Daly keeps weekend streak alive with 1-under 69
Former Memphian John Daly, the two-time majors champion and longtime favorite at TPC Southwind, shot a 1-under 69 on Friday and will play on the weekend for the fifth straight year.
After an opening-round 71, Daly began his second round on the back nine and promptly birdied 10, 12 and 15.
“I got off to a great start, but the course just isn’t allowing you to go really low,” Daly said. “I’ve never seen some of the pins where they were (Friday). They’ve put some pins in some spots that, being Bermuda, will have guys putting off the green.
“It was a good solid day. I hit it really well. I had one bad hole and recovered really well on (No.) 7 and made par there.”
Daly, 47, made his fourth cut in 10 events but only his second cut since the Puerto Rico Open in early March. He said he made a mistake of splitting time between the European and PGA Tours a year ago.
“I chose to play (in the U.S.) this year because I was burned out traveling,” he said. “I played 77 events all over the world the past two years. Last year, if you’d have combined my results on the European Tour and this tour, I easily would have kept my card. It’s just tough to play both tours as much as I love both of them.”
Still, he’s confident his game will come around with a consis- tent schedule of events.
“My game is solid, but if I was able to play week to week to week like I used to I could get in a rhythm,” he said. “I may have three weeks off after this. I don’t know if I’ll get in the Travelers (Championship, June 20-23 in Cromwell, Conn.) or not.
“But there’s a good startup around July where I’ll play seven in a row. I just got to go play and not let the pressure of being where I am on money list affect me. It hasn’t been a great year.”
Daly said he’ll undergo surgery to repair tendon damage in his right arm in September or October.
“I’ll have three or four months off, so it won’t be like I’ll miss the season,” he said. “It’ll just be frus- trating not being able to go somewhere to practice in the winter to get ready for the season.”
THE VERSATILITY OF LOVE
A year after he was U.S. Ryder Cup captain, Davis Love III will be an assistant to captain Fred Couples on the U.S. Presidents Cup team that plays Oct. 3- 6 at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio.
The announcement was made last week at the Memorial tournament.
Love, 49, who has a 16-5-8 playing record in the Presidents Cup, would like to be a player and coach.
“It’ll be fun to be back with the team,” Love said. “I got to play (Thursday and Friday) with two guys (Dustin Johnson and Brandt Snedeker) who probably will be on the team and who were on my (Ryder Cup) team.
“I hope to keep playing well and earn my way in. I’ve had three shots, this might be my last. I better get off my rear end and try to make this team. I told them I’d be there one way or another.”
ENGLISH HAS TENN. TIES
Second-round leader Harris English, a University of Georgia graduate, is no stranger to competing in Tennessee.
English, 23, attended Chattanooga Baylor high school, where he helped lead the golf team to four straight titles. He also won an individual state high school championship.