Short is sweet for Long John

A funny thing happened en route to perhaps the most popular PGA Tour win in many years, at last Sunday's Buick Invitational. A deft short game, and not power, was proven again to be the crucial ingredient to success. John Daly's up-and-down from a greenside bunker some 100 feet from the pin on the first playoff hole not only provided his first PGA Tour win since 1995, it got people to realize something that has been generally known inside the game for years: Daly has a marvelous short game.

But you never would have known it because of our fascination with power, more power, and even more power, and our persistent condemnation of equipment-makers for simply producing better products.

Oh, Daly set in motion his playoff win over Chris Riley and Luke Donald by slamming his drive more than 300 yards at Torrey Pines's 577-yard, par-5 18th, then striping a 3-wood another 260 yards or so into that back bunker. But make no mistake about it; if he doesn't possess a short game that is among the best, then Daly doesn't cash a winner's check and initiate another upward swing in the ultimate roller-coaster career.

And no matter what you think of his sometimes reckless, hell-bent lifestyle, Daly has never believed he could simply overpower a golf course.

"You win with your short game," he said after the tap-in birdie -- and the subsequent missed birdie putts by Riley and Donald -- made him a winner. "Whether it's chipping or putting, you win tournaments with your short game. I won the British Open with my short game. I won the PGA with my short game. You can't win tournaments if you don't have the short game going."

It is the short game that has fueled Tiger Woods's domination and held back Phil Mickelson in major championships. It is the short game that has allowed Brad Faxon to prosper and presents the biggest challenge to Hank Kuehne.

But unfortunately, obsessed with power that we are, what receives the spotlight time and time again are issues involving length: how many players are driving it more than 300 yards, how much the average driving distance has increased, the viewpoint that golf courses are becoming obsolete, the opinion that this length is ruining the game.

Don't believe any of it. Players are hitting it farther for many reasons -- better clubheads, better shafts, better balls, more knowledge about the swing, manicured golf courses -- and, yes, that has changed the dynamics of the pro game. But it hasn't hurt the product. (In fact, it has made it better.) That's because the heart and soul of the game remains scoring, and to score, one must be effective with the short game.

Even a master long-game specialist knows that.

Pros and cons

Observations, thoughts, and viewpoints on a pro season that is well under way, even as your clubs sit in the closet:

It hardly could be called a surprise that Ernie Els, ranked third in the world, withdrew from the Accenture Match Play Championship, which gets under way Wednesday. It's more surprising that there aren't more withdrawals, particularly by Europeans. Think about it. Guys like Padraig Harrington and Colin Montgomerie are at the Malaysian Open this weekend, then must fly to Carlsbad, Calif., for a tournament that could be over in less than four hours. Most of them are then on their way to the Dubai Desert Classic. And while travel is easier than ever -- particularly for wealthy athletes -- Malaysia to California to the Middle East still constitutes a grind of a schedule. Els's withdrawal is understandable on several fronts: One, he has been playing in Australia and visiting his native South Africa in recent weeks, is now at his London home, and next week plays in Dubai; two, his 4-year-old daughter, Samantha, starts her first year of school next week; and three, he has a genuine dislike of La Costa Resort & Spa.

With Els out, John Rollins, ranked 67th in the world, moves into the tournament, and barring any other changes, he would challenge No. 1 Woods in Wednesday's first round. Earlier WDs by Jim Furyk (wrist) and Kirk Triplett (a friend's wedding) had gotten Briny Baird and Shingo Katayama into the mix. Second-seeded Vijay Singh will meet Katayama and No. 3 seed Davis Love will take on Baird.

OK, for those who -- no matter what -- want to talk about power in golf, the PGA Tour folks produced some numbers regarding Kuehne and Woods in the Buick Invitational. On the seven holes on which they both hit driver, Kuehne outdrove Woods five times, including a 336-287 edge at the first hole and a 343-301 advantage at the 13th. Kuehne's average drive was 328.2, Woods's 304.4.

