Troubled two-time Major winner John Daly said he is hoping for a fresh start in Hong Kong and Australia after a series of injury problems and lurid off-course incidents.
Daly shook off recent woes, including a night in jail after a drinking spree last month and a dizzying rankings plunge to 788, to post two-under-par 68 in the Hong Kong Open's first round.
The 42-year-old Californian, who has made only five cuts this year, was cruising at four under par at the Fanling course until a pair of late bogeys spoilt his round.
"I'm not too disappointed, being a little rusty," he said. "I haven't played in a month so I think under par on the first round here is pretty good. I'll take it."
Daly relies on invitations after losing his US PGA tour card two years ago, and he was relieved just to be back playing after a spell of injury including rib surgery in August.
"I just want to play. Whatever happens, happens but it's just nice to play," he said.
The 1991 PGA Championship and 1995 British Open winner will play the Australian Masters in Melbourne next week and hopes to return to Coolum, scene of an infamous meltdown in 2002, for December's Australian PGA Championship.
"It's been tough because I need to play three or four weeks in a row to get anything out of my game and I haven't been able to do that in two years," he said.
"The exemptions don't come in a row, they just come one or two together with a week or two off. It never was four in a row.
"When I look at my past when I won the PGA (Championship) and the British (Open) and a few others, I was playing eight or nine tournaments in a row. You get in a rhythm, and I haven't been able to do that."
Daly created his latest sensational headlines last month when he was jailed overnight after a drinking session at a Hooters restaurant in North Carolina.
He was disqualified from the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March for missing his pro-am tee-off time, a day after splitting from celebrated swing coach Butch Harmon who accused him of preferring drinking to golf.
Last year, Daly turned up at a tournament in Memphis with scratches on his face and said his wife had attacked him with a steak knife. Sherrie Daly later said the wounds were self-inflicted to cover up a sexual assault.
The incidents have not hit the popularity of larger-than-life Daly, who enjoyed strong crowd support here.
"It's great. It's great to see the people come out and watch me play. It makes me try harder and it makes you want to play better," he said.
"Sometimes I might force it more than I should but it's kind of like you have a home crowd wherever you go, so I've been very fortunate.
"If I get in a rhythm and play a few weeks in a row I might even be able to do something for them."
He is returning to Australia six years after storming out of the 2002 Australian PGA Championship, hurling his ball and putter into a lake, after a row over a penalty drop. The putter reportedly remains on the clubhouse wall.
"My drive hasn't been quite as bad as Australia and the water situation but I just keep fighting and keep working on it," he said.
"My wedge game isn't as sharp as it should be. If you don't have that, it's tough to win out here."
Daly shot to stardom in 1991, when he won the 1991 US PGA Championship after starting as ninth alternate. He also won the 1995 British Open and first played in Hong Kong three years later.
Copyright 2008 AFP Global Edition
