Then came the nagging injuries, first to his back, then to ligaments in his left hand, ultimately a broken pinky on his left hand when he was trying to make compensations for his grip.

“Just the injuries killed me this year,” Daly said. “That stretch in June or July with my back when I had that sciatic nerve for six or seven weeks, I tried to play and couldn’t play. That cost me six, seven, eight tournaments. Later in the year, my pinkie broke. Just been a year with a lot of injuries. It was just one thing after another.”

Then came what Sherrie Daly’s lawyer described as a “race to the courthouse.” She filed on Oct. 17, he filed the next day.

“We’re trying to work it out,” Daly said. “I think we will.”

He thought about seeking a minor medical exemption to help win back his card, but only would have received two tournaments to get that done and opted to take his chances asking for sponsor’s exemptions.

That was about as risky as crossing the street with a police escort.

Daly sent letters to every tournament and said he already has received 19 or 20 invitations, starting with the Sony Open in Honolulu next month and giving him a fuller schedule than some guys out of Q-school.

Daly, however, has always been one of golf’s biggest attractions. Most of that is his “grip-it-and-rip-it” style he first introduced at Crooked Stick in 1991, and some of it is the fans’ curiosity about what they’re going to see next.

They are blue-collar fans, which was evident as he ambled to the clubhouse after his round and was surrounded by fans seeking autographs. One man said to him in a thick drawl, “Your book was the best one I ever read. Actually, it was only one I’ve ever read.”

“I think people can relate to some of the things that have gone on in my life,” Daly said of his fans. “It’s great to have them because I’ll tell you, when things aren’t going good, you just want to try your best and they motivate me to keep going. Hopefully, next year I’ll be able to play better for them.”

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