Troubled US star John Daly shook off years of poor play and off-course trauma with a sparkling 62 at the UBS Hong Kong Open on Sunday, raising hopes he could rescue his flagging career.
The 42-year-old two-time Major winner snapped up eight birdies with no bogeys to finish just one off the par-70 course record and end the tournament at nine-under 271.
Daly, whose problems include drink, injury, his weight, multiple divorces and a night in jail last month, was quietly hopeful of halting his desperate slide to 788 in the rankings.
"I think I've made more money than I did all of last year on the US Tour, in one tournament! So you can tell where I've come from," he said.
"I've come from close to Ground Zero all the way back up. But who knows? I've just got to keep working at it. Being healthy helps."
The winner of the 1991 US PGA Championship and 1995 British Open had started well here with a pair of 68s to make the cut, only to fall back with a 73 on Saturday.
The Californian, who underwent rib surgery in August, only reached weekend play in five out of 17 US tournaments this year, with tied 40th his best finish.
Last month, Daly caused his latest sensational headlines when he was jailed overnight to sober up after a drinks binge at a Hooters restaurant, one of his sponsors.
"It just makes you feel good to have a number like that. I don't know what place I was in going into today but I know it wasn't great," Daly said.
"Hopefully I'll get a top 10 out of it, and I haven't had one of those for a long time. It feels really, really good and it feels like, yeah, maybe I still can play a little bit."
Despite going eight-under for the first time since 2004, Daly put any celebrations on hold and he was flying to Melbourne later on Sunday for next week's Australian Masters.
He then heads to Coolum for the Australian PGA Championship, scene of an infamous meltdown in 2002 when he threw his putter and ball in a lake and stormed off the course.
"It's one of those things. I kind of screwed up," Daly said.
"My mom had passed away that week and it was a very difficult week. I wasn't going to play but I let some buddies talk me into going down there.
"I shouldn't have been there. It's my fault, I shouldn't have done it. But I heard the putter's framed on a wall there, so it is what it is."
Daly relies on invitations after losing his US PGA Tour card and he is hoping three weeks' consecutive play will be the springboard for some much-needed success.
"I can't remember when I had three weeks in a row when I could play, that's why I'm hoping I'll get a lot of invites to the European Tour and play four, five, six in a row," he said.
"That's probably the only way I'm going to play good golf."
He was disqualified from the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March for missing his pro-am tee-off time, a day after splitting from celebrated swing coach Butch Harmon, who accused him of preferring drinking to golf.
Last year, Daly turned up at a tournament in Memphis with scratches on his face and said his wife had attacked him with a steak knife. Sherrie Daly later said the wounds were self-inflicted to cover up a sexual assault.
After such difficulties, his performance here came as a relief.
"I wasn't expecting that much this week and to shoot probably one of my best rounds in years, I'm pretty happy with it," Daly said.
"I wouldn't say I'm confident, but I feel better anyway."
