John Daly Is Golf’s “Wild Thing”
John Daly is just one of those names that strikes up conversations in clubhouses and biker bars everywhere. Golf’s own “Wild Child” has done everything you could possibly do on a course. He’s won big, lost big and everything in between. As he approaches fifty he’s now more of a figure head than a successful golfer. On Thursday at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am he gave us some flashes of the immense talent that has been clouded by his roller coaster career.
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On Thursday it was the “Good Daly” playing Pebble Beach. He racked up seven birdies and no bogeys on his way to a flawless 65.
"“I still feel like I got somewhat of the length to play somewhat long golf courses. Not like some of the guys, but I just hit it in good positions and I left myself those six or seven pins that were back that I left myself good uphill putts.“I had about four or five gimme birdies — that always helps too. Didn’t knock any over the green.” (Credit CNN.com)"
On Friday at Monterey Peninsula Country Club things got a little more difficult. Two birdies slowed by three bogeys left him with one over 72, six shots behind leader Matt Jones. That’s just the way things have been for him over his entire career. One day he’s got it all, the next it’s gone and most of the time it was much worse than a one over par round.
It’s sometimes had to believe that Daly has won two majors. First in 1991 as a ninth alternate he pulled off one of the most improbable major wins of all time at the PGA Championship. Then four years later at St. Andrews he tasted how sweet it was to drink from the Claret Jug. Sure he’s on the list of multiple major winners and not every one of them is a Tiger Woods or a Lee Trevino, but none of them is also a “John Daly.”
He’s just a guy you root for and part of you may not understand why. His problems and off the course distractions are his own doing. The inner demons that have tormented him throughout his career have been too much for him to handle. Maybe that’s why we root for him? It’s cause he’s human.
In a game that produces so many robotic and sometimes shut off personalities, Daly is a guy we can all identify with. We’ve all had personal struggles that sometimes get the best of us. When you see another story negative story or watch another on course melt down you feel for him. You just can’t help to pull for “Big John.”
Lets go back in time for a second and relive a John Daly story that many people may not know or care to remember. In the 3rd round of the 2005 PGA Championship at Baltusrol he three-putted three times on the front nine and had enough. So of course that meant it was time to break the putter. Using the back of a wedge he proceeded to not three jack any of the final nine greens. He even reached the 650-yard par five 17th in two and made birdie. If you want to find a nine hole stretch that is the sum of his career that was it. The guy with all the talent in the world and none of the self-control to handle it.
I was standing on the green of the 17th when Daly had walked off after his birdie that day. I turned to my friend and said “that is one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen.” For Daly it was if he had just made a routine par on a random Tuesday in Arkansas. It’s almost infuriating how much talent he’s wasted, but we still keep rooting for him. You just can’t help it. At forty-eight years old the hope for a miracle four days in the sun is all but gone for him. Still just like his entire career there’s that one shot, hole or round that makes you say, “Did you hear what John Daly did today?”
Stats provided by PGATour.com