John Daly

One of the great ironies of living in a world that fetishizes diversity is how similar everybody is. Everybody in charge is exactly the same.
They have the same opinions, they wear the same clothes, they even look the same physically. So when you see somebody in the public eye who doesn't look the same, it tends to kind of stick out and you don't forget it.

If you've watched professional golf any time in the last 35 years, you may have noticed golfer, golfer, golfer, golfer, guy smoking Marlboro Red, golfer, golfer. Who is that guy? And that, of course, is one of the most famous golfers in the history of golf, John Daly, who doesn't look or act or think like pretty much anyone else who plays the game.
And so we thought it'd be really interesting to sit down with him and find out what he's like. He joins us on set.
John Daly, it's an honor to have you here. Honor to see you.
Are you kidding? So you've played, you said you started at Arkansas like 40 years ago. Yeah.
So you're still playing? Yeah. Older, but to play the Champions Tour, we have a blast.
It's one sport you can play all your life. All your life.
Do you ever think of yourself as like the one guy who doesn't seem like everybody else on tour? Kind of fit that mold. You know, I didn't have really a pot to piss in when I grew up.
Where did you grow up? In a little town called Darnell. We had nine holes then.
Arkansas. Darnell, Arkansas.
We had nine holes, and I'd weigh the ponds in the first hole and sell the good balls to the club and take the old balls. I wasn't old enough to play the course.
So on Sundays, I could go out and play. Some of the members would let me play with them, but I learned how to play on a baseball field just right down from our house.
How did you pick golf? Was your dad a golfer? I saw it on TV. My dad played a little bit, but it wasn't his A-game sport.
But, you know, I just fell in love with it watching it on TV. Were you good at it right away? I was kind of natural at it, but I learned.
Jack Liffus came out with these Golf Digest lesson tees, how to grip it, how to hit a cut, how to hit a hook. And so when I learned I'd sit on home plate, I'd grip it and I'd hit a cut to right field.
I'd hit a straight shot to center. I'd hit a draw to left.
Flop shot to the pitcher's mound. Chip and runs to first base, third base, flop shot to second base, flop shot's over second base.

I mean, I just learned it from a cartoon that he did back in the early 70s.

That's how I learned the interlocking grip, everything from Jack Nicklaus.

So you didn't grow up in a country club is what you're saying?

No, no.

It was a nine-hole course.

And then as I got older, I played there, and we lived there for a long time.

As I grew up, I just fell in love with the place. It was very quiet and peaceful there.
I don't want it to be. What did your parents think? I played all sports.
Played football, basketball, baseball, everything. But the one thing I loved about golf, you didn't have to run in it.
I'm very flat-footed. I couldn't run for anything.

Trying to play football as a field goal kicker,

and I could throw it a mile.

I just couldn't run.

I was fortunate to kick football at Helias High School,

where I kind of finished my two and a half years of kick football

at Helias High School in Jeff City, Missouri,

and then finished up in Arkansas to get in-state tuition in Arkansas because I just couldn't afford to. How long were you at Arkansas? Three years.
And then you went pro? Yeah. How was it different then for professional golfers, like the tour? It's tough.
You know, back then it was all state opens. You didn't have the Corn Ferry Tour.
You didn't have these tours. You know, I ended up playing

my first tournament was Missouri State Open.

It was in August, I think,

of 87. I borrowed $300

from my mom. Paid the entry fee.

Won the tournament, won $6,800

and never looked back. I tried to

get mom the check. She says,

you take it and do what you

got to do with it. So you've never had any other job?

