- One of the most popular players in golf; and
- Also one of the worst-behaved, with a long track record of quitting on his round, figuratively (when he obviously stops trying his best and just "mails it in," so to speak) and literally (when he walks off a course in the middle of a round or walks out on a tournament following a bad round).
Until, perhaps, now. Daly walked out in the middle of his first round on Thursday at the Australian Open after hitting seven balls into the water on one hole. And PGA of Australia officials are fed up with him, saying afterward that Daly is banned from the Australian PGA Championship in two weeks, which he had entered; and that he won't be invited back to the Australian Open.
PGA of Australia officials also called on the USPGA and European tours to discipline Daly. Trevor Herden, tournament director of the Australian Open, said:
"They need to deal with it. He's a tour member on the US Tour and on the European Tour he also has a status, so they need to deal with this in a most serious of fashions.
"We can't fine him because ... he's not a member of our (tour), but we want it dealt with properly."
The chain of events was this: Daly was 4-over through nine holes. On the 10th, he hit his ball into a greenside bunker. But he played the wrong ball out of the bunker, took a 2-stroke penalty, made triple-bogey. On the 11th hole, Daly hit a ball into a pond. Then another. And another. And kept going until he'd hit seven balls into the water - every ball he had. His effort on most of those attempts was not full. Out of balls, Daly walked out.
Said Herden:
"It's very disappointing, obviously, for the tournament (and) certainly unprofessional and I'm extremely bitter and disappointed that he's treated this championship this way.
"It's becoming a bit of a habit ... it's unacceptable and I certainly hope that all the tours deal with it in the appropriate manner this time.
"We've got the best field ever and he wants to treat it like this, it's just not good enough.
"I would say this will be the last time we see John Daly."
Herden mentioned that Daly did the same thing "last week or the week before"; actually, it was in September when Daly threw a club in the water and walked out during a round at the Austrian Open.
In fact, Daly has been doing this sort of thing for years, but his popularity with fans always gets him off the hook. He's been living off sponsor exemptions the past few years, and anytime one tournament decides not to invite him back (sometimes because of this kind of incident), another tournament steps up with an invitation.
But no tournament or tour officials have ever condemned Daly's actions before the way Australian Open and PGA of Australia officials did after Thursday's first round.
On the web:
Daly's meltdown (PGA.org.au)
Daly walks off course at Australian Open (AP)
Aussie Officials Call for John Daly Ban After Walk-Out originally appeared on About.com Golf on Thursday, November 10th, 2011 at 09:36:25.
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