Posts tagged JohnDaly at FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

It's been almost eight weeks since Butch Harmon dumped John Daly. The relationship lasted just four months, which was hardly enough time to salvage Daly's in-the-crapper golf game.

Harmon cited Daly's fondness for getting drunk as the primary reason for the split, and last week, the teacher and pupil spoke for the first time since their very public parting of ways.

Daly, dispensing with the formalities, got right down to it:

"John called me last Thursday," Harmon said. "His opening line to me was 'I've lost all my contracts because of what you said. Can you please go on the Golf Channel and make a retraction?'

Harmon's response?

"I told him that he had no one to blame but himself, that 'Until you start realizing that you're the cause of all this and get some help, you're going to continue to have problems.' I told him I would be glad to help. But I wasn't going to retract anything that I said."

And by "glad to help," Butch really means, "yeah, I won't be helping you at all -- but, man, you've got a great rack!"

Maybe I'm misremembering, but hasn't Daly been without sponsors long before Harmon trashed him? Whatever, this is all very sad.

Watching Daly's life careen to it's inevitably tragic conclusion doesn't make it any less depressing. Ideally, he'd focus on golf long enough to earn his card or win a freaking tournament, but apparently, he's not wired that way. That's cool too -- having a tour full of Tiger Woodses would be extremely boring -- but I'm not ready to read the obituary of a 40-something gluttonous two-time major winner either. I'd settle for something in between.

I'm guessing the PGA isn't going to be happy with the above YouTube of an interview of John Daly. He's playing golf wearing just blue jeans. (post-breakfast warning: video shows Daly without a shirt on).

Daly just recently had surgery to repair a torn muscle in his stomach, and says in the interview that he feels much better swinging the club. I can't say I've ever played topless golf, but I have played barefoot before, and it is actually pretty fun. I guess if you have your own golf course, you can play wearing anything you want.

Previously at FanHouse:
Video - Followup: About John Daly's Chest Massage

(HT: Deadspin)

it's only fair: if we're going to document every time John Daly hits a Hooters and signs some breasts, we should also point out when other marginally relevant golfers do it.* Yesterday, 1988 Masters champion Sandy Lyle got around Augusta National in 72 strokes, which is pretty impressive given his age (50), and that he completely lost his golf swing some ten years ago.

Even more impressive, he made the cut, and it probably had everything to do with his Thursday-night preparation:

While Tiger Woods probably spent the eve of the tournament tucked in bed meditating about the Grand Slam, Lyle had a less serious pre-Masters mindset - he was out partying with friends at the local Hooters.

Different strokes, people. Lyle was actually at 3-under 14 holes into his first round, and just one shot out of the lead before making a mess of the par-5 15th. He'd struggle on his way to the scorer's tent, but I'm guessing the beer and hot wings helped him refocus. Or maybe not: Lyle shot a second-round 75 and made the cut on the number.

If nothing else, though, it's a valuable lesson for Daly: just because you kick it at Hooters doesn't mean you have to miss the cut.

* To be fair, Lyle is a two-time major champ, and was considered the best player in the world at one point during his career. Pretty sure Daly can't say that.

I'll save the fat jokes, drunk jokes, redneck jokes, etc. and just point out that John Daly has withdrawn from the Shell Houston Open. He's citing a bad back, and you know what, I believe him. FanHouse's Stephanie Stradley has the moving-pictures evidence. (Either that, or she witnessed Daly being sexually assaulted on the practice range.)

To Daly's credit, he did manage to finish the first round (he shot a 78!) and got seven holes into the second round before calling it quits. So it wasn't like the fans who came out to see him -- or the Shell folks who offered him an exemption -- were totally cheated.

The bigger issue is that in nine starts this season, Daly has missed four cuts, pulled out of the Bob Hope Classic with a "rib injury" (I'm still skeptical on that one), and was disqualified from the Arnold Palmer Invitational because he forgot how to read a clock. Oh, and Butch Harmon dumped him.

