America at Large:  At six o'clock on Tuesday evening a score of green-jacketed Masters legends were convening in the Augusta National clubhouse for the traditional Champions Dinner. (The piece de resistance, as chosen by this year's host Phil Mickelson, was lobster ravioli.)

At just about the same time half a mile up Washington Road another press conference involving a two-time Major winner was about to get underway at the local chapter of Hooters.

In what must be considered a marriage made in heaven, the restaurant chain specialising in beer, wings, and scantily-clad waitresses was about to take the wraps off its one-man golf stable.

And surrounded by Hooters girls, Hooters executives, and noisy, beer-swilling Hooters customers, John Daly was plainly in his element.

Spotting a familiar face in the crowd, he smiled, shrugged his shoulders, and delivered his one-word summation of the ongoing proceedings: "Chaos."

Chaos would better describe Daly's working garb these days, but then, a man with three ex-wives and a backlog of casino markers probably needs a lot of sponsors.

It is believed that when Daly tees up in the 2005 Masters today he will set an all-time PGA Tour record for the most logos, on one shirt.

Let's see. The right collar is embroidered with the name of "Mark Christopher Chevrolet", a California automobile dealership. The left collar advertises Daly's "Red Neck Putters".

The right sleeve says "Dunlop", and the left is emblazoned with the logo of Daly's clothing line, Lion merchandise.

Centred squarely in the middle of the back of his shirt is the logo for Loco, a low-rent ball Daly endorses (but does not play), while on the right front of his shirt he wears an advertisement for "Lumber 84", a company which also sponsors Vijay Singh.

The left front of the shirt bears the title of Daly's latest sponsor, Hooters.

His status as a walking billboard might strain the bounds of good taste, but it apparently does not bring him into conflict with PGA Tour regulations.

"There's no limit," said Daly. "You can wear as many logos as you want."

Daly will not only wear the Hooters logo on his golf shirts, outerwear, and bag, but will participate in advertising campaigns for the restaurant chain and its affiliates, including Myrtle Beach-based Hooters Air, and the soon-to-be-opened Hooters Casino in Vegas.

He will also serve as "honorary chairman" of the Hooters Tour, a minor league circuit which functions as a feeder system for the PGA-affiliated Nationwide Tour.

Flanked by a bevy of young blondes in orange hot pants, Bob Brooks, the 72-year-old chairman of Hooters International, said his company had been approached about sponsorships by several tour players, "But John Daly is what we've always wanted, and John is the guy we got."

"He's absolutely the perfect guy to represent Hooters," said marketing director Mike McNeil. "He is, in fact, a lot like Hooters."

Which is true enough: there's always been a lot of cross-pollination between Daly's gallery and a Hooters clientele, and it's no accident that Daly has been setting up his merchandise trailer in the parking lot of the Augusta Hooters during Masters week for the past several years: that, after all, is where his fans are.

A sign outside the Lion Trailer warns "John Daly Will Sign Autographs on Lion Merchandise Only", but that didn't seem to be exactly accurate. In an hour of watching, the best we could tell, John Daly will sign anything. At least a hundred people were queued up before the trailer in the Hooters parking lot. The Lion Trailer won't threaten the business of the public merchandise shop at Augusta National, but Daly did have on sale shirts, T-shirts, sweat-shirts, towels, balls, flags, Red Neck putters, and assorted golf clubs.

In commemoration of the sponsorship deal, Brooks presented Daly with what he called "the most coveted card in America", a Hooters VIP card, entitling him to free food and beverages at any of the chain's 400-plus worldwide establishments.

"Use it wisely and carefully," warned Brooks. "Giving me this card was bad timing on your part," said the former PGA and British Open champion, "because I just made a hole-in-one on 16 yesterday."

With that, the golfer turned to the bartender and set up the house by ordering one hundred bottles of beer.

Although Hooters describes itself as "a family restaurant", its own marketing surveys suggest something like 90 per cent of its clientele to be male and between the ages of 21 and 52.

And while the chain has its roots in the old Confederacy, there are now Hooters "stores" in 46 of the 50 States, as well as several countries around the globe. There are two of them in Guatemala City. Earlier this year Brooks opened a Hooters in Croatia.

Any Hooters opening north of the Mason-Dixon line can expect to be picketed by feminists, who deride the Hooters Girls as "one step above strippers". The company line is that Hooters Girls are "All-American cheerleaders".

And how does Mrs Daly feel about her husband's arrangement with the orange hot-pants and breast-implants crowd? "She's not very happy about it," admitted the golfer. "But it's such a great deal."

"It's going to be a great deal and a great relationship," said Daly of his new sponsorship arrangement. "I can't wait 'til the casino gets built."

Daly also has a fledgling golf course design business. His first, Wicked Stick, is up and running in Myrtle Beach. Another called Thundering Water is under development in Canada, as is another Daly course in Blarney.

"We broke ground on the one in Ireland last year and had hoped to open this summer, but the weather wouldn't cooperate. Now it looks like next year," said Daly, who plans to fly to Cork the day after the 2005 British Open at St Andrews in July.

"But there aren't any Hooters in Ireland," he was reminded. "I know," he said. "Maybe I could be the one to start it there."