There are some guys you can approach for advice, and others you just don't go near. I played with John Daly in the Byron Nelson a couple of months ago and hit it off with him almost immediately. He's known his good times and his bad times, so when I saw him on the range last week at the Greater Hartford Open, I took the opportunity to pick his brain. It turned out to be one of the most productive sessions I've ever had on the practice ground.

John doesn't hold back on his views, and he gave it to me straight. However, one of the most pleasant aspects of our conversation was that John focused in on what I have going for myself. "You hit the ball as good as anyone," he told me, "but you've got to take your time and have patience." And he also stressed the fact that you simply can't do enough practice on the short game. That couple of hours helped me no end and, after all my injury problems, I was happy to survive all four rounds in a tournament again and I think I'm back gamewise, physically and mentally. Unfortunately, I didn't do the damage over the weekend that I'd hoped or planned to do, and I still need to make a lot more money to keep my card. Still, my rounds of 69-70-69-73 left me with the feeling that I'm pretty much back to form and there was a tremendous atmosphere around the course. I was two under par and had great intentions at the start of my final round, where I partnered a player called JJ Henry.

He's actually from Connecticut and the crowds really got behind him. However, my problems started at the second hole, a short par four, where I hit a three-wood off the tee and was left with only 80 yards to the pin, right at the front of an elevated green which was heavily guarded by bunkers.

I'd had something like 11 birdies in my first three rounds and I was going for broke, searching for more, so I hit sand iron straight at the flag. It pitched on the green and took a vicious kick left and ran over the collar into a 15-foot deep bunker. I had an impossible shot and I put my next across the narrow green into another bunker. I finished with double bogey six, and that put me too much on the defensive.

It wasn't exactly the start I had wanted. But worse was to follow a few holes later. All week, the three-wood had been my bread and butter club, and I was hitting it really well. At the par five fifth, after hitting a 310 yards tee-shot, I had 250 yards to the flag, took the three-wood out of my bag, made what I thought was a really good swing and, inexplicably, the ball went straight right.

I was left in shock. However, a couple of holes later my caddie Rick Abcox noticed that the epoxy resin on the club must have melted in the heat because the clubhead was about a 16th of an inch out of the hosel. It had probably slipped out of place on impact on that earlier hole. Needless to say, I didn't use the club again and I brought it down to the equipment repair unit when I arrived in Oakwood Country Club yesterday for the Quad City Classic.

I've had a new caddie, the above-mentioned Rick, on my bag for the past two tournaments, and it is interesting that he last caddied for an American player called Franklin Langham who played in the Walker Cup match at Portmarnock in 1991. And there is a story in that.

I caddied for Langham during the practice rounds for that event, but he sacked me the day before the match started. Something about claiming that I wasn't giving him the correct yardages. Anyway, I met Langham at the QSchool in Florida last November and he thought I was caddying, but I quickly informed him I was actually playing - and it was also there that I met Rick.

Rick is fantastic, the sort of caddie who always has something positive to say as you're setting up for a shot. I reckon he's worth two or three shots to me a tournament. And he works me hard too, which is what I want. He first worked for me at the Western Open two weeks ago and he'll be with me on this stretch of tournaments which will see us on the road right up to the US PGA.

I'm taking in the Quad City this week, then the Deposit Guaranty in Annandale, the FedEx Classic in St Jude and the Buick Open in Grand Blanc. I won't get into the USPGA unless I win a tournament or manage to win a lot of money in the meantime or get lucky, but I also have the final round of the Pebble Beach Pro-Am which takes place on the Monday after the PGA finishes up the coast in Seattle so it is all very much in my own hands to make my card.

As John Daly said, "stay patient", and that's precisely what I intend to do. What's the point in seeking advice if you don't take it?

Anyway, I was also delighted to hear about John McHenry's performance in the Irish Open. It's fantastic that he's virtually assured of his card for next season on the strength of one exceptionally good showing.

(In an interview with Philip Reid)