John Daly had a short putt. The following ‘could be the best thing you’ve ever seen’
John Daly, a few years ago, was asked why he was popular. Although it has now been more than 30 years since he won the second of his two major championships, he is still involved.
But Daly wasn’t sure of the answer.
“It makes no sense. I don’t know. I don’t know,” said Daly. “I think Chad does a great job with our slogan T-shirt companies; the little kids love it. I don’t know, maybe because of the beard they think I’m really Santa Claus, but Justin Thomas told me I’m a bad Santa, so that’s out the window. I don’t know.”
The reporter tried again, asking Daly to explain the communication he has with the fans.
“I think because there really aren’t any bones in my closet,” said Daly. “If I’m wrong, I’ll honestly say I’m wrong, and I think the fans are. I think I’m not – I’m not looking over my shoulder; are they going to know about this or that? Everyone knows everything about me on this tour – my life, my ex-wives, everything – and it’s out there so I really have nothing to hide.
“I think, I hope, to be honest.”
Was he happy to live his life that way?
“Yes,” said Daly. “My mother would have come out of her grave if I hadn’t come out.”
This is one answer behind his popularity.
Below is perhaps another.
This week, Daly plays the Regions Tradition, the second annual 50-and-over gang. With two rounds at Greystone Golf and Country Club in Alabama, Daly has three divisions. But a moment during his training on Wednesday is what you have to see, even if you already have them – as of Friday afternoon, the video of what happened has collected 1.6 million views on X.
Shared by @alabamabart, who wrote: “John Daly hit it close on 17 and picked out a little guy in the crowd. He calmly stepped up and dropped the putt. Might be the best thing you’ll see today.” Good summary. In the 21-second video, Daly and the boy go to Daly’s ball, which appears to be a little more than 5 meters away. The boy circled the ball, looked at the hole, paused, then putted Daly. He looked up.
He did, which you can watch below.
Daly raised his arms. Daly and the boy hug.
And the fans who were around the green were happy.
(If you’re interested in hearing more from Daly, the PGA Tour Champions X feed shared another video featuring Daly at the Regions Tradition. This one, which you can watch here, shows Daly covering Bob Dylan’s “Knockin on Heaven’s Door” — and includes a few golf-themed lyrics.)
