"I Keep Coming Back From The Dead. Waking Up Is a Win For Me" – John Daly, The Only Golfer Who Could Make Me Cheer Against Tiger Woods, Gave a Troubling Health Update Today
Mirror – Cult hero John Daly has declared himself Lazarus and revealed 'waking up is a win for me' after opting out of playing the PGA Championship next week. The two-time golf major winner is still on the comeback from a 16th surgery after requiring an operation on his left hand earlier this year.
A series of health issues have taken their toll since a bladder cancer diagnosis in 2020, after which he vowed to stop smoking and improve his lifestyle. Though he is still often pictured with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth while enjoying a round of golf.
I've thought about this plenty of times before. Tiger Woods in his heyday was such an interesting phenomena. At least for me. There's no other sport in the world, whether its team or individual, where I cheer for the team/person who always wins. As soon as a team is labeled a "dynasty", or wins more than a single championship in a short period of time, they become public enemy #1. It doesn't even have to be a champion. If I don't have a dog in the fight, I'm rooting for the underdog every time. It's just more fun. But somehow Tiger Woods transcended that. I don't know if it's a golf thing, or if it's because Tiger Woods is such a cool name, or because he was the only black guy on the course (aside from the Vijay Singh, shoutout Vijay Singh). But watching Tiger Woods win every single Sunday never got old. Even if there was golfer who I really liked, and he was on the precipice of winning his 1st major, I'd be aggressively cheer for that golfer to shit down his leg if it meant Tiger winning his 14th.
Unless that golfer was John Daly. Unfortunately, we never got to see that happen in a major tournament. However, in 2005 Tiger Woods and John Daly went to playoff at the WGC Championship.
That was before I was even old enough to really appreciate the legend of John Daly. I'd be lying if I said I remember it. Watching it back though, it was a fun playoff. Tiger Woods won, of course. It was a brutal ending for John Daly as he lipped out what couldn't have been more than a 4-footer to extend the playoff. Even Tiger looked sick when it happened. But on the first playoff hole, Tiger Woods smokes his driver 350-yards down the middle of the fairway. Only for John Daly to step up and blow his drive 10-yards past him.
But according to a story John Daly tells, he got his revenge on Tiger one day. All it took was three bottles of Crown Royale the night before.
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When I really think about it, John Daly is the only golfer in the history of golf who had the potential to make me cheer for Tiger Woods to hit an iron shot off the hosel and into a creek. That's the type of aura John Daly had. Despite being the complete antithesis of my second favorite golfer Tiger Woods, I loved everything about him. He wasn't technically proficient. He wasn't clean cut. He was kind of fat. He certainly wasn't training with Marines. His rounds were fueled by fifteen Diet Cokes, two and a half packs of cigarettes, four Snickers bars, and _ alcoholic drinks (depending on the day). He pulled driver on every hole, no matter how ill-advised. He's the only golfer in PGA history (I think) to be granted used of a golf cart while playing on tour. He played golf professionally like most people play on bachelor parties. Except instead of losing twenty balls on the front nine, he won a PGA Championship and a U.S. Open.
The story of John Daly winning his first major, the 1991 PGA Championship at Crooked Stick, remains one of the greatest stories in golf. 24 hours before the first scheduled tee time, John Daly wasn't even supposed to play in the tournament. When the field was set, Daly was named the ninth alternate. By Wednesday afternoon, as golfers dropped from the field, there were still four alternates ahead of him. When he started his drive up from Memphis to Indianapolis that day, he was only doing so on the very off-chance something crazy happened and he could sneak in the field. But when he finally arrived at his hotel after midnight, the morning of PGA Championship - Round 1, there was a voicemail waiting for him. The alternates ahead of him were all unable to make it. John Daly was in the tournament. And with zero practice rounds, coming off a 7-hour drive and a short night of sleep, some random 26-year old with a blonde mullet who nobody had ever heard of won the PGA Championship.
John Daly's "grip it and rip it" playing style has always mirrored the way he lived his life. To this day he could drink a whole SEC frat party under the table. It's part of what made him so popular. He was always the #1 most relatable golfer on tour. He's even said before, "I played my best golf drunk". A revelation that every hack golfer has had themselves at some point in their golf career. But without fail, stacking years upon years of heavy drinking will wear on a man. I think John Daly would tell you himself that he's an alcoholic. He's been hospitalized at least four times for alcohol poisoning. He's underwent 16 surgeries. He's been battling bladder cancer for the past three years. Despite his ongoing health problems, last year John Daly did a "Break 50" video with Bryson DeChambeau for Bryson's YouTube channel.
