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John Daly…Not The Common Man

Senior Staff Writer: Jeff Skinner

It’s about time the PGA Tour took action towards John Daly. The six month suspension is a justified punishment for his recently obnoxious behavior. I am hoping that this serves as a wake up call to Daly. John Daly needs golf more then golf needs John Daly. If any golf fan thinks that Big John has the same appeal now that he had when he won the PGA Championship as an alternate, they should be suspended!

Daly had so much talent he won two Majors with a training regimen of beers, smokes, wings, and a coach named Jack Daniels. While other pros practiced their swing, Daly spent too much time self-destructing.

When Daly came onto the scene, you had to love him. How could you not? He was a no-name Cinderella who wins a major and hits tape measure long balls. He played fast on the course and faster off. We all bought into the Daly persona and he did his best to destroy any good will he had earned. After each episode of trouble, we all would start rooting for John again. All of us were hoping that he had turned himself around and would control his demons and stay on the tour. Year after year, John found new ways to sink deeper and deeper to new lows. He has lost dozens of sponsors over the years and always found a way to bite the hands that were feeding him. We wanted him to make his headlines on the course, not in bars, parking lots and jails. We all love the comeback story. John is not coming back, not for a long time.

If there ever was a case that called for an “Intervention” it’s John. He needs help, big time help, Oprah help, Dr. Phil help. This past episode of public intoxication saw John in his best denial stage yet. Sleeping with his eyes open was how he described his drunken state. The police thought he was drunk enough to keep him over night. His reaction to the Tours suspension sounded like a sociopath. “Is it fair that I got suspended?” he said. “It’s not fair in reality, but it’s probably fair in perception.” Reality….perception, John does not have any reality. He lives in his own fantasy world.

“Tim (Finchem) and his staff have to do what they do,” Daly said. “Truly and honestly, I wish Tim would get to know the facts better before he makes a decision. I would love to sit down and have a nice talk with him, tell him what really happened. But perception is reality in the world, and sometimes they have to do what they have to do.” Sounds to me like Daly does not believe he has ever done anything worthy of a reprimand. That’s a real sociopath. It is never their fault, they do nothing wrong, show no remorse and resent anyone that may confront them.

I jumped off the Daly bandwagon years ago and find it hard to understand why so many golfers still think he warrants any adulation. He used to be portrayed as the everyman golfer, the common man. He never was. Not even close. If any of us had acted like he has we would be in jail waiting for our parole hearing. He has been given too many passes.

Yes, I know he is a great friend to his friends, would do anything for you, and he helps more charities than you can count. But, it is time John helped himself for a change. He needs professional help. Help to change his life so he can be Big John again. Help to keep him alive. He owes it to his kids. He owes it to himself. He owes it to the common man.

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2 Comments

  1. Linkslifegolf,
    You’re on the mark as far as no further tolerance for JD. I hope that he’ll find his way to back to the US Tour becuase he is a character and we can use a bit of color on our white bread PGA circuit. But the tour should keep the discipline and ( presuming he does return) not cut him any slack if he falls off the straight and narrow. That said , most of us who follow golf and who attend pro tournaments or exhibitions from time to time will have stories about Long John. Heres’s one of mine. Back when JD was in the Reebok camp ( and Reebok was involved in golf, mid 90’s) I went down to WillowBend Golf Course on Cape Cod for a pro-am sponsored by Paul Fireman , the chairman of Reebok. Willow Bend was his course, a scenic layout with a lot of forced carries over cranberry bogs. JD and Greg Norman were both Reebok atheletes at the time so my best friend, Crazy Larry, and I decided we would follow Norman ( world #1 at the time) for 9 holes and then do the same for Daly. They we’re both bombing, to say the least , and that was before the revolution in ball and club technology that we have today. No one was as long as The Shark and Daly back then. The amateur foursome that was paired with Daly must have had leprosy or something ’cause John wouldn’t go near them for anything. The pace of play is always lethargic at these events, so JD spent his time pacing back and forth in the fairway or around the tee box waiting on the group ahead and chain smoking cigarretes. He was so impatient on one downhill par three that he hit his tee shot while the group ahead of him was in their carts driving to that green after teeing off! On his last hole of the day, a 4 par with a green fronted by water and cranberries, JD hooked a long iron low off the tee. It screamed into the gallery striking a woman in the hip- she fell like she was shot with a rifle. JD quick walks from the tee to where his ball lay with the same club in his hands, waves the gallery back and hits a low laser 230 yds over the water , stops it on the front of the green. Never stopped to check on the felled spectator, offer a word of apology or thanks, just took off to the green and sunk the birdie putt and beat feet. Two months later JD gets suspended from the tour for pulling that stunt where , in a pre tournament clinic, he hits a ball over the head of the audience into a parking lot. That was his first suspension from the tour, this, I hope, is his last.
    George S

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