LOS ANGELES — In an effort to jump-start his golf game, John Daly has joined the long list of PGA Tour players who have turned to Butch Harmon for help.

Daly started working with Harmon before this season, and although he has yet to see much in the way of results, Daly feels like he's getting closer.

He fired a 2-under 69 Thursday, giving Daly some hope this might be the week he gets things going in the right direction.

Harmon is known for his demanding nature, which would seem to be the complete opposite of how Daly approaches things. But Daly said Harmon is a great fit for him.

"When you have a coach like that (very demanding), you have to go see him," Daly said. "He doesn't come see you unless it's majors or World Golf Championships.

"It's your time with him, and his time with you and there are no distractions. He doesn't allow many people around, maybe a caddie to learn what we're doing. It's all serious and I love Butch Harmon."

Daly has struggled so badly in the last few years that most of his corporate sponsors have dropped him. Hooters and 84 Lumber left him before this season.

"I would still love to be with Hooters, it's a great fit," Daly said. "Still want to be with 84 Lumber, but the market is so bad for homebuilders. I know it was a tough decision to drop me, but if I would have been able to play and play better"

Karate kid: A few years back, Phil Mickelson started incorporating taekwondo into his workout routine. Mickelson demonstrated some of his martial arts moves while competing in Wednesday's pro-am for this week's Northern Trust Open.

Mickelson's playing partners for the event included Northern Trust CEO Rick Weddell and McDonald's CEO Jim Skinner. The fourth member of the group was a golfer from Singapore named James Liu, who is a master taekwondo instructor who used to compete in competitions during the '60s and '70s.

During their round, Mickelson and Liu were seen practicing various moves. As the two men talked, Mickelson mentioned he needed some new moves because all the guys he spars with know his moves.

"We were just sharing, actually he was sharing, I was listening, to some opening moves to kind of open up your opponent," Mickelson said.

Like last year, Mickelson is commuting between Los Angeles and San Diego by plane. It worked perfectly for him last year, but on Wednesday, heavy fog in both San Diego and Los Angeles caused Mickelson a delay.

He was running so late that Daly switched tee times with Mickelson to ensure he had enough time to reach the golf course for his tee time. Had he missed it, Mickelson would have been disqualified from the tournament, just like Retief Goosen had happen a few years ago.

Nice perks: Thus far players have been highly complimentary of Northern Trust, the tournament's new sponsor who took over from Nissan. The company increased the purse and has vowed to make other improvements to increase the tournament's status among players.

Chad Campbell said when players checked in, they received a nice gift bag that included a Wii video console, flowers for their wives and a purse for their wives.

Campbell said he's not really a video games guy, but that he heard the Wii was "pretty cool" so he might give it a try.