Sunday Herald, The: Fore Play

Think of a number 6.5. Degrees. A slightly heavily-lofted putter you might think. No, it's a driver. And it belongs to John Daly, who once hit the ball 440 yards at Royal St George's. Titleist make the driver, along with Daly's irons, wedges and putter, and you'd think that would be quite lucrative for the Wild Thing. But you'd be wrong - he plays them for free. The longest hitter in the world, big lovable John Daly, plays the clubs gratis.

Daly's problems with sponsors started with Callaway. He once had a big money deal with the firm, and was close to company founder Ely Callaway who, it is rumoured, paid off Daly's $9 million ((pounds) 5.6m) gambling debts on the condition that he stopped drinking. Daly, being Daly, didn't.

Apparently off the drink now, Daly still likes a flutter. He reckons he has won $48m ((pounds) 29.7m) worldwide from gambling. The problem is he has also lost $51m ((pounds) 31.5m). He used to play seven hands of blackjack at once at $15,000 a hand.

David Toms, the 2001 US PGA champion, has been on a strong run of form recently, and is back in the world top 10. Given his current success, he may well be in contention to regain his title next week. Here's what he uses:

Driver: Ping S13 9.5.

Irons: Cleveland TA5 3-iron, and Cleveland TA7 4-9 irons.

Fairway woods: Cleveland Quad Pro 3 and 5 wood.

Wedges: Cleveland 588 series pitching wedge (49), sand wedge (55) and lob wedge (60).

Putter: Scotty Cameron by Titleist Studio Stainless.

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x Last week, we looked at the set-up for the chip and run. Here's all you need to know about the swing itself:

The triangle formed between your arms and shoulders remains the same during the backswing as it was at set-up The legs remain very still, with the weight staying on the left side and the hands remaining passive At impact the hands, arms and body should return to the same position as you had at set-up This impact position ensures a slight downward strike on the ball which is essential for control It is vital that the hands and wrists remain passive as you strike the ball As you follow through, the body should continue to turn to the target as your hands and arms swing through Top Tip: Place a comb or a small ruler down the inside of the back of your glove and chip as normal. If your hands and wrists collapse, the comb or ruler will push into your forearm. This ensures the hands stay passive during the shot.

Rankings European Tour Rank Name Total ((pounds) ) 1 E Els 1,332,212 2 T Bjorn 818,585 3 P Harrington 801,011 - P Price 758,456 5 S Leaney 656,804 6 A Scott 632,264 7 P Casey 625,786 8 D Clarke 623,647 9 F Jacobson 558,772

PGA Tour Rank Name Total ((pounds) ) 1 T Woods 2,982,698 2 J Furyk 2,728,988 3 M Weir 2,679,639 - D Love III 2,617,831 5 V Singh 2,513,779 6 K Perry 2,452,415 7 D Toms 2,009,635 8 E Els 1,668,292 9 J Leonard 1,362,320 10 N Price 1,305,395