Pos slobbers John Daly

Just got this month's Golf magazine in the mail. They've dumped David Feherty and put Pos on the back page? No offense to Pos, but Feherty's column was the only reason to buy this magazine most months. Ohh, and this month's issue is thinner than my wallet the day before payday.

EDIT: Nevermind, they just moved Feherty further inside the magazine. Still damned thin though.

 

The story on Daly I would like to see is not the usual blah blah fan favorite or his battle with alcohol. I would like to see someone write a story about how he completely pissed away his God-given talent. I covered him for many years and he had one of the best short games I have ever seen. There is a great story about how he walked past Tiger on the driving range and Daly asked Tiger why he was hitting so many balls and Tiger said "Because I am not as talented as you." and he meant it. Daly won two different majors, that's not a fluke. That's the sad tragedy of the man.

 

Rudy, Ken Berger's APSE-winning column from 1999 is about as close as you'll get to that.

Also, the day after Roy Williams accepted the Carolina job, Posnanski (who predicted "there's no way" Williams would bolt Kansas) wrote one with a nice jab at the end. Paraphrasing, in the regard that Williams said publicly he was committed to Kansas and ultimately reversed field:

"That doesn't mean Williams is better or worse. It means he's just another basketball coach."

That's all I got, and probably as close to a rip as Posnanski can muster.

 

This illustrates something I love about Posnanski as a columnist, but also a reason he was good paired with somebody similar to Whitlock: He doesn't have to pound his fists on the table and shout to make a point. Calling Ole Roy just another basketball coach probably tears at him more than calling him a liar or a jerk.

He did something similar in a column on Tony Pena where he never actually put the words "lay off the guy" on the page, but by the end of the column that's exactly the message you got and exactly how you felt.

 

For those in need of a refresher (as I know I was), here's Ken Burger's column: http://apse.dallasnews.com/contest1999/writing/100-250.burger1.html

And it's Ken Burger. Ken Berger is the former AP guy who now covers the NBA for CBS Sports.

 

I've seen both sides of Daly. One year, four of us waited for him early in the week while he had lunch. Then he invited into the lounge portion of the locker room (off-limits to media) and answered all our questions for an hour. Another time, he filled in on pro-am day when somebody else bailed but when I asked him for a minute of his time afterward he kept walking without even having the courtesy to acknowledge me and tell me to fuck off. And the funny part of that is I was in the middle of reading his book and the night before had read the part when he boasted about being so good with the media.

 

Never had a good experience with Daly. He's an asshole.

If you want to root for an everyman golfer, take your pick of Boo Weekley or Tommy Gainey. Can't go wrong.

 

Paul Goydos is great, too.

 

I wrote this column on Daly in 2003. He didn't play again on Tour that year after this incident and we later learned, when his disciplinary file was made public, that he had been suspended after his antics here...

Saturday, October 4, 2003
Section: SportsPage: 3
Publication: Clarion-Ledger
Southern Farm Bureau Classic

Daly's conduct way out of bounds
MADISON - Those who find golf stodgy and boring will tell you what the PGA Tour needs is less players like defending Southern Farm Bureau Classic champion Luke Donald and more like John Daly, the Tour's resident bad boy.
Daly, they say, adds excitement with his booming drives and pedal-to-the-metal style.
Donald, they say, is just like so many others, a clone of a clone, with his Hogan visor, Polo shirt, polite manners, repeating swing and down-the-middle game.
Donald and Daly were paired together for the first two rounds of the SFBC at Annandale Golf Club.
Donald shot rounds of 69 and 67. He made 10 birdies and two bogeys. He enters today at 8-under 136, four shots off the lead.
Daly shot 76 and 83, 15-over par. He made seven birdies, an eagle, five bogeys, three doubles, three triples, one quad and a partridge in a pear tree.
After Friday's round, he signed a few autographs, walking as he went, blew off a few interview requests and was off the Annandale grounds before his playing partners were through signing for the fans.