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During the video John Daly tells Bryson he started drinking at 9am that morning. That he was on his 20th vodka of the day. He showed-off what's underneath the front hood of his golf cart. It's just one big cooler stuffed with his personally branded vodka-lemonades. It's the stuff of legends. When you watch the video, John Daly is in great spirits. He's out on the course barefoot. He's got his son there with him. He seems to have a great perspective. He looks genuinely happy. He truly seems to be living his best life.
It's a funny thing to see a quote like that from John Daly. "Waking up is a win for me."
Your natural reaction is, "I hope this guy slows down and gets some help".
But I'm not sure he wants to. I can't speak for John Daly. It's his life. If he wants to live it fast and loose, that's his prerogative. Health problems aside, when I watch John Daly in that video, I don't see an out of control alcoholic in desperate need of help. It's more like watching a man who has life figured out better than anyone. At least on some level, who doesn't want that to be their life? Win a couple majors, make $10 million on the PGA Tour, spend your days riding around in your custom golf cart, drinking your own custom vodka-lemonades as you play golf with your son. Your son who's following in your footsteps playing college golf at Arkansas. That's quite literally the dream.
When I see that John Daly quote, and watch him in that Bryson video, I'm stuck between feeling a little sad and wanting him to slow down, and thinking, "This guy still fucking rules. Keep doing you, John."
I guess it can be a little bit of both. It's all matter of perspective. If John Daly is happy, then good for him. Who the hell is anyone else to say what he should be doing with his life. He seems to have raised a great kid. He's probably set up his family for life financially. He's always lived with that "grip it and rip it" mentality, and it's worked out pretty damn well for him overall. So if he is happy doing what he's doing, and has the support his family, which may be a big "if"… I'm sure his family would prefer he sticks around for a while… but if he'd rather roll the dice and live however many years he's got left doing what he wants when he wants, instead of drastically changing his lifestyle to try and tack on a few extra years, then more power to him. Tomorrow isn't guaranteed for any of us. We might as well enjoy ourselves while we're here.
Although if John Daly wants to get back into golfing shape, which he says he still wants to do…
NY Post – Daly is still determined to play on the senior PGA Tour Champions circuit, even skipping next week’s PGA Championship at Quail Hollow to play on PGA Tour Champions’ first major of the year, The Tradition in Birmingham, Ala.
Then he might want to change a little something. He's coming off a not-so-encouraging performance on the Champions Tour at the the Insperity Invitational last weekend.
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Maybe its a good thing John Daly isn't utilizing his life-long PGA Championship qualification exemption next weekend. Which by the sounds of it, is also something he would like to continue doing. So long as the Champions Tour stops giving golfers a scheduling conflict.
NY Post – The 1991 PGA Championship winner does not understand why the two majors were scheduled for the same week, however.
“I can go there and miss the cut and get $6,000,” Daly said of the PGA Championship, which last year paid $4,000 to players who missed the cut. “But I’m playing Birmingham. I love Regions. They’re a great sponsor. But why are they scheduling Regions the same week as the PGA Championship, where I can see Brooks (Koepka) and all the guys?”
But credit to John Daly for still finishing last weekend's tournament. He could have bowed out after the first round like loser Mark Calcavecchia, who had a tweet I didn't much care for after John Daly posted his gentleman's +27.
You know what's worse than both a +26 and +27, Mark? A big fat WD. You don't get to tell John Daly when the end is near. After 16 surgeries and a bladder full of cancer, John Daly is still out here finishing tournaments. That's more than you can say right now, buddy.
John Daly will forever be one of my all-time favorite athletes. Regardless of how he's feeling, it sucks to see anyone's health deteriorate the way his appears to be. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit worried about him. I would never tell the guy how to live, but maybe there's a way he can find a little better balance with the drinking. And maybe he already has. Clearly I don't know what his day-to-day life is like.
It would be amazing to see him near the top of a leaderboard on the Champions Tour again. Or post a solid round or two at a PGA Championship. Or even a solid few holes. Nothing brings me joy like turning on a major Thursday morning after only 20 people have teed off to see John Daly at the top of the leaderboard at -1. Usually he cards a triple bogey a hole or two later. But it's always fun to dream for a minute.