Playing in his first U.S. Open, former Northwestern golf standout Jess Daley quickly realized after three bogeys and one double bogey on his first four holes that a superhero routine was ill-suited for a course designed to befuddle the likes of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickleson.
“I can usually rattle off a bunch of birdies, but I should have kept my Superman cape in the bag,” said Daley, who starred on NU’s golf team for four years before graduating in 2000. “You don’t need to make a bunch of birdies in an Open.”
A golfer’s first major tournament can be an unsettling experience, as Daley learned while competing in one of the toughest tournaments in the world, held this year at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla., from June 14-17. The 6-foot-6 Daley was beaten back by the course in the first round as Daley shot a 10-over 80. A second-round 72 showed he was improving, but it was too little, too late for him to make the cut.
Even after competing during his collegiate career in a number of pressure-packed events like the U.S. Amateur and the NCAA Championships, Daley said nothing could prepare him for stepping onto the links with the world’s top golfers – even Daley’s boyhood idol, Jack Nicklaus. Daley played a practice round with Nicklaus’ son Gary and chatted with the Golden Bear as he followed his son around Southern Hills. Daley said it was the fulfillment of a childhood dream, but when he encountered the winner of 19 majors in the locker room after the first round, Daley had only bad news to report.
“In the locker room after my first round he said, ‘Hey Jess, how’d you play?’ I was like a giddy little school kid,” Daley recalled. “Unfortunately, I didn’t have good news. But he just said, ‘Such is your first major.'”
Daley admitted that after bogeying the first hole he immediately abandoned his years of experience and began playing like each hole was his only chance to crawl back into contention. That approach, according to Daley, was a recipe for disaster.
“I was very upset with myself after the round, and wished I had it to do over again,” Daley said. “I shot myself in the foot and played like an idiot with the wrong mindset. I had a solid game plan, but I changed it all after the first bogey. I didn’t even realize what happened until I turned in my scorecard and saw that I shot an 80.”
Though he settled down after those traumatic first holes, Daley’s 10-over left him an insurmountable 13 strokes behind first round leader Hale Irwin.
With the leaders out of reach, Daley’s focus shifted to making the cut on Friday so he could survive to play the final two rounds on Saturday and Sunday. In fact, his second-round 72 was among the day’s best scores. The eight-stroke improvement left Daley thinking about what could have been.
“If I had known before the first round what I knew going into the second round, it would’ve been a different story,” Daley lamented.
Even though he was disappointed with his performance at Southern Hills, just qualifying for the Open is more than most could accomplish. Daley, who currently plays on the Canadian Tour, won the Springfield local qualifier tournament in May, allowing him to advance to the sectional qualifier in Wheaton.
Only three golfers out of 40 made the U.S. Open field from Wheaton, but Daley shot back-to-back rounds in the 60s and took first place for his ticket to Oklahoma. For Daley, it was the fulfillment of a dream, but by no means unexpected.
“I knew I would play in an Open,” Daley said. “I was just hoping it would be sooner rather than later.”
Although the high school graduation of Jess’ sister didn’t allow his family to attend, Daley’s father, Mel, videotaped the television broadcast to follow his son’s score throughout the first round. As Jess struggled through the first 18 holes, Mel’s parental instincts kicked in.
“It was heartbreaking for me because I was concerned about how he was feeling,” Mel explained. “He went in confident like you have to be. He wasn’t content just to be there like some guys were.”
The younger Daley said the most disappointing thing about his Open experience was that he shot poorly in the first round – even though he felt good physically and struck the ball well. So well, in fact, that he claims to have felt better during his 10-over first round than his 2-over second round.
With his first major under his belt, Daley has carried the momentum from his improvement between Open rounds into the last two Canadian Tour events, finishing second in each. His most immediate goal is to place in the top three on the Canadian Tour money list, which automatically would qualify him to play in the July B.C. Open on the PGA Tour.
If he qualifies, Daley might just want to keep his Superman cape handy – after all, not every tournament is as tough as the U.S. Open.