Otherwise, not much has changed. We'll have to wait another week (well, two weeks -- the Masters is up next and Daly missed qualifying for that tournament by 47 light years) to see if Daly can ever get healthy enough to put together four solid rounds of golf. Assuming he can't (he's been without his tour card for two years now), Daly will either continue to rely on sponsor's exemptions, or -- and this is a crazy thought, I know -- pay a visit to Q-School and try to earn his card like everybody else.

We haven't heard much from Michelle Wie in 2008. Most of that has to do with her taking a break from tournament golf to attend Stanford. She's still competing (Wie will tee it up in the Wegmans this summer), but solely on sponsor's exemptions. To her credit, though, Wie decided against playing men's tournament's this year to focus on improving her game, which was in shambles by the end of last season, and, of course, college.

Even though Wie still relies on sponsor's exemptions, that will change next year. Yep, she's actually going to try to earn her LPGA Tour card. Via Waggle Room:

According to the current issue of Golf World (article not yet online), Wie's plan is the same as Stacy Lewis': get six exemptions, win enough money in those tournaments to finish the equivalent of 90th or better on the money list, and thereby earn a Tour card for 2009 without having to go to Q-School.

Somebody might want to show this to John Daly. Not the part about getting as many exemptions as he can get his grubby little fingers on, but attending Q School.

Notes from on site at the Shell Houston Open:

At the Shell Houson Open, John Daly is working hard. Hard enough that he needed a trainer to massage his back and uh er chest at :08 in the video link above.

I heard he spent six hours practicing on Sunday, before official practice rounds started. He showed up early before playing in the pro-am on Monday, and then practiced three hours after the round. Yesterday, he was practicing before I got to the range, and was there for at least four hours in the on and off rain showers.

Those who have seen him through the years at the SHO said it is the most they have ever seen him work, and the earliest they have seen him at the course

The practicing and pro-am habits of a PGA golfer shouldn't be news, but it is with Daly. Recently, in a 48 hour period, he got dumped publicly by his instructor Butch Harmon and was disqualified from the Arnold Palmer Invitational for missing his pro-am tee time. I guess Daly is trying to make amends one day at a time, and I figure it was worth mentioning the mundane details of the work he is doing.

This makes sense: Butch Harmon has an opening and Ernie Els, three-time major winner, needs help fixing his game.

For what it's worth, swing coach Butch Harmon worked with Ernie Els in a session over the weekend at Doral. Els ended a 47-tournament winless streak on the PGA Tour with a victory at the Honda, and he's entered this week at Houston to prepare for the Masters.

It seems odd to suggest that Els' swing could stand some tweaking, what with him winning earlier this season. But let's be honest, holding up the crystal at the Honda Classic after beating a watered down field doesn't really mean much in the scheme of things.

Presumably, Els' professional goals haven't changed the past few years: to challenge Tiger Woods. Going winless in 47 events before the Honda isn't the way to go about it. To be fair, Els has battled illness (he had the flu two weeks ago and has pulled out of the Shell Houston Open because of a virus), but it's not enough to explain his recent struggles.

Who knows if Els is on the downside of a great career or if Harmon can return him to the form that made him one of the world's best players five years ago. I hope it's the latter -- and Harmon's just the guy to do it -- but I'm guessing Els would settle for playing more consistently at this point. Sure, it would be nice to challenge Woods, but to date only Bob May and Bart Bryant have been able to accomplish that*.

* gross exaggeration

This video is awesome for any number of reasons. For people who don't play golf, it probably doesn't make much sense, but after you here the explanation it'll almost certainly convince you that this is a sport populated by people who couldn't make it other, louder endeavors.

Bubba [Watson] detected some movement while he was trying to play his approach shot from the right rough on the 10th hole. He felt it wasn't the first time [Steve] Elkington was moving at inappropriate times and unleashed a torrent of expletives, a portion of which was captured by the Golf Channel's microphones.

Yeah, Elk, enough with all the, um, walking. Are you going to do that all day? Jerk. Meanwhile, the never-at-a-loss-for-words Nick Faldo was speechless.

Kidding aside, I fully understand Bubba Watson's beef. Yeah, it sounds supremely silly to yell at somebody for walking around as you prepare to hit a little white ball, but it's a lot harder than it looks, although, judging by these comments, non-golfers are skeptical.

