Golf: A putdown from not so genteel Ben

FIRST TEE

THE TRIALS and tribulations of John Daly show no sign of abating. The reformed "Wild Thing", who is not blessed with the patience of Job, lost his head when he took an imperfect 10 at the par-four 18th in the Memorial at Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio, on Thursday.

The man who won the Open Championship at St Andrews in 1995, six-putted the last, registering the highest score on the hole in the 24 years of the tournament. Daly faced an uphill putt of eight feet for par and his first mistake was to knock it two feet above the cup. This is Eamonn Darcy territory.

The Irishman, as you will doubtless recall, faced a short downhill put at the 18th in the1987 Ryder Cup at Muirfield Village to defeat Ben Crenshaw in a crucial singles. Had he missed, it could have rolled on to eternity. Darcy didn't miss and Europe went on to an historic 15-13 victory over the US. Not only was it their first on American soil, but it came against a team captained by Jack Nicklaus and on the course that Jack built. It was all too much for Crenshaw.

In a fit of pique he had broken his putter at the sixth hole and then had to putt with an iron. Recognised as one of the game's great putters, he made a decent job of it, taking Darcy all the way. When he had secured the vital point, Darcy was asked about Crenshaw's self-inflicted handicap. "What broken putter?" he replied.

To double-check the story, I approached Crenshaw, who was sitting beside the 18th green, his head in his hands, and can now reveal, for the first time, the reaction of Gentle Ben, one of the game's traditionalists who is always ready with a warm Texan smile. "Gentle Ben, many commiserations, that was a tough break but I have just one question, did you or did you not break your..." "Go away c..." he replied, without looking up. "No problem Ben. Have a nice day."

Crenshaw, who went on to win the Masters twice, will have learnt from that when he leads the US into Ryder Cup action against Mark James's Europe in Boston in September.

Anyway, back to Daly. Faced with his Darcyesque downhiller, he sent it four feet past the hole and after missing that, faced another coming back etc. He was finally left with a 10 over par 82 and, to the dismay of Big Jack, the Memorial host, withdrew but not before autographing a cap which he then threw over his shoulder as he made his exit.

Wrong course of action

FROM DUBLIN, Ohio, to the real thing. Next month John "Six Putt" Daly begins his build-up to the Open Championship at Carnoustie with an appearance in the Murphy's Irish Open at Druids Glen, near the fair city, but controversy continues to be his travelling companion. With a prize fund of pounds 1m, Murphy's consider that a sufficient inducement and have decided, from this year, to refuse to pay appearance money.

This did not go down well with Darren Clarke or his manager Chubby Chandler, who pointed out that Daly won't be playing simply for the exercise. In fact the American is being paid a promotional fee by the golf club who have invited him as their guest. Ireland's leading professionals, including Darcy, will, of course, be competing in their national championship... with the exception of Big Darren.

Clarke, second to Colin Montgomerie in Europe's Order of Merit last season with prize money approaching pounds 1m, has said he will not play, not because of a row over money but because he doesn't like the Druids Glen course. Whatever the reason, the man from Dungannon, who won the Irish PGA Championship in 1994, is making a big mistake. The Irish Open is followed with patriotic passion by huge crowds. Clarke may not like every course on the Open rota but that doesn't mean he would not sit one out.

"Naturally we would like him to play but one player doesn't make an event," David Linnane, the tournament director, said. "Everyone hates appearance money except those that get it. We want everybody to have a fair crack of the whip."

Family favourite

PETER ALLISS eat your heart out. When David Howell faced a tricky lie during the final round of the Volvo PJ Championship at Wentworth last week, Richard Boxall described it on air as a "son-in-law shot - not quite what you expected".

Advice from an expert

ONE OF the advantages of golf is that you can emulate your heroes. You can't climb into a ring and hit Lennox Lewis; you can't return serve from Tim Henman, you won't score against Peter Schmeichel or lay a bat on Darren Gough but you can sink a two-footer from the very spot at St Andrews where Doug Sanders failed to win the Open. Not only that but you can pay for the privilege of playing with the top pros. It's called a Pro-Am, that curious hybrid that precedes the tournament proper.

The amateurs contribute to a prize fund for the professionals and in return get a bag of goodies, a five-star lunch, a team picture and an attack of the yips. If they're lucky they won't get a pro who puts the experience on a par with a visit to the dentist. A colleague recently had a round with a top American who said "Hi" on the first tee, "Nope" to a drink at the halfway hut and "Bye" when they walked off the 18th. That was all.

On Wednesday morning I had the good fortune to partner Paul Eales in the Pro-Am at Hanbury Manor, the curtain-raiser to the Compass English Open. "Slippery", as they call Eales on tour, had just finished third in the Volvo PGA, earning pounds 81,000, more than twice his previous highest cheque. In the final round at Wentworth he had an eagle two at the difficult third, holing out from 190 yards with a nifty little Taylor Made club that looks like a cross between an iron and a wood.

Alas, Eales couldn't reproduce such miracles at Hanbury Manor but, with the arrival of the monsoon season, play was reduced from 18 holes to nine. We finished five under par and the prizes went at nine under to Sandy Lyle, who was assisted by Ian Botham and his son Liam.

At the fourth, finding my ball in an impossible lie at the face of a bunker - a son-in-law lie - I asked Eales what on earth I should do. "Put the ball in your pocket," he replied. You can't beat professional advice.