No, I had to clean carts

and stuff and pick range

balls. No, I mean as an adult, once you

I don to play. I love it.
But when you hurt and things, you know, you just can't play this game hurt. Basically the last seven years I've had both knees done, both feet done.
I've had shoulder problems. I've had back problems.
You know, I got diagnosed with bladder cancer four years ago, so right now it's benign. But, you know, it's part of getting old.
And, you know, when I can't, you know, everybody knows me saying this. They think I'm fully you-know-what.
But I do like to practice. But when you can't, that's what sucks.
I'm more of a, I like to go out and hit 500 wedges. Yeah.
You know, I don't sit on a driving range, and I like to hit into greens and stuff. I'm kind of a player practice guy, but when you can't do that to your ability, it's tough to compete because these guys on this Champions Tour and all over the world are so good.
They're unbelievably good. I think one of the reasons people are mesmerized by you and have always been is because clearly you're succeeding through natural talent.
I mean, it's not like, what are we looking at here, just to give the audience some perspective? This is what you would consume over 18 holes. I used to.
I drink a lot of John Daly Good Boys now. What is that? Is that a health drink? No, no, it's my sweet tea lemonade vodka.
I can't drink it while I play, but I drink a lot of them now. But you still have, like, played at the highest level.
Yeah, yeah, I still play the British Open. I'm still in that until I'm 60, in the PGA until I'm 65, the regular ones.
I guess what I mean, you see some athletes, and you feel like they were trained from birth, almost like the Soviet bloc used to do in the Olympics. Well, look at Michelle Wee.
What a great human being she is. I mean, her pop was honor.
I mean, I remember we played at the beautiful Nimicola and Woodlands, you know, Joe Hardy's place, Maggie's, 84 number. And I was fortunate enough when she came out, everybody said how long she was, and Maggie set it up where I could play nine holes with her.
What a great girl. But she hit balls seven hours before she played nine holes with me.
I would have had to get in a stretcher. I would have hit that many balls for seven hours.
That's the mentality of the game now. These guys work and they work and they work.
All of them have teachers and psychiatrists. Food guy, food girl, whatever.
They have psychiatrists? I think I'll have them, yeah. I grew up taking golf serious, but not taking it that serious.
Fuzzy Zeller, Tom Watson, Arnie, Jack, and all of us, you know, we go play a practice round. We go to the bar and have a drink.
All these guys go work out. Well, we'd hit some balls, but maybe hit some pots.
But then we go to the bar and have a drink, go to dinner. He wasn't going to work out and all this stuff.
It's a 10-hour day job for all these guys now.

That's what they put themselves through.

There's something kind of cool and old-fashioned about the man who doesn't do that,

who doesn't have a problem pausing for a cigarette mid-game, and still wins.

Well, it's been a while, but, you know, I still compete.

Was there ever a point when you thought, I'm getting out, I can't do this anymore?

Yeah, I think a lot of us go through that. You know, you're not playing good.
I mean, these last seven years have been tough. I really have not played one Champions Tour 100%, and I was fortunate to win Houston, I think, in 2016.
But, you know, just trying to be healthy, giving yourself a chance to compete really well is what you want. But, you know, I finally got both knees done, full replacements, and this will be the first year I've actually been able to have two good knees.
You know, so hopefully 24 without any other stupid crap. Maybe I could actually get through a year without limping.
Are you sick of being on tour? No. I love the game.
I love to compete. But I just want to compete the way I know I can compete.
So when you're playing on tour, do you go to dinner with the other players at night? A lot of times, yeah. A lot of us hang out on the championship.
So you're open in your politics. You're pretty direct about it.
Yeah. Wherest common sense in our country.
Do you think you've got the majority view among golfers? Yeah. I think all of us on the tours and everything, we all want Daddy Trump back.
Really? Why? Because he was a great president. He's a great guy once you get to know him.
I've known him since the early 90s. It was funny.
I can't remember the tournament. He flew his helicopter in.
We played a pro-am. We went out back.
We talked a little bit. When he stood up, he says, mark my words, I'll be president of the United States one day.
This is back in 92, 93, 94 maybe. Did you believe him? I did.
I did. Interesting.
Unbelievable, smart individual that people got to get behind him. We've got to do something.
But among professional golfers, that's a pretty common view. No doubt.
How's his golf? How would you assess it? I've got to work with his chipping a little bit. But he hits it good.
He putts it good. We've just got to work on his chipping.
What's wrong with the chipping? He just got to keep saying you've got to move the ball up. Everybody thinks when you chip, you've got to move it back.
You actually need to move it up a little bit. If I don't see him for a while, it goes back to that bad habit again.
So when you correct him. He chips it like Tiger or Phil.
So why not be like full-time Trump golf coach? I don't think he has time to play that much golf. He does seem serious about it.
He loves it. He's passionate about it.
But what I love about him, he plays quick. We'd go out and play golf.
We could have an eights in with him, and we're done in three hours. Really? He don't mess around.
Did Clinton cheat in golf?

