"Surely John Daly has disgraced golf for the last time."
It's hard to fathom that John Daly could overshadow this Australian Open, what with its eye-popping course, star-studded field, quality leaderboard and huge fan turnout. But the actions suggest this might finally be the time Daly is retired from the sponsor-invite circuit.
Tim Rosaforte was out at The Lakes' 11th hole and paints a less-than-pretty picture:
With arm extended to his caddie after every shot, Daly began firing from approximately 230 yards until he was finally out of golf balls. Each shot became progressively worse, coming up 30 yards short and missing wide right by the same distance, Daly was 15 total strokes into the hole when he ripped the Velcro on his glove and walked to playing partners Hunter Mahan and Craig Parry, before leaving the course with 8-year-old son Patrick by his side.
"Once I saw two go in, I think the effort went down pretty fast," Mahan said.
Robert Lusetich explains why this WD--No. 30 in the modern era--may finally do Daly in
As usual, when the going got tough, John Daly gave up.
On the next hole, he pumped seven balls into the water — meaning he would have been hitting his 16th shot had he continued. The last ball he hit had no chance of finding land. Daly hit it into the middle of the lake.
And then he walked off, though he stopped to shake hands with his playing partners, Craig Parry and Hunter Mahan. Daly’s girlfriend later got into a pushing match with a photographer in the parking lot.
Mahan said he wouldn't think to act as Daly did. “It must be pretty freeing to do that; to say, 'I’m out and I’m going to get rid of these balls as well,'” he said. “. . . It's not the most respectful thing to do.”
Bob Harig with the final word on Daly's latest run of poor behavior:
It's just another notch in a golf rap sheet that would be nearly impossible to list for Daly, who has been fined repeatedly. A PGA Tour personnel file for Daly that was released in 2010 as part of a lawsuit showed that he had been cited 11 times for "conduct unbecoming a professional,'' as well as 21 times for "failure to give best effort.''
He nailed both this time.
In his past eight tournaments, Daly, 45, has now withdrawn three times and missed four cuts. He has not finished among the top 125 money winners on the PGA Tour since 2005 and his best performance since then was 187th this year.
In the last decade, he's withdrawn from more than two dozen tournaments on the PGA Tour.
Thursday, November 10, 2011 at 03:48 AM
Reader Comments (40)
It doesn't make him a freak - these problems are common in society.
It is his golf talent that is the unusual aspect and that casts onto a stage where we see problems that are common to a lot of people.
That said, he behavior is very disrespectful to fellow players and torunament organizers/volunteers. So it is probably time for him to leave the game.
Marky Mark, nice synopsis.
I agree re: the "freeing" quote ... that part stuck with me too. Now can I get some kudos on my 25-1 winning wager on Tom Lehman winning Champions Tour money title??!? :) I'm still riding high from watching Calcacecchia NOT screw me out of my 10-month long futures wager. :)
Oh ... and JD looks so damn angry on the course. Even when he's making birdies he looks ultra-chapped. Maybe the lap-band is cinched too tight.
-LK
If Daly needs a job, it seems to me he'd be better than just about anybody the Golf Channel employs as an analyst. The only question is, could he make it through an entire segment without walking off the set?
I can't think of another athelete who has done more to waste a God given talent.
rob
This is no "crime," (See: Jerry Sandusky) but the loser is the vastly more deserving player who DID NOT receive Daly's invitation. You know, the talented kid who would have stayed for at least two rounds -- no matter how he was playing. But seriously, why is this even news... why is anyone shocked? I won't look up the numbers but John Daly is a serial QUITTER because he does it over and over and over and over and over and over and over again.
Shame on us for paying this disgrace even one second of future attention.
and Marky Mark Well said.
Cries for help come in many forms, unfortunately some never understand when they are making those cries for help.
A sad and aggravating story
There's no justifying Daly's actions, period. But the guy has problems that need professional help, to a degree some of this behaviour is kind of out of his control.
I don't feel the least bit sorry for the tournament. They knew exactly what the odds were, rolled the dice, and lost. If anything I'd like to see some enterprising reporter put a detailed analysis of Daly's track record of getting DG'd on paper, present it to the tournament director, and then ask the T.D. to justify his decision to award John a spot in the field.
There's one, and only one, reason, why they did -- they thought they could make money off of him.
666
I kid you not
I'm sure many were 'injury' related; the frequency of injuries having an alarming correlation to the score he's shooting.
I get he's a big mess, but when athletes just quit, it really burns me. I get an involuntary sneer on my face. Compete wholeheartedly or get out of the sport.
With that kind of track record what kind of moron takes a valuable playing spot and just hands it out like that?
It's kind of like slow play, clearly the Tour condones it and has no intention of curbing it. Don't get mad at Crane and Webb, get mad at the tour for allowing it.
Same with Daly. "Enablers" is a term thrown around here a lot, get mad at the enablers that continue to provide Daly with playing spots. Seriously, lets get all worked up into a Steiny Lather and focus that anger/energy on Trevor Herden -- let's get that guy!!
Writers like Bob Harig have no analytical skills whatsoever. We know the car crashed, and that this model has had problems with crashes before...go analyze the situation and tell us what has to change to keep it from crashing again.
Or is that beside the point.
In answer to your questions, I'd offer a general 'no'.
Mainly based on the TD's comments.
He sounds seriously PO'd which leads me to believe there was some intense 'quid pro quo' talk that went down before the invite.
I think he 'rolled the dice' in good faith and JD didn't live up to the bargain (for the umpteenth time).
This is a country's national championship. It's not the Podunk Open. Show a little respect.
Open at St. Andrews
Suck it Fred and Davis and Corey.
Rolled the dice, lost.
Not certain that Trevor Herden would have been the giver" of the exemption this week??? Could have,
but back in the 'ol days the AGU (and IMG?) made those calls.
My experience with Mr Herden was of a no BS guy.
My experiences years ago fogged my ability to read up on current status!!
Going back to sleep, nothing to see here
I am not defending JD, just trying to add to the events that lead up to the tin cupping.
JD is as nice a guy as you can meet; you have to hope he gets a friend, a doctor, an angel, or someone to help bring him some peace.
And then Daly all but slapped the tournament director in the face by quitting in the middle of the first round. The blame for this fiasco rests with Daly, and no one else.
Any of you natives up to the task, or Geoff, do you have a link into the media over there, and a rundown on their ads? Is JD featured?
Don't misunderstand. I am not assessing any blame on the tournament, but I also think they are showing a ''it's not my fault'' type of covering their arse.
John needs real help. Not a lot of finger pointing: The tournament knew they could have a situation like this, and they could have been bigger in the humanity department.
I smell a divorce in the next few months.
MJS, what could have possibly made the tourney director think that?