SNOQUALMIE, Wa. — Long-hitting, hard-living John Daly has yet to visit the winner’s circle on the Champions Tour during his rookie season, but he’s been a welcome addition to the 50-and-older group of professional golfers.
Just ask Billy Andrade, the reigning Boeing Classic champion.
“John Daly is great for the tour,” Andrade said Monday during a conference call with Seattle-area media at TPC Snoqualmie, site of the popular tour stop. “We would like for him to be more competitive and win some. That would be a great thing for the tour.”
The Boeing Classic will be played on August 26-28, hopefully with better weather than Monday’s Media Day at the Jack Nicklaus-designed course. Heavy rain during a 45 minute mid-morning stretch put a bit of a damper on the event.
Daly, known as “Long John” because of his booming drives, joined the Champions Tour on May 8. The colorful character has competed in nine events and won $140,859, putting him No. 67 on the Charles Schwab Cup standings. The top 72 money-winners qualify for the season-ending Schwab Cup event.
Going into this weeks U.S. Senior Open, Daly has three top-20 finishes, the best being an 11th-pace finish at the Dick’s Sporting Goods Classic last month. He put together rounds of 68 the first two days, perhaps celebrated too much, and carded a 73 on Sunday, depriving him of his first Top-10 finish.
Boeing Classic Notes — The course is in much better shape this year than a year ago, primarily because there has been so much rain. The greens were running at slightly over 10 on the stump-meter Monday, compared to the 12 that the pros will encounter. . .The 52-year-old Andrade currently is No. 5 on the Schwab Cup money list, earning $902,009 thus far. “I am having a good year and it’s always nice to go back somewhere where you’ve had success.”. .A bum back that has bothered Seattle native Fred Couples on the sidelines for most of the year might force him to miss his hometown event. Players have until Friday to commit and fingers are crossed that he’ll be able to play. . .For ticket and volunteer information go to boeingclassic.com.