John Daly posts opening-round 70 on his Champions Tour debut

John Daly made a bright start to life on the Champions Tour with an opening-round 70 at the Insperity Invitational.

The 1995 Open Champion, who became eligible for the Champions Tour after turning 50 last week, combined four birdies with two bogeys to stay within four strokes of early leader Mike Goodes.

Playing alongside fellow two-time Major champion Fuzzy Zoeller and former US Senior Open winner Peter Jacobsen, Daly got off to a steady start and opened with six consecutive pars.

The American then bounced back from finding the hazard off the seventh tee and carding a bogey to post back-to-back gains and reach the turn one under, before rolling in another gain at the par-four 11th.

Daly briefly moved within three of the lead when he picked up a stroke from close range at the 13th, only to immediately give the shot back by three-putting the next.

The big-hitter completed the closing stretch in regulation, leaving him part of a tie for 12th that also includes Tom Lehman and Fred Funk.

"It was like starting all over," Daly said. "The nerves were good, but it's cool coming out here and having positive nerves, and I just fed off Fuzzy and Jake. I couldn't have asked to play with two better people and we just had a blast.

"I was surprised how good I hit the ball. I hit a lot of fairways and that 1-iron was a blessing today for me, as even when I didn't hit it good it was going in the fairway. 

"I gave myself a lot of chances, a lot of chances to hit greens and a lot of opportunities."

Goodes made his run to the top of the leaderboard by posting a run of four straight gains from the 13th, carding his only dropped shot of the day at the par-four last, while Stephen Ames fired a back-nine 30 to move within one of the lead. 

Colin Montgomerie fought back from two early bogeys and a double-bogey at the short eighth to end the day level-par, with Mark O'Meara and Marco Dawson a further stroke back. 

Champions Tour Golf