Is that true?

Oh, yeah.

I mean, Bill would take the club back and say, oh, shit, give me another ball

before he even hit the first one.

He'd throw another one down.

But he never kept score.

Did you ever play with him?

Yeah.

I had to play with him one time.

What did you think?

He needs to take up tennis.

He's horrible.

Really?

Yeah.

What about Obama?

I didn't play with him.

I never got to meet him or play with him.

But Clinton's that bad, but he loved it, right?

Yeah, that's okay.

I mean, hey, there's a lot of people that never get it.

They're never good at it, but they love it.

Keep playing. If it's something you love to do and go out and do it, it's a great game.
But, you know, these guys, they don't have the time to really work on their game and do the things they want to. A lot of them are running the country, you know.
Yeah, that does get in the way. Some did a good job.
Some did a shitty job. We all know who did a great job.
You think Trump's going to win? He needs to win. I pray to God he wins.
Why? Just for the satisfaction of bringing our country back together, get some common sense going in here again. Look what he did.
The four years, how great was our country in the four years he was in office. And now look at it.
No secure borders. Places out of the roof.
I mean, what the hell happened? Where did it go? I mean, I was loving the four years that Daddy Trump was in. And it's all gone to hell.
In two years, three years, it's just, what happened? Did you see it coming? We all did. When Biden got elected, I definitely saw it happen.
A lot of our corporate people that were around all the time launched our tournaments, they all saw it happen. They knew it was going to happen.
Have they ever leaned on you to shut up? No. Why would they? It's free speech.
Well, because if you're in the NBA, you can't have your opinions. That's their problem.
That's stupid. They should.
You know, when they were kneeling national anthems and all that, that was kind of telling us to, you know, telling America to kiss our ass. Yeah.
I mean, what was that all about? You tell me. I'd like to know because I don't understand.
Our football players were kneeling and asking at them. I'll never forget one game in the NFL.
There was the Steeler guy that served. He was the only one that came out of the locker.
Yeah. What happened? I don't know.
I think it was obvious that certain people wanted Americans to hate their own country, and so they used sports figures to send that message. Your country's embarrassing.
It's immoral. Give it the finger.
Hate it. You know.
That's how much power athletes have. Yeah.
To be able to go that. I don't know if it's that left or just that stupid.

I don't know.

Well, they're being used.

Yeah.

But then they're the ones who are looking like idiots doing it.

But you never felt that in golf at all?

No.

Not with our guys.

We believe in the American flag.

We believe in our freedoms and we believe in what, you know,

we travel probably more than any athlete on the universe and we have to show our passport we have to get visas and look at our border we're just coming in truckloads and the Biden administration done nothing but says oh the borders it's under control Just 7 million people whose identities we don't know living here.

And what they say in his term, there's over, I don't know how many that they found that were felons

or they were terrorists or whatever, more than any other president.

Why do you think they're doing that?

Votes.

Votes.

All he wants is votes.

They just want to stay in office.

So you think they're going to make the illegals into voters?

I heard they're giving them voter cards and anything anyway.

They come in.

And I'll see you next time. wants his votes.
They just want to stay in office. So you think they're going to make the illegals into voters? I heard they're giving them voter cards and anything anyway.

They come in.

I don't know if it's true, but that's what I've heard.

I would think that's the only...

Why else would they let them in?

