Golfman, a Gentleman's Hero

But No One Said it was going to be Easy
Stories Retrieved by Pat Darnell

March 12, 2008
I'm Here to Help That Loose Swing [SOURCE]

Noted swing coach Butch Harmon announced he's quit working with John Daly because the golfer is more interested in drinking than practicing.

"The most important thing in his life is getting drunk," Harmon told Doug Ferguson, the great golf writer for the Associated Press.

What? John Daly likes to drink? Next you'll tell me that he's been divorced three times, he said his latest wife tried to stab him last year, he said he's lost between $50 to $60 million in gambling, cigarettes are a permanent appendage linked to his lips, his gut is the size of Rhode Island, he's often quit playing during rounds, and he once said, "I believe nicotine plus caffeine equals protein."

Oh, that's actually all true, too. (Todd Jones on March 12, 2008)

John Daly: The golfer was taken into custody in October by Winston-Salem, N.C., police after he was reportedly found drunk outside a Hooters restaurant. Officers said Daly "appeared extremely intoxicated and uncooperative." As a result of this and other transgressions, Daly says he's been suspended for six months from the PGA Tour. [SOURCE]

Daly said he hopes to play well enough to earn sponsor exemptions on the PGA Tour when the suspension is lifted.

"John's New Year's resolution is do everything he can to make positive things happen on the golf course," Martin said. "I hope he can walk the walk. The talk sounds great. But it's going to be him working hard and staying out of trouble, and having success on the golf course."

Daly became an overnight sensation when he won the 1991 PGA Championship at Crooked Stick as the ninth alternate, introducing his powerful "grip it and rip it" style to golf. Four years later, he won the British Open at St. Andrews. But his career has been dragged down by two trips to alcohol rehab, four marriages, gambling losses and other off-course episodes that have made him an attraction beyond his prodigious length off the tee.

Asked why he was suspended, Daly pointed to four incidents during the year.

After a rain delay at Innisbrook during the Florida swing, he emerged from a Hooters hospitality tent with Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden as his caddie for the final seven holes of the round, prompting a split with swing coach Butch Harmon.

While promoting a golf course in Missouri, Daly did a regional television interview wearing only blue jeans — no shirt, no shoes — while showing how to play one of the holes. Then at the Buick Open, during a pro-am that featured Kid Rock in overalls, Daly revved up the fans by hitting one drive off the top of a beer can.

He drew the most attention from the night in jail. Daly told the AP that his friends called police when they feared he had passed out, unaware he sleeps with his eyes open when he's had too much to drink. Daly was not charged, rather put in jail under a state law called "Assistance to Intoxicated Persons." But his jail photo was an Internet sensation.

"The picture didn't help," Daly said. "People think I got arrested when I didn't get arrested. It is what it is. I've got to deal with it and go on. Whatever reason the tour has, maybe a positive will come out of this."

Daly has not had full status on the PGA Tour the last two years. He finished No. 232 on the money list this year with $56,017 in 17 events, missing the cut 10 times and withdrawing twice. (By DOUG FERGUSON | AP Golf Writer; 12.31.2008. Calling it his lowest point, John Daly says PGA Tour has suspended him for 6 months )