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 Mired in a financial mess, there was two-time major champion John Daly selling memorabilia across from the most famous golf club in the world, Augusta National, during Masters week. Daly's been in worse situations, but this scene had to be disheartening for fans, family and friends who've stuck by his side during his well-documented slide into a state of disrepair.
"I don't have one sponsor right now," said Daly in an exclusive interview with the NY Post that ran the Thursday The Masters began. "I'm on the verge of bankruptcy with the bad economy and the loss of sponsors. I don't want to go that route."
His chosen route has taken Daly to the European Tour, which had become his only viable option to play amongst elite golfers when the PGA Tour suspended him earlier this year because of a string of incidents. And not even a month after Daly packed up his bus and rode out of Georgia, his once promising career has been taken off of life support, and appears to be healthy enough to breathe on its own.
As the PGA Tour's top golfers were contesting golf's unofficial "fifth major," Daly was charging up to leaderboard at the BMW Italian Open. He finished in a tie for second, his best since the 2005 World Golf Championship at San Francisco's Harding Park where he pushed Tiger Woods to the limit.
Daly shot four consecutive rounds in the 60s to post a score of 11-under for the four-day event. The prize money he won (roughly 96,000 Euros) should be enough to keep his bill collectors, which according to this Yahoo Sports report include his two ex-wives, at a distance for now.
Last week Daly showed signs of life at the Open de Espana in Seville, Spain, where he finished 31st. He was making headlines for his colorful new wardrobe that includes pants tailored by his new sponsor, Loudmouth Golf. Onlookers also noticed that he'd dropped about 60 lbs. in a matter of months after undergoing a procedure call Lap-Band weight loss surgery. Now he's playing well enough to be recognized solely on his on-course performance.
There is in fact light at the end of a very dark tunnel.
"Things are improving every day and I'm looking forward to my next three European Tour tournaments, next week in Ireland and then Wentworth and I've heard the European Open course is good too."
Daly's last official PGA Tour event was the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospital for Children in Las Vegas, where he missed the cut. In 2008, Daly missed the cut in 12 of the 17 events he entered. So going 2-2 on the Euro Tour must feel damn good.
We could see Daly played in the U.S. again as early as June 11, when the PGA Tour stops in Memphis for the St. Jude Classic. Daly's been a major supporter of St. Jude and the children it helps over the years.
"We have not awarded any sponsor's exemptions,'' Phil Cannon, the tournament's director, told the Memphis Commercial-Appeal last month. "John Daly would certainly be an attraction. He loves this tournament and this town, and this town seems to love him. It's a mutual admiration.''
Daly's been quite active on his Twitter account (@PGA_JohnDaly), and you can tell he is making an tremendous effort to interact with the diehard fans who have supported him rain or shine.
"Great to be on top of the leaderboard today," Daly wrote. "Feelin' great right now...headed soon to the Irish."
And this post before he called it a night is good news because it means he's not satisfied at the first sign of succes, or using his performance as an excuse to celebrate with copious amounts of Whiskey and Budweiser.
"Well, headed to bed for the night," Daly tweeted. "Practice all day with some puttin and chippin! Thank you twitters for all the congrats."
Sure, he does needed some help in the Twitter grammar department, but one thing at a time.
"Hey, try to make the story positive," Daly requested of the NY Post's Mark Cannizzaro at the end of their interview a month ago in Augusta.
"That is up to him from here on out," Cannizzaro wrote.
Men like Kenny Perry and Vijay Singh are proof that there is life after 40 in golf. At 43, it's not too late for Daly to turn his life and his golf career around. It can happen rather quickly. Remember when that unknown bomber rocking a mullet won the 1991 PGA Championship at Crooked Stick as the last alternate in the field.
"There's nothing I can do about yesterday," Daly said in the Post interview, "and tomorrow hasn't happened."
Successful golfers learn to forget a bad shot before it turns into twenty. After a painfully long string of bogeys, John Daly's ensuing tee shot was headed for trouble, but unexpectedly got a good kick and bounded back into the fairway. Daly's still a country mile from the green, but the lie is better than expected.
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