What is the reason Democrats

want all these people

to come in free, and I got a guy that

plays our senior tour, I don't miss his name,

been here forever, won majors, on the tour, and couldn't get a visa. Really? Yeah.
But yet, you're letting all these illegals come in, giving them whatever they want, makes no sense to me. But there's got to be a reason for it.
Votes. I think it's votes.
I don't know any other reason. I don't know.
And that happened like instantly the second Biden got there. Yeah.
And no one says anything about it. I feel bad for Arizonians, the good Californians, the Texans.
I mean, that whole border, man. I mean, I feel bad for the farmers and everybody.
You see it

every day. I mean,

the stories that these cut their

fences, raiding their homes.

I mean,

why would the President

of the United States let these people

do that to our own Americans? Maybe if you

hated the country and wanted to destroy it, you would do that.

Well,

apparently, what we've got up there right now,

they must hate our country.

Thank you. the country and wanted to destroy it, you would do that.
Apparently, what we've got up there right now, they must hate our country. Do you think there's a chance Trump could win with a system like the one we have? I don't know.
I'm looking at Iowa. I'm looking at some of these states that are changing that are kind of wanting to vote for him.
But all I know is I hope he wins.

Yeah.

I'll have his back until I die.

He's one of the greatest human beings I've ever met.

The family's awesome.

Once you get to know him, they're just good-hearted people.

He only wants to help Americans.

He doesn't want anything out of it.

He wants to protect our country,

which I think Putin never would have invaded Ukraine if he'd have been. And I don't think Thomas would attack Israel like they did if Trump was in office.
I truly believe that. I think there's probably something to that.
I brought you some cigars, by the way. You make cigars? Yeah.
My buddy's in New York. They're out of Dominican.
They're handmade. I got the shorts.
I call the short game, and I call the longs the long game.

Do you think that tobacco helps your game?

It relaxes me.

It's a stress relief.

I mean, that's kind of your signature on the course, is a Marlboro.

Well, it takes us a while to play, so it's usually a pack around.

Have you ever been under pressure not to do it on the course?

No, the tour's been pretty good.

I mean, there's been places that we go when there's a drought or whatever.

Thank you. Have you ever been under pressure not to do it on the course? No, the tour's been pretty good.
I mean, there's been places that we go when there's a drought or whatever, and they said you can't smoke. But I get these little things.
I never throw one on the ground. What is that? It's a little pallet that you put them in.
This one's a little older. I got some new ones.
But it's what the fire department wear. Oh.
And you just stick it in there, throw it in there, put it in your pocket, and empty it in the trash can.

When you own a golf course and you see cigars and cigarettes on your greens,

and they get in the green mowers,

it kind of tends to piss you off.

Yeah, I believe that.

You think Tiger Woods would be better if he smoked?

Tiger's awful.

I feel bad he's hurt, but...

You beat him hungover once.

I was still drunk, actually, but yeah, that was a funny story. When and where? That was at Sherwood, early 2000s.
It was the, there was only like 12 or 15 pros, but we didn't play too good the first day, and I'm sitting there with all my buddies. One is Chris Leggio, who's been a sponsor of mine since then.

And I was like 94.

It had to be 94.

It's been a long time ago.

And we have the round table, I'm sure it was.

And I got my bottle of Jack Daniels then and all our guys.

I just meet these guys, right?

Chris Leggio's a car dealer in Ontario, California.

We became good friends.

He's been sponsoring me since then.

Wow.

Tiger came in and I go, T, come have a drink with us, man.

Come on.

Nah, I'm going to go hit some balls.

Two hours later, we're still in there.

He'd have me, come on, man.

Come have a drink with us.

Nah, I'm going to go work out.

And this is going on for about five or six hours.

We're still there just pounding, getting drunk, having a good time. I got a sponsorship out of it, which I was happy.

Thank you. He goes, no, I'm going to go work out.
And this is going on for about five or six hours. We're still there just pounding, getting drunk, having a good time.

I got a sponsorship out of it, which I was happy.

And TW comes out in a suit, a tux.

And I go, where are you going?

He goes, I got a guitar on stage for you.

You got to go to the dinner.

I didn't know anything about a dinner.

I mean, Bud didn't even know about a dinner.

He always tells me when there's a dinner.

