John Daly is known for his easy-going attitude, mammoth drives, and his love for diet cokes.
But the big-hitter did not have one of his signature tee shots at the Hoag Classic, a tournament on the PGA Tour Champions.
Instead, Daly looked like a 25-handicapper at a local municipal course. He shanked his tee shot on the first hole of the tournament, surprising both the crowd and himself.
Before his mishit, Daly stepped up and addressed his ball, and looked as if he was ready to hit his opening tee shot. Then the starter announced his name at the point of address, interrupting his pre-shot routine.
That must have thrown Daly off, as his tee shot did not go anywhere. He proceeded to make a double-bogey six on the opening hole, and went on to struggle on his front nine.
Two more bogies and another double followed as Daly went out with a 6-over 41.
But the two-time major champion steadied the ship on the back nine. He made his first birdie of the day at the par-4 12th and then poured in another one at the par-5 15th.
At that juncture, Daly was 5-over on the day and at the bottom of the leaderboard. But he closed his day much better than how he began it. Daly closed with two straight birdies to shoot a 3-under 33 on the back nine, thus totaling a 3-over 75 overall.
Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand shot a 9-under 62 on day one and leads Padraig Harrington and Paul Broadhurst by a stroke going into round two.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.