CARNOUSTIE, Scotland – John Daly yesterday threatened to become the story of the British Open first round, but ended up becoming a mere footnote to the day at Carnoustie Golf Club.
Daly, the 1995 British Open champion, stormed to the top of the leaderboard with a birdie on No. 10 and a 50-yard hole-out eagle on No. 11 to get to 5-under par and lead the tournament.
He promptly followed the two and three on his scorecard with a double-bogey six on No. 12 and a triple-bogey 8 on No. 14 to fall from 5-under, leading to even par in a span of three holes. Daly bogeyed his way home on 15, 16, 17 and 18 to tumble to 3-over for the day.
It was typical volatile Daly. He went from 5-under and in the lead to 3-over and in a tie for 84th place in about 80 minutes.
The pivotal hole that characterized Daly’s demise was the par-5 14th. He hit his drive into the left fairway bunker, thinned a second shot into the rough over the green into a bad lie, chipped but couldn’t get out of the rough, chipped again without getting to the green and then chipped a third time past the hole and three-putted.
Also typical of Daly was his refusal to speak to reporters after the round. After signing his scorecard, he bolted from reporters.