successes.

At the Buick Invitational, the first full-field PGA Tour event on the mainland after a couple of weeks in Hawaii, Daly gets a chance to defend his title against the strongest field to show up at Torrey Pines.

Five of the top six players are here, including the Big Four of No. 1 Vijay Singh, No. 2 Tiger Woods, No. 3 Ernie Els and No. 5 Phil Mickelson, plus sixth-ranked Sergio Garcia. Fourth-ranked Retief Goosen is the only absentee.

Daly says he’s almost ready to go, so that means the tournament could become a real spectacle, since the only thing that outdoes Daly’s attacking a box of muffins is Daly’s attacking a golf course.

He tied for 17th at the Mercedes Championships at Kapalua, but that was two weeks ago, and Daly isn’t sure he has had enough time to resuscitate his game from its winter’s nap.

“This course isn’t very easy to not be tournament-ready,” he said. “But there’s a lot of us out here where our games aren’t where we want it to be.”

However, the good news for Daly is that he seems to be where he wants to be, and that would be defending a tournament title. He’s done it before, which is what you do winning five times, including two majors -- the 1991 PGA Championship and his victory at St. Andrews 10 years ago.

Daly turns 39 in April and said he has adopted a more mellow approach to the game, at least for now, and that is a disposition that may come in handy on the toughened-up South Course, where the U.S. Open is scheduled to be played in 2009.

The $2.3 million Daly won last year was his most since his first year on the PGA Tour in 1991, and his $864,000 payday at Torrey Pines was more than he had earned at any time in his 13 years playing the pro tour.

More than anything, winning here rescued Daly from near irrelevance, improving his ranking from 299th to 85th in one week.

He is 38th now and happy he no longer is compelled to question where his game disappeared. He said there were times when he didn’t know whether he could win again.

“When you have a nine-year drought, you start to wonder,” he said. “I mean, nine years is just a long time.”

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Daly plays the first two rounds with Fred Couples and Mark O’Meara; Woods is paired with Shigeki Maruyama and Justin Leonard; Mickelson is paired with Vaughn Taylor and Rich Beem; Singh plays with Garcia and Tommy Armour III. They all begin on the South Course.

Els will play the first two rounds with Andre Stolz and Bob Tway and start on the North Course.

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Buick Invitational

* Schedule: Thursday-Sunday.

* Courses: Torrey Pines, South Course (7,607 yards, par 72) and North Course (6,874 yards, par 72).

* Purse: $4.5 million. Winner’s share: $810,000.

* Television: USA (Thursday-Friday, noon-3 p.m.) and Ch. 7 (Saturday, noon-3 p.m.; Sunday, 12:30-3:30 p.m.).

* Last year: John Daly won his first PGA Tour title since the 1995 British Open, beating Luke Donald and Chris Riley on the first hole of a playoff. Daly hit a 99-yard bunker shot within inches to set up his winning birdie.