This time, John Daly's blowup was confined to the golf course

SILVIS, Ill. - John Daly was asked how he made a 13 on the par-4 No. 4 at TPC Deere Run Friday.

“Two-putted,” he said. “Twenty-footer for 12.”

That Daly hung around after his John Deere Classic second-round score of 81 to make that quip to reporters shows things are different with him, even if his golf game still isn't championship-ready.

In the past, like when he made his PGA Tour-record bad 18 on No. 6 at the 1998 Bay Hill Invitational, Daly probably would have stomped off the course without a word for anyone. Then, he would have gone somewhere and gotten drunk, maybe trashing a hotel room in the process.

Daly has been sober for a couple of years now. He is 45, and has said the wild life now strikes him as boring. He says he wants to see his kids grow up, play guitar, write songs.

His life has been a bad country song for so long. Wasted potential despite two major-championship wins in the 1990s. Four divorces. Alcoholism. A gambling problem. A weight problem. Too many bad antics on golf courses.

In one of his previous six missed-cuts in as many visits to the Deere, I saw him leave the course without acknowledging anyone who spoke to him on his way off the grounds. A slam of the car door, and he was gone.

Here, in 2011, he exchanged handshakes with kids on his way to the scorer's trailer following an 81. He graciously signed lots of autographs for people after giving those reporters all the time they needed, as he gave his explanation for how an awful tee shot turned into a 13.

The condensed version: Daly hit six shots from a native area of trees and brush, with none traveling more than 16 feet. He finally took a penalty stroke and a drop, then went from the primary rough to a bunker to his two-putt.

“I heeled it really bad way right, and I was really hoping they wouldn't find it so I'd have to go back to the tee,” Daly said.

“I mean, I hit it in the worst spot in the golf course.

“I found my ball. Once you find your ball, I don't think you can (go back to the tee).”

But PGA Tour rules official Steve Carman later said Daly was mistaken. He had the option to return to the tee once his ball was found.

It wouldn't have been Daly if he'd done that, though. This is someone who hit six balls in the water while amassing that 18 at Bay Hill. This is someone who has at least nine double-digit scores on Tour holes over his career, including a 14 at the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, when he put three balls in the Pacific Ocean.

Daly had eagled the par-5 No. 2 to get to 2-under for the tourney.

“That eagle on 2,” he said, “I'm going ‘Hey, you know, a couple more and maybe …' ”

He doesn't have exempt status on the PGA Tour, so he plays mostly via sponsors' exemptions and by being a past champion. He has missed eight cuts in 12 starts, and has done no better than a tie for 37th.

Were he not still hugely popular, he'd have a hard time getting into very many tourneys even with the 1991 PGA Championship and 1995 British Open titles on his resume.

It's hard to remember, given the extended reign of Tiger Woods. But Daly was once the most-beloved player on the Tour.

Now, he's like Peter Frampton playing Riverside's casino next month. People still come to see him, but the greatest hits were all long ago. Daly's last Tour win was in 2004.

But the guy took a 13 and didn't act like an imbecile this time. He faced the music afterward, treated people respectfully, said he loved the course, and noted how much he is looking forward to playing in next week's British Open as a former winner.

I've never ran from my mistakes,” Daly said a year ago. “I've always been the kind of man that you're supposed to be when you screw up. And I've screwed up an awful lot, not just on Tour, but in other aspects of life.”

Some people quit trying to get better. Some never try at all. Here's hoping Daly gets plenty of 3s at Royal St. George's next week and nary a 13.