John Daly created his own version of ‘Desert Storm’ with a superb five under par 67 and grab a one stroke lead on day one of the windswept Commercial Bank Qatar Masters in Doha.
A desert ‘Shamal’ blanketed the Qatar capital leaving players, caddies and those hearty spectators out following the event choking on sand and dust.
Daly, looking smart in a black shirt and his Loudmouth line of red chequered pants, didn’t drop a shot around the Doha Golf Club course.
John Daly shares a laugh with Bernie after his opening round in the 2012 Commercial Bank Qatar Masters. (Photo - www.golfbytourmiss.com)
His 67 was his lowest round since shooting a 65 on the first day of his last event, December’s Asian Tour season-closing Thailand Golf Championship.
The 45-year old American, currently ranked 543rd in the world, also recorded a 67 during his final European Tour event of 2011, the UBS Hong Kong Open.
“It was very difficult out there with sand getting into your eyes, your mouth and everywhere,” said Daly.
“It was just brutal and you felt like you were eating sand.
“The funny thing was I wasn’t even in the sand today (laughing).
“I’m just better off keeping a cigarette in my mouth for the whole round.
“So it was one of those days you just had to kind of hang in there. It wasn’t a round you could fire at the flags and where you’re happy just to find the greens.
”I’ve just have five-and-a-half weeks off and I’m pretty shocked because I hardly touched a club.
“And this was one of the best rounds I’ve ever played and overall every aspect of my game out there was good today including my driving as I drove the ball really well.”
And Daly showed he’s lost none of his ‘Long John’ length off the tee in averaging 303.5 yards off the tee.
He was sharing the lead in ‘fairways hit’ in finding 11 of 14 fairways while he needed just 28 putts in the round.
Daly has rejoined the European Tour as an ‘affiliate member’ meaning any money earned in Race to Dubai events will count towards a full European Tour card.
He contested last year’s Qatar Masters ending in a share of 63rd while he has received invitations to contest next week’s Omega Dubai Desert Classic and the following week’s Avantha Masters in India.
However ‘paper work’ in dealing with the India Embassy meant spending a lot of time before Daly’s visa was processed.
