Date: December 01, 2010
Author: Steve Orme, Sportal

Daly wants fast start at Open

John Daly is convinced he still possesses the game to win at the highest level but admits he can no longer afford to give the world&aposs best players a head start. The popular American, who last tasted victory at the 2004 Buick Invitational, managed only one top-25 finish on the PGA Tour this season despite making a respectable 14-of-20 cuts. Despite another frustrating campaign, Daly enters his third-consecutive Australian Open feeling upbeat about the state of his game and equally content off the course. But while his laid-back nature could be mistaken for a man who is just happy to play the game that comes to him so naturally, the two-time major winner insists he&aposs desperate to return to the winners&apos circle. “It is very important to win again,” Daly told a packed press conference at The Lakes Golf Club in Sydney on Wednesday. “I would not still be playing the game if I did not think I could win.” “Ball-striking wise, I feel I am hitting it as good as anybody off the tee or into the greens.” “My short game, my chipping, before it was like 14 good holes and four bad ones. Now it is 17 good holes and one bad one.” “I&aposm getting there.” “I have to play better on Thursday and Friday. I know I have made a lot of cuts but I am barely making cuts.” “When you are shooting one, two, three, four, five-under par for two days on our Tour, you can be seven to 10 shots out of the lead in most tournaments.” “That puts pressure on Saturday when you try to make a move.” Daly, who played The Lakes course three times last week, is scheduled to hit off from the 10th tee at 7.15am (AEDT) on Thursday morning alongside local hopes Aaron Baddeley and Marc Leishman. The 44-year-old says he&aposs a fan of the revamped layout and admits he can&apost get enough of Australia. “I love coming down here,” he enthused. “The weather is usually great. It keeps me playing. It keeps me working on things.” “It is not only playing the two golf courses here. I love this course and of course Coolum, I love that place.” “It just keeps you competitive. It is better for me to play these two weeks, the last two competitive tournaments for the year. You can always get something out of it.” “Good playing would be nice for me. Being able to finish the year off down here is always great.” The larger-than-life American is still a shadow of his former self having maintained his comparatively svelte figure after undergoing Lap Band surgery two years ago. “It has been great” he said of his weight loss. “I don&apost have six different sizes in my closet at home. I have been 195 pounds for nine months now.” “I feel great. I still don&apost look the way I&aposd like to be but I am comfortable with my golf swing this way.” But Daly admits his reformed lifestyle has not necessarily helped his golf. “I did play better when I was drunk,” he said. “I did not think about it too much. I did not worry about it as much. Of course, back then, I always had next week.” “Now it is different because I don&apost know if there is next week. I have to wait, sit by the phone. It is tough from that aspect.” “But I know in my heart that I am doing the right things in my life to be a better golfer, to be a better father, to be a better person.”