Daly Focuses on a Much Bigger Battle

RANCHO SANTA FE, Calif. —  It was made-for-television golf in prime time on ABC, and with $1.4 million at stake, they weren’t playing for nothing, but the stakes might suddenly get higher for John Daly.

Tiger Woods and Hank Kuehne came from behind for a 2-and-1 victory over Daly and Phil Mickelson in a match that ended under the lights Monday night in the Battle at The Bridges, but there will be more up for grabs for Daly and it’s coming up quickly.

In only one week, the PGA Championship begins at Whistling Straits, where Daly gets one last shot at making the Ryder Cup team.

“I would love to be part of that team,” Daly said.

Chances are, Daly’s shot is a long one. He is 20th on the Ryder Cup points list and he is certain to make the team with enough points only if he wins the PGA Championship.

Hal Sutton, the U.S. captain, has said Daly would be an intriguing player, but has never indicated he would use a captain’s selection on Daly if Daly failed to automatically make the team by finishing in the top 10 on the points list.

“That would be Hal’s decision,” Daly said. “You look at the top 25 players on the points list, they are all playing great golf, no matter whether I’m picked. The team will be strong whether I’m on it or not.”

Daly has never played the Ryder Cup. He won the PGA Championship in 1991 and would have been on the team, but the PGA of America had changed the rules that year to eliminate the winner of PGA Championship as an automatic entry.

Mickelson said he backed Daly: “I hope he is able to make the team and be a partner.”

If Daly is going to have to be a captain’s pick by Sutton, he faces competition with a group of players who are probably more likely candidates for the two captain’s picks, if needed. Jerry Kelly is 10th in the points, followed by Jeff Maggert and Scott Verplank with Jay Haas at No. 14. Todd Hamilton, who won the British Open, is 16th.

Woods and Kuehne trailed by two holes through eight holes and would have been down another at the ninth after Kuehne hit his driver short and into the trees.

Said Kuehne: “I was looking around for a rock to crawl under.”

But Woods halved the hole with Daly with a birdie on a conceded putt. Daly-Mickelson still led, 2-up, until the 13th when Woods made an eight-footer for birdie to begin a four-hole stretch when they won them all. Kuehne made birdies at the 14th and 15th to give his team the lead.

“We got the momentum on our side and made a few putts,” Woods said.

Woods and Kuehne made $500,000 each, and Daly and Mickelson split $400,000.

“We were all laughing, giggling the first nine holes, but we got quiet real quick,” Mickelson said.

At the 16th hole, Woods-Kuehne increased their lead to 2-up when Woods hit a five-iron to 22 feet, then made the putt for an eagle. One hole later it was over. Mickelson and Daly missed their birdie putts and all Woods had to do was to two-putt for par from 25 feet.

The golf might have been a little spotty, especially on the front side, but the final say on whether the evening’s prime-time show was successful belongs to the Nielsen Ratings.

According to the Nielsen research, last year’s telecast had an average audience of 6.2 million, but the total audience was 18.4 million. However, that number may be inflated because of the built-in standards -- total audience figures include any viewer who watches six consecutive minutes or more.