He says, you got to go. I'm still in golf shoes.

I got no shoes on. I mean, I got my golf shoes off.
I'm barefooted.

I got my shirt tucked out. I got shit

spilled all over me.

And I said, alright. Reeking of Jack Daniels

and Marlboro's? Oh yeah, just drunk.

And he's played a trick on me.

So the ballroom wasn't very far, so

I stumbled over there. There's a chair

and there's a guitar, but it had nylon strings like

Willie plays, right?

He didn't know. You get your phone and you can, a little guitar tuner, tune it up.
I did knocking on Heaven's Door, got a standing ovation. I said, I'll see you guys tomorrow.
Tee, I'll see you early in the morning. So we tee off.
My caddy was drunk with us. So there's only two times I've ever drank on a golf course.
One, I had a few Coors Lights. We had a long wait, played the back night at Riviera.
We had a long wait. I downed four or five Coors Lights.
I was playing like shit. And there's like four groups ready to tee off on the front.
I downed those, shoot four or five under on that side and make the cut. I think I ended up finishing third.
But the funny thing about Tiger was when I got on the tee,

I had my caddy bring me a crown or a jack and Coke,

and he's carrying the bag.

If you've never played Sherwood, the first hole,

he's walking and walking through all the cactuses and stuff

going down this hill not to spill my drink.

I grab my three-iron and go on the tee.

Megalong story showed I shoot like 65, Tiger shot like 71,

and he just shook his head the whole day.

That's incredible.

That's fun.

So wasn't the lesson you should drink more on the golf course?

Well, I'm not saying you should, but I've only done it twice.

But there was only that one drink.

I think the statute of limitations are out for finding me right now.

Oh, so you're not allowed to do that?

No.

Like the Pro-Ams on our Champions Tour, you can have a few in the Pro-Ams.

Yeah.

But no, you can't drink during the tournament.

Would you change that if you could?

Hell yeah, I'd probably play better.

Do you play, like, in your private life with a beer? I drink these. I drink a little bit of, I drink our Good Boy Vodka.
I like to drink it straight with a little Diet Coke on the side. You drink the vodka straight with Diet Coke? Like a Diet Coke chaser? Yeah.
All right, drink Good Boy Vodka and I'll chase it with this. You make your own vodka.
Yeah, Alex Pratt owns it. We've got a lot of great friends and investors, and we're in a lot of stores now.
We're in Kroger, Walmart, Circle K just took us on. A lot of local in Florida.
We started in Florida. We're Key West all the way to Jacksonville with Circle K.
Kroger's huge in Kentucky.

We're in about 26 states now.

Total Wine, ABC's been wonderful.

Yeah, this is going to be my true retirement for my kids.

How many kids do you have?

Four I know of.

Have there been hints that you have others?

No, no, not yet.

Bud would have told me if I did. Your agent keeps track of the paternity claims? Pretty much, yeah.
No, I got three beautiful kids' blood, and then I got Anna's child, Caritza, that she's been with me since she was two. I feel like she's mine.
Let's see why. Are any of them golfers? Little John plays for the University of Arkansas.
We won the PNC a couple years ago.

We're going to hopefully get it.

We finished second last year.

Hopefully we're going to do good this year.

Does it surprise you that Arkansas, which was always kind of insecure, let me in Arkansas, is now like this popular state.

Your property values are dramatically higher and people are moving to Arkansas.

Yeah, I mean Fayetteville is one of the – probably is one of the the Darnell, Fayetteville, a lot of towns in Arkansas are voted in that population, number one, number two, safest places to live. Yeah.
You know, Fayetteville, Arkansas is just, you come see our campus. It is unbelievable.
Our sports stuff is bar none, just football is just as big as NFL. The stuff that we have for these kids are basketball, musclemen, coach form, baseball.
I mean, every sport's ranked. We just got to get football back.
That'll happen. What did you make of live golf? I think it's great.
I mean, I would have played it. Why the hostility toward it? That's something that, you know, I was

hoping that Fincham would say, okay, look, guys,

you play your 15 tournaments, go play

it. You know, we have to play

15 on the regular tour, and I think

11 and 12 on the Champions Tour.

