Golf / The Open: Hard-hitting Daly buoyed by Killer Whale

THE Royal and Ancient were forewarned so they made a concession for the arrival of John Daly at The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, writes Tim Glover.

At the end of the practice ground they erected an 18ft high fence to protect shipping in the Firth of Forth from Daly's drives. 'Not high enough,' Daly drawled.

Nor was it. He was hitting shots over the fence from a distance of 280 yards. What the R & A were unaware of is that Daly has changed his driver. He is now pulverising the ball with a club called the Killer Whale. 'It's so huge it makes Big Bertha look like a three-wood,' Daly said. As a result the world's biggest hitter has added 10 to 15 yards to his drives some of which, on American courses, have been measured at 400 yards.

Last summer Daly - 'grip it and rip it' - got into the field for the US PGA Championship as ninth reserve, drove from Memphis to Crooked Stick in Indiana and won the tournament by three strokes. Outside of Arkansas, where he went to college, nobody had ever heard of him. He became the Rookie of the Year and many other things besides.

To some he was a fall guy and he showed all the classic symptoms of instant celebrity. There were stories of wild gambling, wrecked hotel rooms, broken relationships, fast food, even faster women and heavy drinking. It was said he would have to beat Jack Daniels before he could beat Jack Nicklaus.

'There have been a lot of ups and downs,' he said. 'I've learned a lot about golf, about people. There were a lot of things said about John Daly that were unfair. I've stopped reading newspapers. You only have one life to live.' The latest story to appear about him was, he said, typical. Daly in airport drama etc. He and his caddie boarded a flight, took exception to an uncooperative stewardess and walked off the plane. 'People wrote that I was drunk. We got off because we didn't want to cause a fuss.'

During the Masters at Augusta in April he was handed a writ on behalf of his pregnant girlfriend. They recently got married, he is the father of a month-old daughter and has bought a house in Denver, Colorado.

This week he plays in his first Open Championship. Yesterday he played his first practice round at Muirfield and he may as well have been playing on the surface of the moon.

Muirfield is no Crooked Stick and Daly does not fancy his chances here. 'I don't think my high ball is going to work here,' he said. 'This is a different game of golf. I'm not expecting too much of myself.' At the age of 26 he is only in his second year on the US Tour. 'It is all still a learning process. It is going to be an up-week no matter what. If I shoot 85 I'll learn something.'

Yesterday he was bemused by it all. The shortness of the flags on the greens made it difficult for him to judge distances; he could not find sprinkler heads on the fairways giving him yardages. When Nick Faldo won the Open at Muirfield in 1987, Daly watched it on television. 'I hope I play with a European,' he said.

At the 17th, a par five of 550 yards, he hit his drive 370 yards, leaving him an approach shot with a nine-iron. To combat the wind and hit a lower ball he is thinking of driving without the assistance of a tee. 'Who knows? I just hope the wind will bring my ball back somewhere on to the planet.' Still, he found encouragement from Gary Player who told him that St Andrews, the venue for the Open in 1995, is made for Daly's game.

Muirfield, according to Tom Watson, is made for Tom Watson. The five times Open champion who won here in 1980, said he would have a few quid on himself. 'At the Masters I played well enough to win the tournament but my putter let me down,' he said.

Watson, 42, has modified his stroke to suit the conditions he expects to encounter at Muirfield. 'I feel I can win,' he said. 'This is the essence of the game here. I remembered some of the shots, some of the putts. You can throw the yardage book out of the window. You have to rely on feel and you have to battle the urge to fight the elements. You don't fight the wind, you use it as much as you can. This is the ultimate test. I like it.'

After his triumph 12 years ago, Watson, his wife Linda and a few friends went back on to the course late at night with antique clubs and balls, and were thrown off by the then secretary.

Mr and Mrs Watson got the same treatment on Sunday night at the North Berwick links. From his hotel Watson was watching players in the qualifying competition struggle to make par at the 16th hole. Watson could not resist the challenge and, with his wife carrying his clubs, he went out and played the 16th. He was reprimanded by a greenkeeper.