Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, October 27, 1994 TAG: 9410290022
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: BIRMINGHAM, ALA. LENGTH: Medium
Doesn't he miss it? Doesn't he feel the urge to grab a driver and punish a golf ball?
``Not really. I was glad to take a break,'' he said after a college tournament in Birmingham this week. ``I guess if I don't miss it by December, I'll have to find another career.''
Daly insists it was his decision, and his only, to skip the rest of the year on the PGA Tour. His back was aching, he said, in no small part because of an altercation after his last tournament, the World Series of Golf in late July.
``I didn't give the Tour a chance to sit me down,'' Daly said outside the clubhouse at Shoal Creek, where he helped coach Arkansas, his alma mater, to a fifth-place finish in the 12-team Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate.
``I told Tim [PGA commissioner Finchem] that I didn't want to play anymore this year. Tim thought it was a good idea and the smart thing to do.''
The personable Daly has been enormously popular with golf fans ever since his stunning victory at the 1991 PGA Championship, where his booming drives became the stuff of legend. Since then, though, his stormy personal life has overshadowed his talent.
He has been suspended twice, once to undergo alcohol rehabilitation treatment, and likely was facing further sanctions in July, when he was accused of repeatedly hitting into the group ahead of him and eventually got in a public scuffle with the father of national club pro champion Jeff Roth.
``If I could have held on for three more seconds, it probably wouldn't have happened,'' Daly said. ``But there comes a time in life when a guy has got to defend himself. I held on as long as I could.''
By most accounts, 62-year-old Bob Roth was incensed by Daly's course etiquette. When the round was finished, Daly exchanged insults with Roth and his wife, Delores, in the parking lot and Roth allegedly jumped the 28-year-old golfer from behind.
``I had apologized to Jeff. What more was I supposed to do?'' Daly said. ``I probably said the wrong thing to his mother, but they had been heckling me for five holes and nothing was done to prevent it.''
Even if that incident wasn't Daly's fault, his conduct over the years has become so unpredictable that it's hard for him to defend every incident. He described himself as a ``target'' and the victim of unfair media coverage, but also concedes his own faults.
``I guess I'm learning a little later than everybody else,'' he said. ``But I think it's a good thing to learn these lessons the hard way. There's not a better way, in my opinion.''
Daly, who lost several lucrative endorsement deals after his latest troubles, now spends his time rehabilitating his back, watching Arkansas football games and assisting the Razorbacks golf team.
``We did so bad in our first tournament that I called John and asked him to help us out,'' Arkansas coach Bill Woodley said. ``He's been nothing but a plus. When he tells the kids something, they know he's right. He's not going to sugarcoat it.''
As for Daly, he looked fit in his red Arkansas sweater, but he is starting to get concerned about his lower back injury.
``It will be great for three days, then one day it will feel terrible,'' he said. ``I don't know what's wrong. I've been working out with trainers, but they're not sure what's wrong either.
``It's frustrating. It makes me not want to play. The few times when I do play, I don't swing hard because I'm afraid I'll pop something. You can't play that way.''
by CNB