Fortunately (I guess), Watson and Elkington settled their differences after the round and Watson went out of his way to apologize for his behavior.

The Washington Post's Len Shapiro has apparently taken a break from bashing MMA long enough to do what he does best: write about golf. In his latest column, Shapiro rehashes John Daly's 2008 season to date (something we here at FanHouse are very, very, very familiar with) and makes an interesting observation in the process:

After the Tampa event, swing instructor Butch Harmon ... said very publicly that he was through with him....

Some in the golf business wondered why Harmon threw Daly under the bus like that and grumped that it was probably Butch being typical Butch, a career self-promoter who should have walked away quietly. Others viewed his comments as Harmon's attempt to smack Daly in the face with a reality-check and make him realize he really does need to get some help.

Whether Harmon's intentions were selfish or not (and it wouldn't be altogether surprising if it were the former), if Daly -- even accidentally -- takes it as a reality-check "smack in the face" then great.

Given Big John's behavior since the public break-up, I'd have to assume the message didn't take. Shapiro rattles off all the people who have tried to help Daly over the years with no luck (Callaway golf founder Eli Callaway and former NFL head coach Dan Reeves are two examples), and then points out what everybody around Daly knows but fails to do anything about: he's been enabled virtually his entire career.

I'm not one of those guys who thinks the PGA Tour isn't populated by professional athletes. Tiger Woods and all the Tiger wannabe followers have convinced me otherwise. Sure, there's John Daly, but I'd argue Daly might be one of the best athletes in any sport. The guy won two majors, was morbidly obese when he did it (okay, that's an exaggeration, but he was chubby; give me that) and is still playing at an age (41) when many people thought he'd be dead. Plus, has anybody seen Dmitri Young lately?

Still, one of the differences between golf and other sports -- and perhaps this has a lot to do with the whole "yeah, it's just glorified putt-putt, really" perception -- is that some players routinely smoke cigarettes. During the round. I can't think of another sport where an athlete could compete at an equally high level while chugging smokes. I mean, I'd love to see Greg Paulus bringing the ball up the court while puffing on a clove ciggy, but it ain't happening. For one, it's against the rules; second, it apparently isn't good for you.

All of this got the Orlando Sentinel's Mike Bianchi to thinking:

It's good to see John Daly isn't letting his bad fortune keep him down. Last week, Butch Harmon dumped Daly after four months, and a few days later, he was disqualified from the Arnold Palmer Invitational for missing a pro-am tee time. Naturally, Daly headed to the Robert Gamez Celebrity Invitational (no pro-am tee times or DQs at this event) and proceed to have a really, really, really good time.

In addition to playing some barefoot, topless golf, Daly also had time to rock out and pound some beers. But I write that in the most laudatory way possible because Big John is "tired of the negative [expletive]." According to the Sun-Sentinel's Jeremy Fowler, Daly hopes out loud that the next reporter who writes about him will "write happy, write something positive." With a puppy dog's expression still visible behind his doughy cheeks, Daly says "I need it."

Done and done. Other fun, not-at-all-a-sign-his-career-is-in-the-crapper nuggets:

With no Harmon ... Daly said he will be his own swing coach with additional help from good friend Gamez. The drinking-over-golfing thing is untrue, Daly said.

"I don't need a coach," said Daly, who is reportedly going through his fourth divorce. "I need a woman in my life.

"Once I start playing great golf again, everything will be all right. Now I'm getting poured on, but when I'm playing great, everybody talks about how great I am. That's the way it's always worked.

Good to see that despite the rough patch JD isn't delusional. I see this ending very well.

And just so there's no confusion, the photo above isn't from last weekend. Via Getty Images: "Bret Michael, John Daly, and son at VH1's Annual "Fairway To Heaven" Celebrity Golf Tournament March 15, 2004 in West Palm Beach, Florida."

Stay classy, Bret Michael, John Daly, and son.

Tiger Woods and his longtime swing coach, Butch Harmon, parted company in 2002. Woods won eight majors under Harmon's tutelage but was shutout during an eight-major stretch from 2003-2004. Which promptly led to speculation that Woods without Harmon was just another really good golfer.

