Casino and Golf
Author: Simon Dexter
The incomparable golfer John Daly prepared for his latest major tournament not on the golf course at Tulsa but at a local casino!
The 41-year-old, whose problems both on and off the greens have been well publicised over the years, spent the day before his opening round at the nearby Cherokee Casino. It certainly did his game no harm as the Texan shot a 67 to finish Day One of the USPGA in second place.
“Did good the first day; didn’t do too good the other day,” he said of his preparation at the casino. “But I played their golf course. I went out in just a cart. They gave me their golf course from 10am to 1pm, I got a lot of practicing in.”
His unusual approach to life has won him many admirers and his life is summed up in the title of his autobiography “My Life In and Out of the Rough,” where he claims to have lost more than million from gambling.
He has other demons too and has long struggled with drink, as well as his weight. Daly, for those who don’t know, burst onto the golf scene in 1991 when landing the USPGA at his first attempt. More tournament victories followed with the highlight being victory at St Andrews in the 1995 Open Championship.
Asked to explain his slow fall from grace, which now sees him only qualify for events with a sponsors exemption, the player refused to blame his problems with drink and gambling.
“It’s just, there hasn’t been a lot of bad, bad golf shots,” he said.
“It’s just been a couple of bad breaks here, a couple missed five or six footers that when they go in keep you going. That’s really all it’s been.”
It was the heat that was supposed to cause the popular player most problems at Tulsa, though Daly was still able to joke about the fact other players had bet on who would collapse first himself or his caddy.
“So we made it, we made 18 holes,” Daly said proudly. “Only had three heat strokes out there.”
His recent weight loss (apparently 25lbs) has said to have improved his game and he quipped that he felt good enough to bend over and actually look at some putts. Aerobics, he called it.
For the record, Daly made the cut and made a respectable top 25 finish. Not bad for the gambler who practised on the slot machines rather than with the putting machine.
This entry was posted on Monday, September 10th, 2007 at 1:40 pm and is filed under General. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
