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Not that fans cared. If they wanted textbook or pretty golf, they would have followed Woods or Geoff Ogilvy. Or sat home watching a tape of Jack Nicklaus. No, fans simply adore Daly because he plays like they wish they could.
His shot off the 13th tee went so far left, he was almost on the next hole over, No. 17. The sensible route would have been to punch back onto 13, and the marshals went ahead and moved the gallery to clear just such a path.
But as Daly got to the ball, his eyes darted left. That 17th fairway was wide open, calling his name. He looked at the path the marshals cleared several times, but his eyes kept going back to 17.
Finally, his caddie told everybody to move. The circus had just rolled into town.
Daly punched the ball forward, landing squarely on the 17th fairway. The players coming up the hole laughed when they saw him, and one caddie said, ``In the middle again, huh?''
But Daly knew what he was doing. He had an unobstructed - not to mention shorter - shot to the green, and his third shot put him within 8 feet of the hole. Fans whooped and hollered, and Daly was grinning as he lumbered to the green.
OK, so he two-putted from there. That's not the point. Daly is pure entertainment - on and off the course.
He's a two-time major champion, but he hasn't won a PGA Tour event in three years and doesn't even have a card anymore. The closest he got to this year's Masters was an autograph session down the road at the local Hooters.
He did have a brief moment of grandeur at the British Open, but it lasted all of 15 minutes. After pitching in on the 11th hole for an eagle in the first round, he found himself as a most unlikely leader. He went on to miss the cut.
His personal life would make Jerry Springer cringe. He freely admits to drinking and gambling too much, to say nothing of that nasty nicotine habit. Sherrie is Wife No. 4 and while they've been married for six years, it hasn't exactly been domestic bliss.
Just two months ago, Daly showed up at a tour stop in Memphis with a face full of scratches that he blamed on Sherrie, saying she came after him with a steak knife. They've since reconciled. Or at least are getting along well enough to come to Southern Hills with the kids.
Don't ask about it, though.
``That's where we end,'' Sherrie Daly said.
But it's hard not to love the big lug. That's why the people keep showing up.
``I've been telling him he could win soon,'' Sherrie Daly said. ``He's due. He hasn't had much luck.''
