DALY MAKES NOISE EARLY, THEN WILTS IN HEAT

Always colorful, never boring, shaggy John Daly produced yet another wild ride around a PGA Championship.

Literally.

The 56-year-old two-time major champion, whose booming drives propelled him to win the PGA in 1991, drove the slopes and swales of Southern Hills in a golf cart the PGA allows him to use because of osteoarthritis in his right knee.

And first off the tee in the cool of morning, he quickly birdied the first hole. The came another on No. 5.

Nostalgia was in the air. Daly was on the leaderboard much of the round as he was greeted with cheers of “Go Big John” from a fan gallery that still loves his eccentric style, shock of thick white hair, bushy beard and a belly that hides his belt buckle.

Then came the late-round meltdown in the rising heat: four bogeys in the final five holes, including three in a row on Nos. 16-18. By the end, Daly’s 2-over 72 left him in no mood to talk and he skipped postround interviews.

At least his cart didn’t cause him any problems. At the 2021 PGA Championship on Kiawah Island, Daly needed fans to help him get out of some sand when he got stuck. His biggest obstacles in Tulsa were a couple of water hazards he could drive around by going under the ropes and briefly into the gallery.

And he signed his scorecard. Daly was disqualified from the PGA Tour Champions Regions Tradition last week after failing to do so.

Locals watch

Xander Schauffele, along with J.J. Spaun one of two former San Diego State stars in the field, finished the day in a large group tied for seventh after a 2-under 68 that included four birdies and two bogeys. Schauffele trailed Rory McIlroy by three shots.

Spaun began his round with 14 straight pars before making bogeys at No. 15 and No. 18 to finish with a 2over 72.

Kyle Mendoza, a club pro from The Farms Golf Club in Rancho Santa Fe making his PGA Championship debut, shot a 5-over 75. Mendoza won the Southern California PGA Section Professional Championship in 2020 and ’21.

What a start

Another club pro, Jesse Mueller of Arizona, started his first PGA Championship with a jolt: an eagle on his first hole.

The general manager of the course at Grand Canyon University, where he is also a volunteer assistant coach, played his way into the tournament by winning the Walter Hagen Cup in April in Austin.

If there were any nerves, he didn’t show it.

With his wife and caddie Jessie watching, Mueller strode to the tee at No. 10 wearing a “GCU” shirt and coolly hit driver 327 yards to the landing area in front of a creek. Then he dunked the ball straight into the cup from 102 yards out.

The 39-year-old Mueller spent eight years trying to scratch out a career in pro golf before diverting to teaching and club work. He took five days off work to come to Tulsa.

The PGA is his fifth career tour event and second major. Eventually his round faded with three straight bogeys that left him 2-over for the day.

Tough day

Brooks Koepka, who won this tournament in 2018 and ’19 but hasn’t played since missing the cut at the Masters, struggled to an opening 75, including a front-nine 40. Patrick Cantlay, last year’s PGA Tour Player of the Year, was one shot worse at 76.