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By John Maginnes
PGATOUR.com Contributor

The winds that were predicted never came. They turned out to be nothing more than meteorologist hot air. Higher scores were predicted for the Frys.com Open in Las Vegas on Friday, but without the wind the two TPC courses were defenseless and a couple of unlikely players emerged from the field.

John Daly ripped off one of the great stretches of his career Friday in Las Vegas. (Feldman/WireImage)

Garrett Willis won the 2001 Touchstone Energy Tucson Open in his first start as a member of the PGA TOUR. The following year, he finished second at the Valero Texas Open after shooting a career-low 61 in the second round. Amazingly, those are Garrett's only two top-10 finishes on the PGA TOUR.

He has failed to finish inside the top 125 each year since his rookie year, but the win has given him limited starts over the last five years. Garrett has filled in the gaps in his schedule with starts on the Nationwide Tour over the last four years, and he has had some modest success. In 2005, he finished 33rd on the Nationwide Tour money list after he earned his first win at the Envirocare Utah Classic.

Garrett doesn't look at the time he spends going back and forth between the two Tours as a negative. "I am a professional golfer; that is what I do," he said after Friday after his second-round 62 vaulted him to the top of the leaderboard. He went on to say that he tries to take advantage of his opportunities on the PGA TOUR. He certainly has this week with his nine birdies and an eagle in his second round at TPC Summerlin.

As well as Garrett played it was John Daly who stole the show on Friday. Like a supporting actor who steals the scene from the lead, Big John put on a show on the back nine at Summerlin Friday morning.

John opened the Frys.com Open at TPC The Canyons with a triple bogey on the 10th hole. He then made double on his second hole and it seemed like just another missed cut might be in the offing for J.D., who has had more than his fair share of weekends off over the last couple of years.

John has always been a streaky player. Over his career, his cuts-made percentage is only slightly more than 50 percent. But over the last couple of years, his consistency has been of a rather less desirable sort.

So what happened for a couple of hours on Friday morning was surprising on many levels. It was even a bit surprising for John. Through 27 holes, he was 2 over par for the event and it certainly seemed as if he was well on his way to missing his 15th cut of the year.

But something happened after a 340-yard drive at the par-4 10th. Left with a short wedge shot to the downhill par 4, John hoisted it up to seven feet and converted the birdie putt. The few spectators following John and Charles Howell III applauded politely, but they couldn't know that they were in for a treat. There were no indications that John was about to put together perhaps the best stretch of holes of his career.

After a birdie at No. 11 and a par at No. 12, John went on a roll. At the 606-yard, par-5 13th, he reached the green in two from 273 yards and confidently rolled in the eagle putt. He would birdie the next four holes and save par at 18 from 8 feet for a back-nine 28 and make the cut.

When the birdie putt at the picturesque 17 curled up the hill and over the front lip, John quietly pumped his fist in triumph. He repeated the gesture on 18 when he converted the par putt.

The end result was a 9-under-par 63, John's lowest round on the PGA TOUR since 2001, when he shot 62 in the second round in Las Vegas.

John's career has been as unpredictable as the dice at the craps table at the Mirage, but he wowed us all on Friday morning. Perhaps the only thing harder to predict than what John will shoot over the weekend is the weather.

The winds that were expected to change the fortunes of the tournament on Friday didn't come. The light breeze that did show up blew in birdies and eagles. We should expect the same over the weekend -- so you might want to bring your umbrella.