Once you do that, then let us go

play wherever we want.

I think golf's a growing game, and

I'm not going to sit here and deny

I didn't get paid to go play Europe. I got paid a lot of money to go play European events.
What's the difference? You know, there's no difference. But, you know, I think golf's a growing game.
I think Liv's looks like it's a lot of fun. Yeah.
I would be perfect. They have concerts.
The guys have fun. They can wear shorts.
You know, the pro-ams like we can now. They can ride around in carts.

I mean, it's almost like playing the Champions Tour.

Yeah.

Three days of golf, no cut.

But we'll say that Liv's got a little bigger purses than we do on the Champions Tour.

Yeah, it's good to have 400 masters.

I mean, to win $4 million for playing 54 holes, that's pretty good.

I'm not good at math, but that's a lot.

And then you've got your team.

If you win your team, I think it's $900.

That's $3.6 million. You get $900

extra thousand. Your team wins.

Is it true? Someone once

told me that guys on the PGA Tour

can actually wind up in the red at the end of the tour

from transportation costs.

Like, some

people on the tour lose money. Oh, yeah.

And that's one thing

that Jay Monaghan did. I think if you got your tour card, you're guaranteed to get 500 grand, I think, bud.
I think you're guaranteed. He's rolling with it.
Yeah, I think they give you 500 grand no matter what. You get your card, I think now you get 500 grand, which can pay your expenses easily for a year.
But some of the people are not making big money at all.

No.

No, you lose your card.

126 to 150, you might get a few.

But after 150, you're kind of on your own.

I read that you lost a ton gambling.

Yeah.

How'd you do that?

I had fun.

What kind of gambling?

It was blackjack back in the days.

You could play all seven hands.

They've changed it now.

You can only play three.

I'm glad they did because I quit blackjack.

Now I just play slots.

Maybe you're one in slots?

Yeah.

Really?

Yeah.

How much do you think you lost to blackjack?

Probably lost over $90 million.

Probably won over $57 million. So $39 million, $40 million, $50 million.
Probably lost over $90 million, probably won over $57 million.

So $39 million, $40 million, $50 million.

Seriously?

Yeah.

You don't sound bitter.

I did it.

Got to get over it.

Move on.

What casinos did you lose it at?

Everywhere.

I love Vegas.

I went to a lot of them.

You know, had such great contracts, good marketing anyway, a million here, a million there, a million there. What's the most you let ride on a hand? Probably around 400 to 550,000.
In one hand? Yeah, I had splits and double downs and all that. Did you win it? Sometimes.
Sometimes I lost. More lost than I won.

I think it's supposed to work out that way. But you're talking about some adrenaline now?

Really?

That's how people do it.

I mean, $20,000, that's $140,000 up right there.

So you're getting double downs and splits.

Shit adds up quick.

Did you play the odds, like play the card, or did you go by gut?

A lot of times, if you've got a feeling you're on a roll,

sometimes I would hit a hard 12.

Really?

I would hit a 12.

Yeah, I would hit it because, you know,

you see a bunch of pictures on there, and I'm thinking,

there's got to be, just give me anything less than a 10.

Right.

I don't care if it's a 2, and most times the dude would break.

But they say don't hit on 12.

I know.

If a 6 or less is showing, unless it's an ace.

So you would play by intuition sometimes.

Yes.

And do you think that worked better or not as well?

A buddy of mine said it's all feel.

You know, a two-decker goes really fast.

Yes.

So you really can't get in the rhythm.

