John Daly pulls out of the Australian Open after misadventure in the first round
Long-hitting John Daly is finally arriving at the twilight of his career after consecutive blunders on the international golf arena. The burly Daly messed up his chances in the first round of the Australian Open today, November 10 when he hit back to back
bogeys to finally decide a pullout from the tournament.
Already five-over while making the turn at the scenic The Lakes in Sydney, Daly stumbled on a green side bunker at the par-four, 10th. Daly walked over to the bunker and unknowingly played another ball which had been lying their alongside his.
Claiming a one-stroke penalty, he finally managed to sink the ball in fourth attempt.
The next hole, par-five, 11th, turned out to be even more disastrous for the two-time major winner. He hit no fewer than six balls straight in the water hazard adjacent to the green. Dejected and let down with his poor form, Daly went over to
his playing partners Hunter Mahan and Craig Parry and told them that he is withdrawing for his poor show on the first day.
As if it wasn’t enough for misadventures on a single day, Daly’s girl friend Anna Cladakis swatted a television camera on her way to the clubhouse. Her action was taken as a serious offence by many of the golf reporters and journalists present at the occasion
and Trevor Herden of went to the extent of saying, “I would say this would be the last time we see John Daly,”
This is the second event in the season, where the once brilliant Daly had to pull out from a tournament. Just two months back, European Tour officials suspected Daly of laying an improper lie at the par-3, 15th in the second round of the Austrian Open. The
officials penalized the American with a 2-shot penalty but Daly preferred to withdraw from the tournament, something which didn’t go down well with the European Tour officials.
Daly does not have a full playing status on either of the PGA Tour or the European Tours and relies heavily on sponsor exemptions to get into the field. His only strong performance of the year came at the RBC Canadian Open this year and has barely survived
the halfway cuts in the rest of the events.
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