First, a little history lesson, in 2002, John Daly experienced the most famous meltdown of his career, throwing his putter and ball into a nearby pond after a tough last hole where he triple bogeyed. He refused to sign the scorecard, and was ultimately disqualified from the tournament. The end result was a fine of $5600; accompanied by an official apology from Daly to a tour official he had words with on the green.

While it wasn’t as epic as the 2002 incident, Daly experienced another meltdown of sorts this Friday at the same course as the previous one. This time, the damage was thankfully limited to his scorecard. After opening with a 71 on Thursday, he shot 83 on Friday, missing the cut by a mile. To add insult to injury, he was teamed up with defending champion Robert Allenby, who shot a 68.

Daly started off bad, with a bogey on the par-5 1st hole, followed by double bogeys on the 3rd as well as the 4th. His only ray of light was a birdie on Friday was on the par-5 5th, which was followed by another double bogey on the par-3 8th hole. Bogeys on the 10th and 16th along with another double bogey on the 14th sealed his fate.

Young Nick Watney is back to defend his title and he loves Torrey Pines. His will be a 20-1 favorite to win again this year. Watney is joined by Phil Mickelson who makes his 2010 debut at Torrey Pines. To say Mickelson loves Torrey Pines is an understatement. Mickelson has won here numerous times and is a 6-1 favorite.

Also in the strong field are Robert Allenby of Australia, Luke Donald, and John Rollins who all are 15-1 to win. Young American pros Hunter Mahan, Lucas Glover, and Ryan Palmer all could be factors at 18-1 odds.

Don’t forget about veteran Ernie Els, who is off to a good start in 2010. Els could be a good play 1t 25-1. A crowd favorite and wildcard pick this week at Torrey could be Rocco Mediate. Rocco loves the course and feels he has a score to settle with it. Rocco tees off at 40-1 odds, and that is just the way he likes it.