Stock Watch: John Daly continues his late-season surge

Welcome to “Stock Watch,” where we take a look back at who’s trending up, and down, in the world of golf over the past week.

Stock rising

John Daly — Just last we had Daly in the “Stock rising” category for his on-course antics with David Feherty. This week, however, he stays on the positive side thanks to a top-5 finish at the Reno-Tahoe — the first he’s posted since a playoff loss at the 2005 WGC-American Express Championship. His $ 114,000 check now has him sitting in 150th in the FedEx Cup standings and 149th on the Official Money List. A couple more strong finishes down the stretch and we could be talking about Daly as a full-time member next season.

Ben Kohles — Kohles may want to go out an buy a lottery ticket, because he’s doing something that will likely never be replicated ever again on the Web.com Tour. If winning in his first start last week wasn’t impressive enough, the 22-year-old went out on Sunday and shot 9-under 62 to become the first golfer in tour history to post wins in his first two starts. He’s now one win away from automatic promotion to the PGA Tour for the rest of the season and already has his card locked up for 2013. Now that’s what you call a dream start.

Keegan Bradley — The 26-year-old is quickly turning into one of the biggest clutch putters on the PGA Tour. First there was the 12-foot par-saving putt on the 17th hole at the HP Byron Nelson Championship that allowed him to make a playoff he’d eventually go on to win. Then there was the putting clinic he put on at the PGA Championship during the final round. And on Sunday at the Bridgestone, Bradley added a clutch 15-footer for par on the 18th to his resume. Say what you want about the anchored putter playing a role, but you can’t dispute the fact that the kid now has three big wins thanks to some insanely good putting in pressure-packed situations.

Braden Thornberry — The 15-year-old shot 10-under 61 at TPC Southwind to win the Memphis Golf Association Junior Invitational by 18 shots. Oh, and if the name TPC Southwind rings a bell, that’s where the PGA Tour plays the FedEx St. Jude Classic. Not bad for a kid who’s still a year away from getting his driver’s license.

Stock falling

Phil Mickelson — Dating back to a 4-under 66 during the final round at the HP Byron Nelson Championship, in May, Mickelson has produced exactly one under-par round on the PGA Tour in his last 13 rounds. One. For a guy who’s currently sitting in eighth place in the Ryder Cup standing (the top 8 receive automatic spots on the team), he’s playing the worst golf of his career at the most inopportune time. The good or bad news, depending on how you look at it, is that Mickelson has a chance to impress American Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III this week, after the PGA of American decided to pair them together for the first two rounds of the PGA Championship. This week is make-or-break for Phil.

Jim Furyk on Sunday — Furyk added another final round collapse to his resume at the Bridgestone with a double-bogey on the 18th hole that saw him go from wire-to-wire to hard-luck loser once again. This is Furyk’s second late-round hiccup in the last few months, after he went bogey-par-bogey over the final three holes at the U.S. Open to lose by two shots. One collapse can be considered a rare one-off, but two collapses in the span of two months? That’s never a good sign.

Lee Westwood — You may want to pass on picking Lee Westwood as your PGA Championship winner, after he posted 11-over 81 on Saturday at the Bridgestone Invitational. The round included 10 bogeys, 1 double, 1 birdie … and six pars. It’s never a good sign when your par-to-bogey ratio is that lopsided the week before a major championship.

Tam O’Shanter Club — Instead of actually describing what went on at this Long Island Golf Club, just take a peek at the New York Post’s headline: “LI golfers hired strippers and hookers to entertain them at posh club: complaint.” Someone blew the whistle on what was going down at the club, and boom! It’s now a national story. With the exception of the occasional hooked drive, we’re going to assume you’ll never see the word “hooker” and “Tam O’Shanter” linked together in the future.

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