Daly shoots 51 on his back 9 at Buick Open

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 01/08/2009 (6204 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

PLAYING for the sixth straight week on a road trip that has taken him to five countries, John Daly felt as though he hit rock bottom Friday with his worst score ever in a regular PGA Tour event that left him wondering whether he should quit.

His swing coach, Rick Smith, described Daly as being in a “toxic state” after an 88 in the Buick Open, which Smith attributed to a massive weight loss, not enough sleep and the wrong kind of diet.

Whatever the case, it led to Daly feeling as badly as ever about his golf.

“The last two weeks have been the first time in my career I didn’t think I could win,” Daly said. “I don’t have the feel I used to have. I don’t have the confidence. I just don’t have it. I tried my (tail) off and shot 88. I’ve thrown in the towel and shot 82 when I quit. But I didn’t quit this time. It was a weird feeling.”

Daly hit two balls out-of-bounds on the par-5 first hole — his 10th of the second round — and took a 10. He wound up shooting 51 on his back nine for a 16-over 88. That was one shot less than the 89 he had last year at Royal Birkdale in the wind-swept British Open.

Smith said he followed him along Warwick Hills and almost didn’t recognize him.

“I saw a guy I didn’t know existed,” Smith said. “What I saw today was scary.”

— The Associated Press