JOHN LYLE is an old newspaperman who tells it like it is, and on Thursday night he gave his son Jarrod the rounds of the kitchen. Well, an argument over the dinner table, actually, and the result was a nine-under-par, course-record-equalling 63 at Coolum yesterday.
Lyle snr caddied for his son through his amateur days, which peaked with Australian selection, and then in his early days as a professional. A decade ago, he held his son's hand as the young man lay in hospital for months receiving treatment for leukemia. They're close. Very close.
On Thursday when play in the opening round of the $1.5 million Australian PGA championship was abandoned for the day because of an electrical storm, Lyle was two over par after 11 holes, seemingly drifting to a weekend off drinking beer with his five mates from Shepparton who are here as a cheer squad.
"I pretty much had an argument with Dad about everything I'm doing [on course]," he said. "Something kind of snapped in me. He's off course now and he can see a little more about what's going on.
"I wasn't taking advantage of the holes I used to gobble up. He wanted me to play a little more aggressive, that I'd dropped off with my aggression. I can't fault today."
Having taken his father's advice, Lyle finished his first round with two birdies and five pars for a 72 and then snared nine birdies and nine pars to equal the course record jointly held by Stuart Appleby, Wade Ormsby, Bob Estes, Mathew Goggin and Nick O'Hern.
It put him in a share of the lead with Goggin. They were a shot ahead of Paul Sheehan, with a host of players, including Australian Masters champion Rod Pampling and the evergreen Peter Senior, who still wields a mean broomstick.
By contrast, John Daly was a sad figure as he walked the 18th fairway. All interest in the tournament gone after his No.1 wood found the water off the tee. He'd needed a birdie at the last to possibly make the cut, but his hopes were in that watery grave.
After taking his penalty drop, he played to the middle of the fairway, but then his fourth shot again ended in the drink beside the green. Another penalty, and two more shots gave him a triple bogey seven to finish with a five-over 77 to go with his opening 71. Now, he heads to the Open at Royal Sydney with missed cuts at last week's Masters and here again at Coolum.
Defending champion Peter Lonard will also miss the cut, which will likely be even par. He shot rounds of 70-75 for one over, and it is the first time he has missed the cut in the PGA title. His last missed cut at home was the 2006 Johnnie Walker Classic in Perth. Bad light stopped play before all rounds were finished yesterday and the cut will officially be made early today.
Lyle lost his card on the US PGA Tour last year but has regained his playing rights for next year, courtesy of a great year on the secondary Nationwide Tour, where he won twice and finished fourth on the money list with $US383,000 ($598,000).
"It might sound weird but I think what happened to me last year was the best thing," he said. "I was playing bad, and seeing what I have to do to succeed at that level. I came back to the Nationwide Tour, and now I've learned how to win.
"This is my job and I want to set myself up for the rest of my life. I think I've made a good start to that, but now, at 27, I'm starting to kick on. I think my golf game is in a place where I can go out and contend. It's proving to myself that I belong out there."
What does get him down is that it can be a lonely life. He speaks with his family and girlfriend, Briony, by phone often but, of the latter, he says: "It's like having an internet lover that you don't see."
Goggin was once a hothead in similar mould to Geoff Ogilvy before the latter cleaned up his act to become the 2006 US Open champion.
"If it [controlling one's temperament] was an easy thing to do, you'd stop instantly, but it's actually quite difficult to work out. It's a long, evolving process," Goggin said. "You get mad at yourself for getting mad."
One of those players tied at seven under, two behind Lyle and Goggin, is Adelaide's David Lutterus. He's at the same stage now as Lyle was last year. His card is gone and now it's back to the task of regaining it.
Of his first year in the big time, Lutterus said: "It was a real eye-opener. It was the greatest year of my life off course, but on course I couldn't get any momentum going. You get treated like a king out there. It's a joke. Free cars, often free hotels, the presents, the huge equipment trucks - like a supermarket except you don't have to pay. It's pretty cool."
Lutterus played 23 tournaments, making the cut just seven times for earnings of $US130,000.
For a year at least, it's back to reality, but he has sidled into a handy spot at Coolum.
Nathan Green had a hole-in-one at the 11th, but there was no prize, unlike in the 2001 Australian Masters when he picked up a career-changing $500,000, just the honour on the next tee and a boost to his score. He stands at six under after rounds of 70 and 68. LEADERBOARD (Australian unless stated)
-9 Jarrod Lyle 72 63, Mathew Goggin 67 68
-8 Paul Sheehan 66 70
-7 Peter Wilson 68 69, Michael Curtain 70 67, David Lutterus 70 67, Wayne Perske 71 66, Peter Senior 70 67, Rod Pampling 70 67
-6 Nathan Green 70 68, Matthew Ballard 70 68, Tim Wilkinson (NZ) 66 72, Geoff Ogilvy 67 71, Richard Lee (NZ) 67 71, Scott Strange 70 (16 holes)
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