Daly's act wears thin

There was a time the SFBC needed a name like John Daly to help attract fans.
That time has passed.
Daly had about 100 people following him Thursday and maybe fewer Friday.
His act has worn thin.
If this is the new face of golf, give me stodgy, mechanical, boring and down the middle every time.
Daly has become a caricature of himself - overweight and out of control. Where he once wowed crowds with his prodigious drives, he now makes them laugh - or cringe - with his bufoonery.
An alcoholic who has done several rehab stints but continues to drink, Daly at 37 and who knows what weight (the Tour media guide lists him at 220 but he looks a few dozen Hooters wings over that mark) is no longer the golfer he was when he won the 1991 PGA Championship and '95 British Open.
People could overlook his bad manners when he was winning tournaments. Now that he can't make a cut - he's either withdrawn, been disqualified or missed the cut in seven events in a row - Daly is more annoying than entertaining.
"You just try and block it out," said Donald, when asked how he handled the distractions of playing with Daly. "You kind of expect that from John. He's got a lot of talent but he didn't play very well today."

Didn't try on No. 12

Donald was speaking specifically about the commotion Daly caused Friday on the par-3 12th, when he six-putted for a quadruple-bogey 7.
The pin was back right on the 171-yard hole. Daly's tee shot landed pin-high but way left. His first putt rolled past the hole and nearly off the green. His next putt got within a foot or two of the hole. He then "hockey-sticked" his ball into the cup, tap, tap, tap, tap, the way we do when we're messing around with our buddies.
On the next hole, after bombing a drive way left and chunking his first chip out of the gunch, Daly chased after the ball and took a one-handed slap at the ball for his next shot, leading to a triple.
Us amateurs can do those kinds of things. The Tour pros shouldn't. As the Tour slogan goes, "These Guys Are Good." They're also professionals, obligated by the Tour rules - and, in theory, their own pride - to give their best each and every hole.
In fact, it's right there in the official PGA Tour Player Handbook and Tournament Regulations. Under the heading "best effort," there's a paragraph that reads, in part, that by playing in a Tour event a player "thereby obligates himself to attempt to exercise his maximum golf skill and play in a professional manner."
Daly is a troubled individual. His fourth wife, Sherrie, and her parents face federal conspiracy charges in Mississippi that accuse them of laundering $1.2 million with of drug and illegal gambling money.
The indictment was handed down in early August. Daly hasn't finished a tournament since.
He was escorted off the course by Tour officials during the second round of the 84 Lumber Classic in Pittsburgh two weeks ago, his hands shaking so badly that playing partner Steve Flesch called tournament officials and asked them to come help.
He was disqualified from last week's Texas Open after signing an incorrect scorecard, then went out and trashed the $1.5 million RV he usually travels from tournament to tournament in.
He needs a break from golf to get his life in order.
The Tour needs a break from him, too. We all do.
Contact Sports Editor Rusty Hampton at (601) 961-7293 or rhampton@ clarionledger.com.

 

No phone calls, please.[/crossthread]

 

Was Pos basing his belief on this clip with Bonnie Bernstein?

In all fairness to Pos, he didn't bite when Uncle Gut retired, and Roy's decision to bite the second time was no slam dunk.

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Back on topic ... A PGA Tour player from my hometown used to host a pro-am when the Tour players were in the region. John Daly all but adopted a kid to take around the course with him, buying him a driver, etc. Picked up the same kid when he returned again a year later.

His motto at the time was "Keep It Straight, John," and it was on his shirts and other gear. I got photos of this stuff with no static whatsoever. No one at the pro-ams had a single bad word to say about Daly. Your results may vary, of course ...

 

Again, you've come up with one of many stories where Daly is nice to kids, old people and pets. There are more stories about his dangerous behavior. Going to clinics, signing autographs and playing at charitable functions doesn't make you a saint. I hear John Gotti gave a lot of money to charity in his day.