John Daly once predicted if he would outdrive Bryson DeChambeau with modern day golf equipment

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John Daly was by far the longest hitter in professional golf during his prime and now Bryson DeChambeau can lay claim to that accolade.

Daly burst onto the scene back in 1991 when he won the PGA Championship at Crooked Stick and then he stunned the golfing world yet again by winning The Open Championship in 1995 at St Andrews.

The now 59-year-old instantly endeared himself to the fans due to his carefree, affable nature and down-to-earth attitude.

The same can’t really be said about DeChambeau, unfortunately.

The 32-year-old now plays on LIV Golf and although he does have a huge online following, traditionalists in the game aren’t huge fans of him.

Interestingly, Daly actually backed the likes of DeChambeau and co after they joined LIV Golf back in June 2022.

The Wild Thing has also spoken about DeChambeau individually, specifically whether or not he would be able to outdrive him with modern-day equipment.

John Daly predicted if he would outdrive Bryson DeChambeau

Daly once claimed his ball speed was faster than DeChambeau’s, although that can in no way be proven.

So who would hit the ball further off the tee if both golfers were in their prime, while using the same equipment?

Daly has given his opinion on the matter.

When speaking on the Full Send Podcast in 2022, Daly was asked to give his opinion on DeChambeau’s immense power off the tee.

He said: “What Bryson is doing is phenomenal, but most tournaments I played in I hardly ever hit a driver.

“In my prime I hit 1-irons, a PING 1-iron. I would fly that thing 300 yards. I’d even cut that thing 280 [yards] into par 5s.

“The golf ball is so easy [to hit] now, it’s so straight. I mean, no disrespect to the guys out there today, Tiger [Woods] would agree.

“You put a balata ball in hands of Bryson…“

He was then asked whether he would be able to outdrive DeChambeau in his prime if he used the modern day golf ball.

Daly replied: “Oh by far I would… I’m the straightest long hitter that ever lived.

“I don’t brag but Tom Watson said that.“

John Daly’s driving distances in his prime vs Bryson DeChambeau

Daly’s raw and completely natural power was entirely untrained.

Here are his average driving distances on the PGA Tour from 1991 through until 2003:

Those distances are seriously impressive considering the equipment Daly would have been using.

Here are DeChambeau’s numbers from the last six seasons for comparison:

Now, DeChambeau has obviously enjoyed the benefit of using golf balls and drivers with far superior technology than Daly did.

We will never know, but judging by Daly’s average driving distance in the 1990s and early 2000s, maybe he would have been longer than DeChambeau had he been born 25 years later.