Daly a rookie again as new phase begins
John Daly turned 50 Thursday — defying long odds, some would suggest — so he gets to kick off the Champions Tour chapter of his colorful career this week, joining five former winners in the Insperity Invitational on Friday through Sunday at The Woodlands Country Club Tournament Course.
Daly won only five PGA Tour titles, but two of them were majors, and his larger-than-life persona, on and off the course, turned him into a golfing folk hero. The crazy ride began when, gripping and ripping it as a complete unknown, he won the 1991 PGA Championship. He added a British Open in 1995 and also finished third in the 1993 Masters. His last tour victory came at the Buick Invitational in 2004 — a year in which he was the PGA’s Comeback Player of the Year.
Daly has played one PGA Tour event this sea- son, missing the cut at the Puerto Rico Open.
Ian Woosnam is the Insperity’s defending champion, defeating Tom Lehman and Kenny Perry by birdieing the first playoff hole in 2015. The former Masters champion and European Ryder Cup captain had begun the final round three shots out of the lead before claiming his first and still only Champions Tour title in his 36th start.
Other recent winners in the mix include Esteban Toledo (2013), Brad Faxon (2011), John Cook (2009) and Jay Haas (2006).
The 3M Greats of Golf exhibition presented by United-Health-care returns Saturday afternoon for the fifth consecutive spring with Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Lee Trevino hoping to defend their championship in the 18hole scramble against the teams of David Graham, Tom Weiskopf and Tony Jacklin, and Hale Irwin, Ben Crenshaw and Dave Stockton. They will start after the final tee time of the Insperity.