Chris Rattue: Daly perfect measure of the greatness of Woods

Tiger Woods is fortunate that John Daly isn't obsessed with winning majors the way he devours just about everything else in life.

Woods may have held a lion's share of the attention at the British Open, but it was still hard to miss Daly, who collects Xs on shirt labels the way Tiger hauls in trophies.

If golf didn't already have a famous Golden Bear, it's a name Daly might have grown into. Even Golden Two Bears, because he's that big.

Large and lovable and sometimes frightening, Daly was the perfect measure of Woods' greatness as they made their own distinctive ways around St Andrews.

Daly had, and sometimes still has, it all as a golfer, the long and the short of it.

If his brain could create the right angles as well as his hairdresser does, Daly would have more than two major titles to his credit.

That he has won two is remarkable enough, but Daly's addictive personality has seen him consume and be consumed by everything from lollies and soft drinks to cigarettes and alcohol, not to mention gambling and ambling up the aisle.

Golf was probably not to the forefront of his mind during the three-year spell in which he gambled away $10 million, or while one wife was facing serious court charges.

Not everyone is mired in the sort of excesses of Daly's life, but you still have to marvel at the way Woods is managing his march to greatness by keeping the distractions at bay.

For many in his position, the temptations to stray from the fairways would be too great, even if it was down the celebrity lanes rather than the back alleys, which attract the oh-so human Daly.

Even the super-clean Ernie Els has admitted that his charge around various continents this year has left him tired and unable to mount decent tilts at the big titles.

Els' demise at St Andrews was serious, but he was in a large category of top players who appeared unable or even unwilling to risk it all and mount a full-on challenge to the front-running Woods.

The only less-than-glowing account of Woods during his 10th major victory was by a British writer, who suggested the American superstar was failing golf by failing to reveal more of himself. Furthermore, it was claimed his caddy, New Zealander Steve Williams, was overzealous in keeping intruders away.

Yet if Woods and his chief assistant were any different, would we now be witnessing one of the greatest phenomena in sports history as Woods begins to reel in the record of 18 major victories set by Jack Nicklaus.

The extraordinary thing about Woods is that he sees his game and life in such clear and analytical terms that he can control and redesign it with precision along the way.

This is just as fascinating as watching and reading about any other of the great characters in sports history, from the overgrown kids such as the first black heavyweight boxing champion, Jack Johnson, and baseball's legendary Babe Ruth, through to the evil baseballer Ty Cobb and equally disreputable pugilist Mike Tyson.

Has anyone designed a career with such ruthless effect as Tiger Woods?

His decision to reconstruct his swing left him in a flat patch and resulted in the unthinkable, when Vijay Singh overtook him as the world No 1.

He experienced some lean times, but never lost faith. The dividends are now being paid and would already be greater but for some inspired golf by Michael Campbell at Pinehurst last month.

Remember, it wasn't just Woods' old swing that got the heave-ho. An overly revealing caddy by the name of Fluff Cowan, who was once seen as a vital influence for the youngster, was quickly identified as a 15th club.

Even Woods' home address, in a community where a few stray leaves might get the neighbourhood watchdogs barking, reeks of his highly ordered way of life.

Woods may be a machine, but let him hum away. Williams may be as much club bouncer as selector, but bounce away Stevie lad. Woods needs the space.

One only had to hear of Colin Montgomerie's concerns about the distractions of being Woods' playing partner to know that Williams has every right to play court official rather than court jester.

This hard-headed pursuit is leading to captivating sports stuff, and none more so than when Woods repeatedly drills home medium-length putts to save par and make birdies.

Woods' chase for the historical mark will have a different feel to the great baseball duel for a slugging record between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa a few years ago, a race since tainted by revelations of McGwire's drug leg-up and Sosa's use of an illegally altered bat.

Golf majors don't occur at the rat-a-tat pace of baseball games and Woods has no competitor as he chases a man who can no longer fight back.

But the pace is picking up and we are privileged spectators, even if on this side of the world it can involve fighting sleep and trying to understand a British TV commentator who mumbled as if submerged in water, or something that might be mixed with it.

But back to Daly. It was heart-warming to watch the big man 10 years on from his Open triumph, and to be reminded of his rollercoaster story.

Daly was the only former champion in the vicinity not to turn up at the pre-Open dinner which honoured Nicklaus before his last competitive tournament. Flash dinners weren't his go, Daly said, and anyway, a man his size has trouble finding a suit and tie to fit.

You kind of imagined Daly parked on a hotel bed instead, devouring pizza.

Maybe Daly would have been wiser to pay Nicklaus the respect due, but he is a complex man, not a bad one.

It was revealed, only recently, that there was sub-plot to Daly's 1991 PGA victory, when he was propelled into the limelight after making the tournament as the ninth reserve.

A 39-year-old man was killed by lightning in the carpark during the first round of the tournament, leaving a widow and two children behind.

The 25-year-old and debt-ridden Daly provided the bereaved family with $30,000 of his $230,000 winnings, the first decent pay cheque of his career, to assist the girls' education.

He also kept silent about his generosity.

The girls, who will meet him for the first time next month, are not surprisingly major John Daly fans. And they are certainly not alone.