Goodbye Wild Thing and hello Mild Thing
JOHN DALY rolled back the years with a stunning 66 to continue his love affair with St Andrews.
The 44-year-old won the Open here 15 years ago, showed he’s lost none of his touch around the famous links with a stunning opening round which consisted of seven birdies and just the one bogey on the daunting 17th.
Daly made the most of the benign early conditions, but, in truth, it could’ve got even better as the American saw no fewer than four birdie putts lip out.
Since that famous triumph in 1995, the ‘Wild Thing’ has missed the cut in eight of his 12 Open appearances as he battled alcohol and gambling problems.
But, after a further spell out with rib and hip injuries, Daly admits he is finally back on his game and is looking at challenging for a third Major title.
“I’m not too disappointed but I hit four putts coming in which I thought I had made,” he said. “I left some out there but I’m pleased with the way I am driving the ball.
“This is only the seventh or eighth tournament in three-and-a-half years I’ve been healthy to play. It has been really tough because of the rib and hip, but I’m starting to get some confidence in my game again.”
Daly’s playing partner Andrew Coltart also benefited from the early start, firing a six-under-par total in his first Open Championship since 2002 after coming through qualifying at Sunningdale.
150TH OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP | FIRST ROUND SCORES IN FULL
63: McIlroy (NIR)
65: Oosthuizen (RSA)
66:Coltart (SCO), Daly (USA), Dredge WAL), Hanson (SWE), Tiley (ENG)
67:Andersson Hed (SWE), Canizares (ESP), Glover (USA), O’Hair (USA), Siem (GER), Watney (USA), Westwood (ENG), Woods (USA), Yang (KOR)
68: Barnes (USA), Fisher (ENG), Immelman (RSA), Ishikawa (JPN), Jeong (KOR), Lowry (IRL), McGowan (ENG), Rock (ENG), Senden (AUS), Singh (FIJ), Stenson (SWE), Villegas (COL), Wilson (ENG)
69: Allenby (AUS), Casey (ENG), Chia (MAS), Dyson (ENG), Els (RSA), Garrido (ESP), Goosen (RSA), Johnson (USA), Karlsson (SWE), Kaymer (GER), Lawrie (SCO), Mahan (USA), Marino (USA), Molinari (ITA), O’Meara (USA), Van Pelt (USA)
70:Bjorn (DEN), Calcavecchia (USA), Cink (USA), Clarke (NIR), Goya (ARG) Holmes (USA), Kim (KOR), Moore (USA), Na (USA), Rose (ENG), Scotland (ENG), Taniguchi (JPN), Wood (ENG)
71: Aiken (RSA), Chun (KOR), Clark (RSA), Day (AUS), Gallacher (SCO), Garcia (ESP), Lehman (USA), McDowell (NIR), Miyase (JPN), Perry (USA), Petrovic (USA), Poulter (ENG), Schwartzel (RSA), Slocum (USA), Stricker (USA)
72:An (KOR), Crane (USA), Faldo (ENG), Fernandez-Castano (ESP), Gay (USA), Haastrup (DEN), Hamilton (USA), Hansen (DEN), Ikeda (JPN), Jimenez (ESP), Johnson (USA), Kjeldsen (DEN), Kuchar (USA), Maybin (NIR), Moriarty (IRL), Noh (KOR), Ogilvy (AUS), Pernice Jr (USA), Points (USA), Quiros (ESP), Scott (AUS), Sim (AUS), Verplank (USA)
73: Abbott (ENG), Cabrera (ARG), Davies (WAL), Donald (ENG), Dufner (USA), Haas (USA), Harrington (IRL), Havret (FRA), Johnson (SWE), Leishman (AUS), Levet (FRA), Love III (USA), Mickelson (USA), Noren (SWE), Overton (USA), Roberts (USA), Senior (AUS), Watson (USA), Weir (CAN), Whitehouse (ENG)
74:Fichardt (RSA), Goggin (AUS), Goydos (USA), Khan (ENG), Laird (SCO), Molinari (ITA), Montgomerie (SCO), Oda (JPN), Sonoda (JPN), Watson (USA)
75: Archer (ENG), Barnes (AUS), Bohn (USA), Cunliffe (RSA), Fujita (JPN), Jaidee (THA), Lyle (SCO)
76: Choi (KOR), Curtis (USA), Hugo (RSA), Leonard (USA), Oda (JPN), Park (KOR), Percy (AUS), Streeter (ENG)
77:Duval (USA), Furyk (USA), Hansen (DEN), Miyamoto (JPN)
78: Day (USA), Hatton (ENG), McNeill (USA)
79:Clark (ENG), Edwards (WAL), Fowler (USA), Kelly (USA)
80: Dubuisson (FRA), Lara (SPA)
81: Canter (ENG), Porter (AUS)