“The Wild Thing” John Daly makes it into the PGA Championship
The long-hitting John Daly might not have been in the headlines for a fairly long time now, but the burly golfer has somehow managed to make it into the field of almost every PGA Tour event in the season. Likewise, he is also featured in the upcoming PGA
Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club Georgia starting this week.
Daly broke into the Top 10 on PGA Tour at the Canadian Open at Shaughnessy Golf Club Vancouver, after a whopping seven years and seems upbeat about his latest venture at hand.
“I've really been struggling with my driver lately,” Daly, 45, told Reuters after completing his preparations for today's opening round. “I have been working hard on it today and you certainly need it out here. Hopefully I can hit some fairways this week,
because the rest of my game is very good, very good.”
Daly won the PGA Championship some 20 years ago, marking one of his two major victories in the course of his career. He posted rounds of 69, 67, 69, and 71 in the 1991 episode of the championship to post his first major victory. He took over the nearest
contender Bruce lietzke by three shots.
Daly won his second major title, the Open Championship in 1995 when he defeated Italian Costantino Rocca on a Playoff. The then 25, he only managed to be part of the field being the first alternate among the reserves. On top of it all, Daly went into the
event without playing a single practice round on the course and was accompanied on the bag by a Nick Price’s caddie Jeff Medlen.
Better known as “The Wild Thing”, Daly will be tee-ing off at the difficult par-70 Atlanta course which has a yardage of 7,467 yards, and carries some of the most notorious par-three holes known on the circuit. The 45-year-old has barely managed to play
on most of the events on the tour, owing to his generous sponsors who always end up squeezing a berth for Daly.
“You get aches at this age and you just wonder what bone is going to pop or not pop on every swing,” he said with a grin. “You can't play good golf out here when you're hurt. I had a little groin problem that week but other than that, everything felt pretty
well. I just didn't execute.” Daly was referring to his finish at the Shaughnessy Golf Club last month.
Although an established golfer on the tour, Daly’s major chunk of the fame was acquired by his off-course activities. He married several times only to end up in paying off hefty divorce lawsuits. He has remained an alcoholic most of his life and had trouble
fighting off gambling lawsuits time and time again.
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