Daly - My Life in and out of the Rough

The Truth Behind All That Bull****
You Think You Know About Me

My Family

God bless you all.

My Fans

Youve always supported me. I owe you everything.

My Kids

Shynah, Sierra, Austin, Little Johnmy all-time favorite foursome.

My Mom

I miss you.

T hats a line from a fine old country-and-western song by Billy Joe Shaverand not a half bad title for my life story.

You see, I havent led what youd call an ordinary life.

Ive traveled to six continentsand won golf tournaments on five of them.

In my darker days, I had a few drinks, visited a few hospital ERs, and did time in a couple of rehab clinics.

Ive beat up hotel rooms, houses, and cars.

Ive gambled away a couple of fortunes.

I live on Diet Coke, Marlboro Lights, and the support of my fans.

Ive weighed as much as 290 poundsand lost as much as 65 in three months.

And Ive been married four times.

I guess you could say Im not exactly a poster boy for moderation.

But I also won two of golfs four majors before I turned 30. Only five other golfers in history have done that. You may have heard of them: Bobby Jones, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Johnny Miller, and Tiger Woods. I am humbled and honored to be on that list.

Sometimes I wonder how Im still standing, let alone chasing my third major. But you know what? Ive always done it my way, and I think the best is still to come.

So Im writing this book to tell the whole story, my story. The wins, the losses, and everything in betweenwithout the bullshit.

This is me.

A lot of people live in the past. They get stuck in a negative life because all they do is wallow in the bad things they did. How is that going to help them tomorrow? My past aint the greatest, but it aint the worst. And I dont have any skeletons in the closet. Theyre all out. I got all my skeletons out. Everybody knows everything Ive ever done. (Or you will after you finish this book.)

So you could be thinking right about now, why in the hell, if he really thinks people shouldnt live in the past, is Big John Daly writing a book about his past?

Good question.

My answer is that laying my life out this way, trying to see it as a whole thing instead of a bunch of disconnected memories, helps me get a grip on the present and try to build a future. So Im writing this book in part to help me understand myselfand get ready for whatever life throws at me down the way.

But Im also writing this book because I believe I owe it to you, my fans. Youve always been there for me, and I want to strengthen the bond between us.

Throughout my career, you guys have been my lifeline, my port in a storm, my best and most trustworthy connection to all thats good and strong and giving in the human spirit.

Without you fans, Id be nothingor maybe dead.

So if youve stood by me all these years, through good times and bad, and held out your hands to me, isnt it high time you hear straight from The Lions mouth why Ive done some of the things Ive done, how I feel about things, and what I see around the bend?

I think it is. I know I owe you my life, so to me it follows that I owe you the true story of how Ive lived it.

My mother, God rest her soul, used to tell me, Champions come from the heart. Those are true words, words Ive tried to live by. Im proud that those wordsmy mothers legacy to meare written above the door opening out onto the University of Arkansas football field, and that Razorback football players slap that sign to remind them of her message as they go out on the field.

Champions come from the heart.

B ack in the summer of 1991, my first year on the PGA Tour, I wasnt exactly what youd call a household name in golf, unless you happened to spend a lot of time in my mothers household.

Finally, after three and a half years of scraping by on the minitours and the South Africa Tour following my decision to drop out of college and turn pro in 1987, and after four trips to the PGA Tours brutal Qualifying School, Id earned my Tour card for the 1991 season. By the beginning of August, I still hadnt won anything, but Id made about $160,000 up to that time, so I was feeling okay. I wasnt tearing it up or anything, but Id made a bunch of cuts, and Id finished fourth at the Honda back in March and third in the Chattanooga Classic in July.

All year, word had been spreading a little about this redneck kid from Arkansas who could really let it fly but sometimes had to do some looking for it after it landed. So at tournaments Id draw some fans around the tee to watch me hit driver. I never saw too many people along the fairways watching me hit my second shot, but that was okay. I knew I had some other clubs in my bag. Anyway, Id wind up that year leading the PGA Tour in driving distance with just under 289 yards (288.9, if youre a stats freak). That would be good for about number 98 in 2005, and probably out of the top 100 in 2006. But back then, it was like 6 yards ahead of Greg Norman, who was number 2, and people were taking some notice.

Playin the Tour and lovin lifeman, I was 25 years old, and I had the world by the tail!

As August rolled around, though, I hadnt made enough money to qualify for the PGA Championship at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Indiana, which is just outside of Indianapolis. I was close enough to know that if Id made a few more putts along the way, Id be getting ready for my first practice round. But I was far enough back at ninth alternate to figure I had no chance in hell of getting in.

The week before, Id played the Buick Open in Grand Blanc, Michigan, just outside of Flint, and Id stunk up the place, missing the cut by a bunch. So I went back to Memphis, where Id just closed on my first home and spent $32,000 I couldnt afford on a new BMW for Bettye, my fiance.

I did pretty much what I always did when I was home. Practiced at Chickasaw Country Club. Hung out with whatever buddies were around. Probably ate lunch at McDonalds. Maybe played some in the afternoon. Went home. Had a few drinks, no doubt. Nothing out of the ordinary.

I never once thought I had a prayer of playing in the PGA Championship. A couple of foursomes of guys would have to withdraw for me to get in. There was no way that was going to happen, not in a major.

But then a few guys dropped out for one reason or another, and every time one did, Id get a call from Ken Anderson of the PGA of America to tell me that Id moved up a notch. Nothing to get excited about. Then about five oclock Wednesday afternoon, he called to say I was now third alternate. Still not likely Id get in, he said, what with the tournament beginning in less than 24 hours.

Now, most Tour pros wouldnt walk across the street to watch somebody else play golf, but I decided to drive on up to Indianapolis to watch the PGA, to hang out, andokay, Ill admit itto have a few drinks with my buddy Fuzzy Zoeller.

Fuzzy had won the Masters in 1979 and the U.S. Open in 1984. He was a serious player. A major player. And he was just maybe the most popular guy on the PGA Tour. And I wasas I saidnot exactly a household name. Or put it another way: I was a nobody. But Fuzzy and I had met in 1989 at the Federal ExpressSt. Jude Classic in Memphis, where I lived. Being a local boy, Id gotten a sponsors exemption. Fuzzy spotted me and asked me to play a practice round with him. Weve been close friends ever since.