You do a six-deck shoot and you get on a run, oh, that's a home run. But it only happens about one out of ten times.
What's the most you won in one night? I won $3.2 million, $3.3 million on slots, valleys one night. What did you do that night after? I was sitting with a buddy of mine that was repping, you know, made her Tyler's that time, Mata, and it was when me and Sherry got married, and I went to a $25 machine.
It was a 10-time machine, and I hit two 10s and a red 7. I go, hmm, on $75, 360 grand.
Immediately went to the $500,000 and kept hitting $80,000, $100,000, and it was the greatest night I've ever had in slots. Where was that? Valley.
In Vegas? Yeah. Did you cash out and walk out? Actually, I took it and paid off markers in other casinos.
I got out of there free, though. I got out of there.
That's like signing up for a new credit card to pay off the other ones. Exactly.
Rob and Peter to pay Paul. Did you still go to Vegas? Yeah.
But I don't gamble like I

used to. I love playing the slots.
You know, if you

come off the road three or four weeks, you're just tired.

I just want to sit there in front of a machine,

smoke cigarettes, drink John Daly's,

and hopefully hit a jackpot.

I go to Hard Rock in Tampa. I love it.

Hit my machine

$240,000 twice in the last week.

In this week? Last week.

Yeah. $240,000.
Seriously? Twice. Which doesn't happen often.
What'd you put into it to get that? Probably $150,000. I mean, who knows, you know? Right.
Like I said, you're robbing Peter to pay Paul. So.
But it's fun. You know, you know.
Well, does anyone, what does your agent say? I'm looking at him. He don't like it too much.
He doesn't. I don't like it too much.
But, hey, it's the bad habit that I can get my adrenaline going again. Have you thought about skydiving or anything like that? No.
Not. The only diving I do is like I'll belly flop in a pool.
I'm good at that.

But I don't go to the beats. They don't

allow whales on the beats so I don't go there.

I'm not going to wear a speedo with this gut.

So even though you know the odds

are stacked against you and in the end you'll lose

it's still worth it for the adrenaline run.

Yeah. It's just

a bad habit that I love to do.

But I don't

Thank you. Odds are stacked against you, and in the end you'll lose.
It's still worth it for the adrenaline rush. Yeah.
It's just a bad habit that I love to do. But I don't get markers.
I don't do that crap anymore. What happens? I've always wondered if you're a whale in a casino, and you start losing big, and you can't pay, where does that leave you? That's why I don't get markers anymore.
But what do they do?

Well, you can do a down payment.

As long as you pay something, they're fine with it back in the day.

No threats?

No.

If you don't pay anything, you don't know who's going to come be knocking on your door.

Is that true?

I don't want that to ever happen to me.

No.

It's true.

It can be.

You know people have gotten in trouble in gambling?

A few, yeah.

What happens?

Well, most of them, they go to the legal department.

They get lawyers now.

But can you imagine back in the day what they probably did?

No, I can't imagine.

I think some knees would have been busted up.

Are the odds better in foreign casinos?

Do you play Monte Carlo?

Not any better. It's all the same.

It's all stacked to the house, to the casino itself.

Why do you think they've got so much money?

Do you ever play pie cow?

No, never got into it.

Craps?

A little bit.

When I was bored, I bet nine for some reason all the time on craps.

And I actually did pretty good.

Is there anything you regret from your career? No. Really? No.
We all do stupid things, but that's part of life. The problem is doing them over and over again.
I might regret on some of that stuff I might have done. No, I really don't.
I mean, you know, I think everything is just part of life, what we go through. Not everybody's perfect.
We're all going to make mistakes. But one thing I've always done is I've owned up to mine.
Bud's never had to lie for me. I've never had to lie.
I've never lied. I'll never lie in front of my fans and stuff.
Because if I screw up, I'm going to admit I screwed up. I'm not going to hide it because sooner or later it's going to get out, and then it just makes you look like a liar.
That's pretty much what the administration is right now. No, it's totally right.
Is that why you're still around after all these years and all the drama? You're still popular. You're still working because you didn't lie.
I love people. I love my fans.
I love them to come out and watch me play. It's been disappointing these few years because I've been hurt and I haven't been able to play to my potential.
But they still come out and I love them for it. One thing an athlete, if golfers are athletes, I guess they are now because they work out.
You mean if they're athletes? I don't work out. I put out.
You don't think of yourself as an athlete? No. No.
I mean, the hand-eye coordination required to hit a small ball downrange, doesn't that qualify you as an athlete? Yeah, I guess. I don't know.
I mean, I'm not a guy that's going to go work out after a round or anything like that. I mean, maybe there's been that talk if golfers are athletes, but I will tell you this.
I guess I am because all the swings that we've taken, I'll never forget playing a pro-am. It's 120 degrees in Memphis with Brett Favre.
And we're on the great guy. We're on the 16th hole.
I think it's a par five at the TPC course there, Southwind, and it's hot, and he's miserable, and he's just slow. He looked at me, he says, man, I'd rather have a 350-pound lineman come at me right now than doing this shit.
But it is. We're always battling weather.
We're always playing in different places that the weather is good or bad.

