John Daly Hit It Big on the Champions Tour

And I mean that several ways. JD was a fan favorite -- as usual -- he averaged 317.5 yards off the tee, and he's only four shots off the lead (-2, T12).



If you missed his debut on the Champions Tour, here's his stat line:

• 4 birdies and 2 bogeys
• 317.5 yards off the tee
• 13 of 14 fairways
• 16 of 18 greens
• tied with Fuzzy Zoeller for loudest pants

That last may need some explanation: JD wore his usual Loudmouth pants -- this time they were "red pants dotted with a pop-art stylistic ovals with turquoise centers ringed with black," according to PGATOUR.com's report, while Fuzzy wore "his own version of Daly’s signature Loudmouth pants – bottles of his vodka embroidered on both legs of Kelly green pants and “Get Fuzzed Up” written on the back of the pants and his shirt."

Daly was worried that he wouldn't play well, but apparently his game was in pretty good shape overall. His fiancee Anna Cladakis caddied for him, and apparently she understands the psychology of being a caddie pretty well. (You can read the PGATOUR.com article mentioned earlier for those details, and you can get more details about his play from this article.) But perhaps the most revealing thing she said was how fun the day was, despite the crush of fans and media. In fact, Fuzzy said that learning to say 'no' is going to be JD's biggest challenge now.

But it sounds like John Daly may be ready for that challenge. He certainly seems thrilled to be where he is now.