Jack Nicklaus is the most successful golfer of all time but while John Daly didn’t win as many tournaments as the ‘Golden Bear’, it’s fair to say he is one of the most talented golfers to ever swing a club.
Daly‘s career crossed paths with Nicklaus‘ for a very brief period of time from the early 1990s until the end of the century.
When Daly came on the scene he raised some eyebrows with his extraordinary distance off the tee and his carefree approach to the game.
However, Daly was also involved in plenty of controversial incidents throughout his career, including smashing a spectator’s camera against a tree at the Australian Open in 2008.
Despite the trouble that Daly often found himself in, Nicklaus was still a huge fan of his.
Back in 2010, the 18-time major champion praised the ‘Wild Thing’ to the hilt.
Nicklaus said: “John Daly doesn’t care what his golf clubs are. That kid picks up anything and goes hits it. Hits it great. He is a tremendous talent. He never worried about that. Watch what he does. You ask him, what is it. He says, I don’t know, they just gave it to me; I like it. Maybe he is far better off that way. Everybody else knows to the half of degree of everything, I mean, you know, he doesn’t know any of that stuff. He doesn’t care. Just goes and hits it. Pretty good way to be, actually.“
But is Daly just as big a fan of Nicklaus as well?
John Daly admitted what Jack Nicklaus was really like as a playing partner
Daly didn’t play alongside Nicklaus many times, but when he did, something about the great man really stood out to him.
During an interview with golf instructor Mark Crossfield, Daly was asked to give his opinion on some of the legends of the game.
He said: “I got a chance to go round with Gary Player a couple of times back in the early 90s when he was still playing a bit.
“I told him, ‘you go and work out, I guarantee you can work out better than me but I guarantee I can out-drink you’.
“Jack was okay, he was very serious, but he’s… Tom (Watson) was serious but a little bit more relaxed than Jack.
“I got to play with Arnold Palmer in his tournament at Bay Hill one year so I got to play with all the greats, whether it’s competitively or practice rounds, it’s something that a lot of people will never be able to say they did.“
Nicklaus was well known for his incredible focus during tournaments.
The fact that he was serious on the golf course is not a bad thing at all. In fact, it’s one of the reasons why he won so many tournaments throughout his career.
Gary Player described what made Jack Nicklaus so great
Nicklaus’ steely focus and mental fortitude got him over the line numerous times in major championships.
When writing a column for Golf.com in 2020, Gary Player explained exactly why the Golden Bear was so successful throughout his career.
“Jack’s effort at the 1986 Masters Tournament, in my opinion, is the best example of just how fierce the Golden Bear was as a competitor. At 46, nearly everyone in the golf world considered Jack washed up. The “Olden Bear,” I recall hearing. They said he was going bankrupt, and they poked at his personal life; that he needed to go ahead and join Arnold and me on the Senior Tour.
“All the distractions going on behind the scenes would have destroyed most. Many professionals, especially today, would have just withdrawn or not even come to Augusta, thinking they couldn’t play well enough dealing with those personal problems. But Jack learned to deal with adversity early in his career — everyone, and I mean everyone, favored Arnold over Jack, which Jack used as motivation to spark a proverbial fire under the feet of the greatest golfer and competitor our game has ever known. And he needed every fragment of his mental fortitude to properly prepare for the tournament and then go out and execute.
“His overpowering physical tools were nearly gone in his 40s. It was Jack’s mind that made him so successful, and it was still the best in the game — I think he has the greatest mind in the history of golf. That’s why he could physically and emotionally hold up at 46 to win the Masters. That’s why he could focus solely on his goal of winning the tournament while coming from behind.
“The belief in himself is what made Jack special. I recall a brief conversation we had that Saturday in the Champions Locker Room. He was in contention, and obviously I knew he was battling emotions trying to block out all the noise. It was a small gesture, but I looked at him and said, ‘You can do it’. And without missing a beat, he looked me right back in the eye with focus and determination and simply said, ‘I know I can’. Jack was not to be denied.“
Nicklaus’ sheer determination and his unbelievable mental strength were what made him such a fearsome competitor.
And perhaps he doesn’t get enough credit for his incredible mindset.
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