John Daly is a two-time major winner and one of the most compelling figures in PGA Tour history.
Few have had the natural talent Daly had when it comes to being a pro golfer but over the years, Daly enjoyed his life off the course just as much as he did on it which, in turn, may have stopped him winning even more.
However, he still very much knew all about how to win golf tournaments at the top level. Daly had all the shots, plenty of imagination and crucially, he was big off the tee.
How many holes do you think is the perfect number for a round of golf?
Nevertheless, according to Daly himself, being long off the tee is not the be-all and end-all when it comes to winning on the PGA Tour.
What John Daly claimed is the biggest skill a golfer can have
Daly is never one to mince his words and in recent years we’ve been lucky enough to hear from him on a number of different social platforms.
Interestingly, three years ago, Daly appeared on the Full Send podcast and revealed just what he feels is most important for professional golfers.
“Everyone in golf who plays on a professional level, they can hit a driver. They can hit a five iron, a six iron, but it’s 125 and 150 yards and in that means a lot,” Daly explained.
“Nobody ever talks about. No guy that wins a tournament ever says ‘well you know I hit that wedge from out the rough from 122 yards to gimme range’. They talk about the drive they hit to get there or whatever.
“Golf is all about 150 yards and in.”
John Daly’s tip for amateurs to hit driver better
Of course, while Daly talks about the mid-iron and short-game here, he wasn’t too bad at sending one from the tee with driver either.
In fact, Daly has given advice out on hitting driver before as well.
“I don’t think it matters if you have a real quick swing or a real slow swing, but for me it has to be slow on the backswing to set up.
What’s more important to a successful round of golf than being good from 150 yards and in?
“You know, as a pitcher, he gets up and he winds, he’s not putting his foot up real fast, he’s getting that hip up and he’s loading. To me, it’s the same thing in golf.
“Like in baseball, you’re loading on your right. You’ve got to load, and I think a lot of amateurs don’t load.
“To hit a good golf ball, everything is right here, but you’ve got to be able to load. To me, it’s loading the right side and finish on your left.“
Clearly, Daly is a man who knows his golf and had things gone differently, we might well be looking at a man with more than those two major wins to his name.
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