The incredible ball speed John Daly claimed he hit the ball when in his prime which made him even longer than Bryson DeChambeau

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John Daly was the longest player on the PGA Tour for around 15 years, and now Bryson DeChambeau is far and away the longest driver in the game.

Daly, also known as the ‘Wild Thing’, averaged more than 300 yards consistently before new technology made those kind of distances the norm.

Meanwhile, DeChambeau has taken long driving to a whole new level entirely…or has he?

Daly doesn’t seem to think so.

The 59-year-old’s explosive power was highlighted only last month.

Daly hit a persimmon driver from the 1980’s a hugely impressive 275 yards just before a Champions Tour event in April.

Not bad given his age, and constant recent problems with injuries.

Incredible ball speed John Daly claimed he had which made him longer than Bryson DeChambeau

DeChambeau has been averaging over 330 yards on the LIV Golf League this season.

On Saturday, Pat Perez claimed that he has never seen anybody drive the ball like DeChambeau.

However, Daly clearly thinks he was longer than the 31-year-old reigning US Open champion when he was in his prime.

Back in 2022, Daly was speaking on the Full Send Podcast, and he made a truly astounding claim about his ball speed back in the day.

“I looked at the monitor at The Masters last year, and [DeChambeau] was at 200 or 205mph ball speed.

“I remember Nick Faldo was watching him, and I was like, ‘Nick, I was at 220mph’ and that was with the balata ball. I was carrying the ball 330 to 340 with the balata and that’s not even with a driver.“

Not even with the driver? That just sounds like somewhat of a tall story to me.

That isn’t to say that Daly wasn’t immensely long, but a 340 yard carry with a three-wood and a balata ball? That just cannot be right.

How far did Daly actually drive the ball in his prime?

Daly was the longest hitter in the game for a decade at least.

His stats from 1991 all the way through to 2003 highlight just how long he was off the tee.

They are some really impressive numbers. However, his claim that he had a 220 mph ball speed all those years ago is highly dubious to say the least.

He may well have had a ball speed approaching 195-200 mph, considering the balls he was using at the time.

But 220 mph just doesn’t seem viable.

For context, here are DeChambeau’s numbers:

Those averages from the LIV Golf star are extremely impressive as well.

Wouldn’t it have been great if Daly and DeChambeau played in the same era. They would most likely have been neck and neck off the tee, both flying the ball in excess of 320 yards through the air.