At the 2004 U.S. Open, Harmon didn't help things:

"Tiger Woods is not playing well, he is not working on the right things in his golf swing, although obviously Tiger thinks he is. ...

"But for him to stand there at every one of his interviews and say 'I am close, I feel really good about what I am doing', I think it might be a bit of denial."

Tiger didn't take it well, but frankly, he was struggling. That's all a distant memory now, though; Hank Haney, Woods' current swing coach has had a lot to do with the recent successes but ultimately -- and everybody knows this, especially Haney -- it's all about Tiger.

I've mentioned John Daly's off-the-field M.O. before, but for the uninitiated, it goes something like this: miss the cut/get disqualified, have a few pops, sign some boobs, and wrap up the evening with some cover tunes.

Deadspin has the YouTubes of Big John's go-to, last-call favorite, "Knockin' on Heaven's Door." But JD is all about the versatility, baby:



That's right, because Daly is more than just a guy who can strum three chords while pretending to be Axl Rose; he can also scream the chorus to AC/DC songs -- with the lead singer of AC/DC -- while sipping chugging a Jack and Coke. According to the dude who posted this clip, this was "an exclusive rare performance by AC/DC lead singer Brian Johnson in Sarasota, Florida Nov. 2007 with golfer John Daly!"

There's some debate as to whether Daly is still a golfer, but I'll buy that that's Brian Johnson. And by all the middle-aged white faces in the crowd, I can believe they were in Sarasota, too. I'm also pretty sure this evening ended up at the local Hooters.

After the jump, Daly and Hootie and the Blowfish!

No one disputes that John Daly is well-intentioned. Which immediately brings to mind that proverb about the road to hell. Despite the off-course stuff, the public break-ups, the missed tee times, and, well, everything else, Big John isn't a bad dude.

After missing his pro-am tee time last Wednesday (he was subsequently disqualified from the Arnold Palmer Invitational, which is kind of a big deal since Daly doesn't have his tour card and can only tee it up on sponsor's exemptions), he got Arnie on the horn:

Daly called tournament host Arnold Palmer on Saturday night, extending an offer to meet the three amateurs who were scheduled to play with him, and join them for Sunday afternoon at nearby Celebration.

The three amateurs, all from out of town, had already left Orlando, but Daly extended the offer to local representatives of the same business and a good time was reportedly had by all.

Everybody wins. Well, except those three amateurs who were screwed out of an opportunity to play with Daly last Wednesday. But the local reps -- those guys made out.

I'm sure Daly's gesture was much appreciated, and it just further reinforces what many golf fans already know: JD's a swell guy. But here's an idea: how about Daly focus on fixing his game, which includes not pissing off swing coaches, not getting DQed for missing pro-am tee times, and not letting NFL head coaches carry your bag (no matter how innocuous-seeming that may be). And take off your freaking hat when you're inside. Savage.

Much of the discussion heading into the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill this week was that Tiger Woods had struggled on the course in recent years. Forget for the moment that he's won Palmer's tournament four times since, you know, he hasn't done it since 2003.

That story line worked for the first two rounds, but yesterday, Woods fired a 66 while everybody but Sean O'Hair came back to the field (O'Hair posted a 63). Today, Eldrick and O'Hair will be in the final group tied atop the leaderboard at 6-under with Vijay Singh and his last leg.

One of the subplots at Bay Hill has been the sketchy condition of the greens.

Some kind of bug had made a feast of the old greens, and Bay Hill agronomists had overseeded, to the displeasure of several contestants, especially Woods, who was not particularly diplomatic about it.

Problem was, the greens were slow, and no two greens were alike, as he saw it. "Is the practice green like the greens on the course?" he was asked.

"No," he said. "No correlation?" He answered, "Zero. It [the practice green] is the best green on the property."

As the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Furman Bisher writes, Woods had a simple solution to the problem: hit the ball closer to the hole. Done and done. Woods also put more pace on his putts, and 18 holes later, he's leading the tournament with two other guys.