There's a long way to go, and it very well could be a moot point by the time the PGA Championship rolls around in August and the Ryder Cup standings have been finalized, but Jay Haas missed out on valuable points in the Buick. Needing to hole his third shot at the par-5 18th to get into a playoff, Haas hit a splendid wedge and the ball nearly spun back into the hole. His birdie putt from inside of 2 feet seemingly had him poised to finish 9 under and tied for fourth, which would have been worth 38.57 Ryder Cup points. But Haas missed it to wind up in a seven-way tie for 10th place and a mere 1.67 points. He fell from 10th to 11th in the standings as he mounts a bid to become, at 50, the oldest player to qualify for the team.

No one is predicting that the fitness trailers will be ordered off the property at PGA Tour events, but it pleased some to witness wins by Daly and Craig Stadler on the same day. Surely, there are no pretenses about Daly. After shooting 3-under 68 in the first round of the Nissan Open at venerable Riviera, he had but one complaint: "I just wish they'd put an escalator from the 18th green to the clubhouse. I'm too fat to walk up this damn hill." Players must ascend a 50-foot hill from the 18th green to the scoring trailer.

Darren Clarke was 17 under for the first four rounds of his 2004 season. He is 12 over in six rounds since, missing the cut at the Sony Open in Hawaii, the Buick Invitational, and the Nissan Open. In his round of 82 at Riviera Thursday, Clarke had five 6s on his card, four of them resulting in double bogeys.

You know you spend too much time poring over PGA Tour information when you discover that in three of his four PGA Tour seasons, Shigeki Maruyama has finished 37th on the money list. Coincidence? Or is there something about the number 37 that intrigues him?

What's news?

Fairway news: Last week, a headline proclaimed: "Mo takes early lead at Myanmar Open," and pertained to a story about Korea's Mo Joong Kyung vaulting to the front after 18 holes, thanks to a 67.

Clubhouse view: Nowhere in the story did it say what Larry and Curly shot.

Fairway news: For the first time in 18 years, Europe doesn't have a player ranked in the world top 10.

Clubhouse view: Who cares, because what they do have is possession of three of the four most prestigious cups in the golf world: Ryder, Solheim, and Walker.

Fairway news: Golf is a big deal in China these days, with reportedly more than 150 courses in the country.

Clubhouse view: If the ratio is what it is throughout the rest of the world, we presume 137 of them are Donald Ross designs.

The definition of ugly

There are bad starts and there are really bad starts. Then there are really, really bad starts. Take a chap by the name of Andrew Webster, for instance. Playing at the Nationwide Tour stop in New Zealand, the Jacobs Creek Open, Webster double bogeyed the first hole, triple bogeyed the second, bogeyed No. 3, then made double at the fourth. Four holes, 8 over. He went on to shoot 83, then a 75 to miss the cut . . . Matching that was Olin Browne, who began the Nissan Open on Riviera's 10th hole. He hit his second shot into a greenside bunker, then needed four swipes to get it out. Two putts later, he had a quadruple-bogey 8; 4 over after one hole is hardly the way to begin PGA Tour events . . . Speaking of the Nissan Open, Isabelle Beisiegel shot 78 in a Monday qualifier, 11 shots higher than the two players who grabbed spots. There were a pair of 66s and two 67s. Having also failed in a Monday qualifier for the Buick Invitational, Beisiegel can now turn her attention toward the LPGA Tour, which tees off its season March 11 . . . It was a mixed bag for the local contingent in New Zealand. James Driscoll of Brookline (69-70), Fran Quinn Jr. of Northborough (72-69), and Jason Caron of South Yarmouth (71-71) all made the cut, but Rhode Islander Brad Adamonis (72-75) and Kevin Johnson of Pembroke (74-75) both missed . . . Royal Birkdale has been awarded the 2008 British Open.

