John Daly grabs early lead at Qatar Masters: Live Leaderboard Part-1
Booze-loving John Daly has now soared to the top of the leaderboard through the halfway mark of the first round at Commercialbank Qatar Masters and is now resting at the top with five-under, 67 alongside Englishman Richard Finch.
Daly, who has faced controversies all his life, is coming out of yet another disastrous season last year, where he was not able to pull a single title through the course of the calendar year.
His reputation plunged deeper in crisis when he withdrew from the Australian Open after he suffered penalties for hitting the wrong ball in the bunker.
Daly signed off from the tournament, picked up his son and stormed out of the course.
Daly said of his bitter experience, "When you run out of balls, you run out of balls. yes I shook my players partners hands & signed my card w/rules official".
For the moment, the two-time major winner seems to have done well in the opening round of the windswept Doha Golf Club. He carded five birdies through the 18-hole stretch, without dropping a shot.
Daly does not have a designated playing status either on European Tour or the PGA and manages to sneak into the field through sponsor exemptions.
He is currently playing on the Nationwide Tour in an attempt to improve his ranking and possibly earn a PGA Tour card at the end of the season.
Meanwhile, Finch has scored six birdies in all and has dropped one shot at par-four, 14th and has still to complete his front nine.
Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts broke the headlines early in the morning, pulling in three birdies on the back nine.
He made the turn to card one more on the opening hole of the front but slid back on the leaderboard with a misadventure at par-four, 6th.
He settled for three-under, 69, tied for the fourth spot alongside Paul Lawrie and Peter Hanson.
Grizzled K. J. Choi, winner of the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass last year, is also one of the top performers of the day so far, carding a bogey-free round of four-under, 68.
He pulled in three birdies on the back nine and closed his 18-hole bid with another on the front.
to be continued...
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