It's a tough sport.

And the swings, the tolls that you take on the – your body takes on the swings that we do.

It catches up.

Oh, yeah.

What's the best course in the United States?

I'm kind of favored – well, Augusta is one of them, of course.

But Forty Pines South is one of my favorites.

Bay Hill was always one of my favorites.

Torrey Pines in La Jolla?

Yeah.

Yeah, I was fortunate to win.

I think it's just a good classic, long, hard golf course.

And it's public.

Yeah, I've always loved Torrey Pines South.

Interesting.

And what was the second one?

Bay Hill, Augusta. Yeah.
There's a ton of them, but those are my three favorites. I always used to love to play for Arnie.
I'd always love going to Bay Hill and play his tournament. Who are your favorite golfers? Well, he's one of them, Jack.
Buzzy Zellers is probably my best friend ever. He took me under his wing when I didn't even have my card.
Really?

Why? I don't know. He just liked me for some reason.

We became great friends and

he was a true friend. You know, these guys

out on tour now, they don't seem

to do that as much as

they used to.

They hang out with each other?

No, just like, you know, like

they talk about who their idols were, but a lot of them didn't hang out with them. You know, down days.
I love hanging out with Fuzzy. I loved hanging out with Arnie.
Just the stories, you know, Bay Hill locker room. You know, there was Thomas Stadler, Mahaffey, me, Fuzzy, Tom Watson, Jack, and I was just sitting there.
You know, some of us were having a cocktail, some were drinking sodas, but they'd sit and tell the stories. So when famous golfers get together over a drink to tell stories, they tell stories about women or golf? A lot of them.
Can you be more specific, Mr. Keefe? No.
That's that lawyer-client privilege. Some of the stories were amazing.
Really? I can't tell them. But just to be a part of looking at legends like that, idolizing these guys, to me it was the greatest time.
And that's probably not just because Bay Hill is such a great golf course, but just sitting with these guys in Arnie's Bar in the locker room. And it's just, to me, that was the ultimate.
And you think that's gone now? I don't see it happening. I don't know.
I haven't played the tour much. You know, they took away, can't play cards in the locker rooms anymore.
So a lot of guys don't hang out in locker rooms anymore. Why can't you play cards in the locker room? I don't know.
The tour just doesn't like us playing cards. Might have been a little gambling going on there.

Well, I would think.

Yeah, but

we couldn't do it. That's kind of

probably when I first came out, I think

that they had stopped it.

Huh.

Last question. The caddy relationship.

How important is that?

Well, it's very important.

I mean, it's got to be your best friend

out there. You've got to

Thank you. relationship.
How important is that? Well, it's very important.

I mean, it's got to be your best friend out there. You got to know the win.

They got to know how far you hit each and every club.

You know, you're putting.

They got to know everything about you.

How good are caddies on average as golfers?

Well, some are great and some are friends that don't help. You know, they're there just to carry the bag.
But some players are fine with that. I'm kind of my own man.
I need help sometimes in the wind. But other than that, I'm pretty much whoever carries it, I don't really need a lot of help.
So you're not taking strategic advice from your caddy? No, I will, but will I listen? Most likely not.

Interesting.

John Daly, it was great to meet you.

You too.

About time.

It's been forever.

It certainly has.

I've been a fan for a long time.

Maybe I'll smoke a cigar in a minute.

Let's do it.