Relative success

At first glance, the Sea Island Mid-Amateur Preview appeared to be filled with guys who've won majors. But the Strange was Allan, brother of Curtis; and the Love was Mark, brother of Davis; and the Lehman was Jim, brother of Tom. But like their more famous brothers, these guys can play, too, so it was that Allan Strange teamed with Keith Decker to win the tournament with 67-70--137. Mark Love's team finished in a tie for third at 141, while Jim Lehman and partner were well back. A formidable entry from Massachusetts -- Frank Vana Jr. and Jack Kearney -- shot 70-73--143 to grab a share of 10th . . . Geoffrey Sisk of Marshfield shot 69-69-70--208 to finish fifth in a Golden Bear Winter Tour stop in West Palm Beach, Fla. Jamie Neher of Weston was eighth at 209, his third top 10 finish this winter . . . In a Hooters Winter Tour tournament in Harmony, Fla., Larry Nuger of Longmeadow shot 68-70-68--206 to finish tied for seventh . . . The final event on the Hooters Winter Tour wrapped up Thursday in Eustis, Fla., and Justin Peters of Pembroke was among those in the field, though he fired 69-75 to miss the cut by one. Peters has upcoming spots in the first two Canadian PGA Tour events of the season -- Feb. 26-29 and March 4-7 -- courtesy of his victory in The Golf Channel's "The Big Break." John Connelly, a former winner of the Cape Cod Open and a onetime staff member at Stow Acres, won the tournament at Black Bear GC, earning a $10,000 check . . . Jeff Seavey from Samoset Resort in Maine finished second in the Haines City Open, part of the North Florida PGA Tour . . . Matt Donovan of Pittsfield ballooned to a closing 77--294 and finished 16th at Canadian PGA Tour Qualifying School in Austin, Texas. Only the top five earned 2004 cards -- among them former All-American Bryce Molder from Georgia Tech, who held on despite a final-round 76 -- and Donovan missed non-exempt status by one shot . . . The Spitz brothers from Norwell -- David Spitz, a senior captain, and Ben Spitz, a freshman -- are in the lineup for coach Tom Drennan at the University of Rhode Island. David shot 74-72-72--218 to finish joint 37th, while Ben, a transfer from TCU, came in at 231, tied for 90th, in the TaylorMade/Waikoloa Intercollegiate in Hawaii. As a team, the Rams finished 18th in the field of 21 . . . At the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., North Carolina's Kevin Silva, a sophomore from New Bedford, fired a second-round 66 to offset an opening 80 and a closing 76 to finish tied for 18th in the field of 90.

Package deal

The National Golf Expo Boston is fast approaching. It will be March 5-7 at Bayside Expo in Dorchester, and a Players Prestige Golf Package is being offered. For $75, you will receive two adult admission tickets, a free parking voucher, a booklet that contains hundreds of dollars in golf discounts, a dozen Callaway Big Bertha balls, and a two-for-one weeklong ticket to the Deutsche Bank Championship Sept. 3-6 at TPC Boston in Norton. For information, call 1-877-898-8780. Regular admission to the show will be $10 for adults, $9 for seniors, and children 12 and under will be admitted free. At the Expo, you will be able to contribute to the Golf for City Youth Program with a stop by the CityGolf booth where video lessons will be given for $20 . . . More pressing political matters were captivating people's attention, so it was easy to overlook the news that the City of Boston has decided to maintain control of George Wright GC in Hyde Park. A press release stated, "The Fund for Parks and Recreation has determined that it is in the best interests of the City of Boston that the Fund continue to manage the course." Only time will tell if that is true . . . "Golf For Women" magazine has named its top 50 teachers, and the list includes two notables from Massachusetts: Jane Frost of the Jane Frost Golf School at Holly Ridge in Sandwich, and Cathy MacPherson of Middleton GC. Also named to the list was Suzy Whaley of Blue Fox Run GC in Connecticut, the golfer who last year qualified for a PGA Tour event . . . The PGA of America has pledged its commitment to a national initiative called "Play Golf, America," and one of the cities being targeted in the grassroots campaign is Boston. For information on how you can take advantage of the programs and events offered in 2004, check out the www.playgolfamerica.com, which will be relaunched March 1 . . . For the third straight summer, the Celebrity Players Tour will stop at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn., June 22-27. Proceeds will benefit cystic fibrosis research . . . For those making spring golf plans, a date has been set for the Osterville Free Library event at the Wianno Club: May 5. The entry fee is $140 per player and includes lunch, golf, carts, and prizes. For information, call 508-428-5557.

Material from personal interviews, wire services, other beat writers, and other sources was used in this report.