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Top Buick Pairing: Rock & Daly

July 02, 2007
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Sunday's biggest celebrity actually rode in a golf cart. That would be Kid Rock, who followed John Daly -- his pal and weeklong houseguest -- all afternoon in a mini-convoy, flanked by state troopers and a swarm of autograph seekers. Daly already was the top draw in this field, but with Mr. Ritchie driving the tour bus -- a beer in one hand, a stogie in the other -- things got a little crazy Sunday.

When Daly and playing partner, Fred Funk -- how's that for an odd couple? -- finally arrived at the 17th, the fans started singing, en masse, "We got the Funk!" With Kid Rock leading the drunken cheers from the balcony -- they went nuts when Daly made his birdie.

On the next hole, after Daly found the tree line with another errant drive on No. 18 -- he hit eight of 28 fairways on the weekend -- it was pretty obvious where everyone's attention was centered. The folks at the ninth green had their backs turned on the final pairing of the day -- Jesper Parnevik and Tom Pernice Jr. -- and were watching the circus go by on the 18th.

And after Daly had finished at the last, someone in the grandstand yelled, "Hey, Johnny! You wanna beer?" He turned, smiled and nodded yes. Hey, what did you expect? Sunday, he was the life of the party

Rock says he has been friends with Daly for seven years, since the latter went to one of his concerts in Memphis and bought $4,000 in merchandise.

Incidentally, it's not the first time Kid Rock has been linked to golf this year. Earlier this year, he helped a high school girls golf team bounce back after six sets of clubs were stolen from their coach's car.

-- Craig Bestrom