John Daly - Golf Icon or Court Jester?
American pro golfer John Daly knows a thing or two about drama off the golf course, as he has battled major life problems from failed marriages and financial troubles, to his infamous issue with both alcohol and his weight. However, in first round of the British Open, there was a new and improved Daly playing.
The former ‘Wild-thing’ managed to hit a 66 in the opening round of the Open, which put him in a tie for third. That score placed him only three strokes away from the lead, when he played like a different man and managed to shoot a 31 on the front and a 35 on the back.
Even though Daly may have recently turned his life around, over the years, he hasn’t always been an image of the classic country club golfer and has always been the wild child on the links. An example of this is at a PODS Championship in which Daly spent most of the time drinking.
Daly then went out and shot a 77, hardly the score of a golf legend, and then followed that up the next day with an 80. That type of classic John Daly behaviour is what led his former swing coach Butch Harmon, who has also worked with Tiger Woods and Arnold Palmer, to part ways with him.
“You don’t see guys who are any good doing that,” said Harmon. “All the guys I work with are working their (tails) off. John didn’t have it. I like the kid, but he’s got to get his head on straight. The partying and other shenanigans, if that’s the way he wants to be, I don’t choose to be a part of it.”
Although the 44 year-old is now a lot wiser since he won the Open 15 years ago, the name John Daly had become known more for his alcoholism, divorces and gambling debts than for his golfing. However, Daly managed to remind everyone during the first round of the Open how good he can actually play.
This is a fact that most had long forgotten since he previously won the British Open 15 years ago. He's only won one tournament since then and has missed 47 of his past 125 cuts. Previously, his game had little signs of turning around, as he's ranked 455th in the world and his best position this year was a tie for 24th at the Puerto Rico Open.
Few people had been taking Daly seriously anymore, primarily because no one could tell if Daly was taking his own golf game seriously. However, since his lap band surgery a year ago, Daly has drastically changed his diet and no longer eats large quantities of fatty food, or consumes alcohol, which were the former staples of his diet. Now his weight has dropped into the 190-pound ballpark. Daly says that he's finally healthy and that he loves golf too much to stop playing.
"I've always kind of been the man that you're supposed to be when you s***w up, and I've screwed up an awful lot," he said. “I’m 44 years old. I’ve learned a lot. I have never run from my mistakes,” added Daly.
Anything is possible with Daly, especially now that his current life is improving. With two major wins, a thousand defeats, and even more low points, Daly is the ultimate long shot.
"It's good to be sitting here," said Daly during an interview after his first round at the Open. "I think this is the first time I've seen the media center at the British Open since '95, who knows."
How far will Daly make it in this year's Open? Only time on the Old Course at St. Andrews will tell.
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