It's my theory that February is the cruelest month. That is, it makes you cruel, I'm guessing because most of you haven't played golf in a while and are ornery as hell. As support for this theory, I present the following collection of letters to Golf World:

After viewing the AT&T Pro-am I believe that Chris Berman has one of the worst swings in golf, worse than Charles Barkley. And if Berman's handicap is really 18, then the USGA has a serious problem with handicapping. John J. Connolly

I always thought Tom Pernice Jr. was a nice guy. Then I read in your February 8 issue one of his faves is Ann Coulter. Just goes to show you how wrong you can be. Agreeing with her politics is one thing, having her as afave considering her style is anything but nice. Chuck Anderson, Orlando.

Well, you just can't help yourselves. You just 'had to' put Woods on the cover of February 8th issue of Golf World. Can't you just let someone else have the cover honour by themselves? A whole lot of us are sick and tired of the constant ramming down our throats of Woods. Please, give us all a break. Also, Karrie Webb wins her fourth Australian Women's Open and you give her a couple of lines, in passing...Ron Field, Morton. Wa.

--Bob Carney

(Photo by Andrew Redington, Getty)

John Hawkins' column on the tribulations of John Daly has moved many of you to write. "Let up!" says California reader Ruth Wasserman:

I think that John Hawkins ought to get off his high horse and give John Daly a break.

Big John was doing okay until, aftera good round of golf at one of the Florida events, Jimmy Roberts began his post-round interview by asking how Daly felt about his wife going to prison. John looked like a deer caught in headlights and his game hasn't been the same since.

Big John doesn't belong on the Ryder Cup Team but he's fun for a lot of us to watch. Jimmy Roberts should go to Hard Copy.

Holyoke subscriber Fred King feels even more strongly.

John Hawkins comments...about John Daly shocked me. He quotes an unamed golf tournament promoter as saying of Daly "The Nascar crowd, whatever you want to call it, is why 80 to 90 percent of the events will give him an exemption...." Then Hawkins in his own words says Daly has a "grease monkey's sensibilities."

If those comments were about anyone other than a White American, you'd be in the same boat as Kelly Tilghman and she was joking, you're serious...implying that John Daly and all of us who follow him faithfully are a bunch of "grease monkeys". That reminds me of the monkey line uttered by Howard Cosell...You ought to be called into the boss' office along with the editors who let that get through.
                ... and hypocritical: Your magazine, in the same issue,  has a picture plus two stories on Daly.  I guess you're giving him an exemption to sell copies. I don't blame you. I'd like to see more stories on Daly.

I do believe that Commissioner Tim Finchem hates Daly being on the Tour. He should love it !   Tim, as I admit Hawkins points out, nobody comes to see John Senden or even Stewart Cink. Daly puts people at tournaments and raises the TV ratings...

I have a lot of friends who range from factory workers to presidents of multi million dollar companies and we all like Daly. We like him because he says and does such outrageous things and because many of us smoke cigarettes and drink beer and have pot bellies, we can identify with him more than Kevin Sutherland...

Fred goes on, but his point's made. I'm not sure I buy the "grease monkey" argument, but I agree that Daly is tremendous draw, a guy with a big heart and a player lots of us love to follow. But that doesn't stop some of us from being worried about Big John. Entertaining us isn't his only job; taking care of himself (and  his talent) would be No. 1.

--Bob Carney