I am the 'Mild Thing now', says slimmed down John Daly

The fitting of a gastric band has seen his weight plummet from over 20st to an almost-athletic 14st.

"I'm not dieting," he said. "I just can't eat as much of the bad crap as I used to. I can only put a little bit in my belly of the bad stuff.

"The thing I miss most about having the band put in is I can't drink the vitamin D milk, the whole milk. I used to drink a half gal of that a day.

"When you used to be as hungover as I used to be, it was great. It got rid of everything. But no, I haven't had a drink since I had the band put in."

It wasn't that long ago that Daly, beset by a nagging rib injury and performing so poorly that he lost his US PGA Tour playing privileges, was talking of quitting the game. "But I love it too much," he said.

"And losing the weight, more than anything, has given me more energy and more stamina to get through 18 holes. When you're as heavy as I was, I was good for about 12 holes, and those last six I was getting so hungry and I was just getting tired a lot. I didn't have the energy.

"Losing all this weight, now I could probably walk 36 or 54 holes in a day and it wouldn't bother me."

If the reaction of the galleries today was anything to go by, Daly would get a cheer every step of the way. He believes he knows why he gets such generous support.

He said: "I've never ran from my mistakes. I've always been the man that you're supposed to be when you screw up. And I've screwed up an awful lot, not just on Tour but in other aspects of life. What's important is how you come back and deal with it.

"I don't know if it's motivation for the fans or if it's helping them. Whatever it is, as long as it's a positive, to me that's all that matters."

And if he can stay positive, and keep driving the way he is, to bring about a miracle come Sunday evening? Daly smiled and replied: "I would appreciate it probably more than any tournament that I've won." The first prize cheque of £850,00 would certainly be enough to pay off the tax man.

But there are a lot of golfers wanting to beat Daly to it, not least his playing partner today, Andrew Coltart, who also came close to quitting two seasons ago when the former Ryder Cup star lost his European Tour card.

Today's round of 66, leaving the 40-year-old Scot level in the clubhouse with Daly, came as a welcome relief. Playing his first Open since 2002 after coming through qualifying at Sunningdale, Coltart revealed: "There were times when I wondered how much longer could I go on.

"I was struggling, it was pretty difficult. The family were making sacrifices, I wasn't getting a chance to spend time with the family, and yeah, it was pretty demoralizing.

"But today I had a great draw. I've known John for a long time. It's a pleasure to play with him again, and it was a good atmosphere out there with a good crowd. He got off to a flying start and I think it just helped me a little bit."

Defending champion Stewart Cink will need a good round tomorrow if he is to stay in contention after posting a two-under 70. And the benign conditions did not help 60-year-old Tom Watson, who came so close to a fairytale sixth Open title at Turnberry last summer. He will resume one over and in danger of missing the halfway cut. Sir Nick Faldo, the last English winner of an Open way back in 1992, finished level par, but another former champion, David Duval, looks like having the weekend off after a 77.