Daly walks out of Australian Open

American golfer John Daly withdrew from the Australian Open on the opening day, after enduring a nightmare spell at the Lakes Golf Club in Sydney.

Two-time major winner Daly first ran into difficulty at the par-four 10th, striking the wrong ball out of the bunker to incur a two-stroke penalty.

It got worse for the 45-year-old at the par-five 11th, where he hit multiple balls into the water before shaking hands with playing partner Craig Parry and exiting the tournament.

Daly later used the social-networking site Twitter to explain the reasons behind his premature exit, claiming he ran out of balls.

“When you run out of balls you run out of balls,” Daly Tweeted. “Yes, I shook my playing partner’s hands & signed my card w/rules official.”

Tournament director Trevor Helden labeled Daly’s actions “unacceptable” and said it could be the last time the California-born player participates in the event.

“It’s very disappointing for the tournament (and) certainly unprofessional,” Herden told the tournament’s official website. “I’m extremely bitter and disappointed that he’s treated this championship this way.

“We’ve got the best field ever and he wants to treat it like this, it’s just not good enough. I would say this will be the last time we see John Daly.”

Herden also called on both the European and PGA Tours to bring sanctions against Daly, with the Australian Tour powerless to punish him.

“He’s a tour member on the US Tour and on the European Tour he also has a status, so they need to deal with this in a most serious of fashions,” he added. “We can’t fine him because … he’s not a member of ours, but we want it dealt with properly.”

Two years ago Daly provoked controversy at the tournament when he smashed a fan’s mobile phone against a tree after accusing the spectator of getting in his face.

Australian Jarrod Lyle holds the first-round lead after a seven-under-par 65, one-stroke clear of American duo Dustin Johnson and Nick Watney.

U.S. Presidents Cup captain Fred Couples is in a four-way tie for fourth alongside Australian trio Greg Chalmers, Steven Jones and James Nitties.

The build-up to the tournament was dominated by comments made by Adam Scott’s caddy Steve Williams; the New Zealander having made a racial remark about former employer Tiger Woods over the weekend.

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Former world number one Woods is currently one-shot clear of Australia’s Scott on four-under, as he bids to win his first tournament in almost two years – with his last success coming at the 2009 Australian Masters.

“I hit it really good today, that was exactly how I’ve been hitting it at home so that’s good that I was able to take it to the golf course and in these conditions hit all the shots,” said Woods, who is currently 58th in the world rankings.

But world No. 8 Scott claimed the shot of the day, holing from nearly 200 yards with his second at the par-five eighth to claim a stunning albatross.

“It was straight down wind and I was just trying to put the ball right of the hole and it drew in there a little bit on the wind … and it was very lucky to go in,” the 2009 champion said of his wonder-shot.

Meanwhile on the European Tour, Italian Edoardo Molinari and Englishman James Morrison share the lead after the first round of the Singapore Open.

Both men carded nine-under-par opening rounds of 62 to sit one-shot clear of South Korea’s 2009 PGA Championship winner Y.E. Yang.