John Daly certainly knew what it took to win major championships, having clinched two titles in his prime.
Now playing on the PGA Tour Champions, Daly won the PGA Championship in 1991 and The Open Championship in 1995.
Daly has, however, since been outshone in that area by many of his fellow American golfers, including Phil Mickelson.
The former was tasked with discussing the latter’s potential long ago, when both were taking on The Masters in 2002.
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John Daly predicted Phil Mickelson to win a major in 2002
It was put to Daly before the tournament started that year at Augusta: “Mickelson has talked about how he is not going to change his style and that he cannot play conservatively, do you think that’s a key in these majors, to winning, knowing when to throttle back?”
He replied: “I’m talking more or less for me, 13 has always been a tough one for me, because the tee is 25 yards back.
“It’s a perfect 3-wood and I can aim at the trees on the right and not go through them. 18 is a perfect 3-wood hole for me because I can’t hit that in the bunkers. So it’s still aggressive.
“I’m going to hit aggressive, it’s just no driver… they have taken eagles… well 2 is definitely not an eagle hole like it used to be, because if I hit driver and miss it right, it’s in that bunker.
“But Phil, the way he’s been playing, he’s won 20 times, and he’s going to win a major. I don’t see why he should change.
“He says he doesn’t have fun if he starts playing real conservative. Everybody knows he’s missed a couple of short putts that’s cost him a lot of tournaments and he knows that.
“He’s one of the best ball strikers, chippers and putters in the world. Like I said last night on Golf Talk Live, if he had won a couple of majors, nobody would be talking about it.
“I don’t see where he should change it. I think he throttles back sometimes. I think there’s holes out here that he is probably not going to hit driver on as well.”
Tiger Woods proves Phil Mickelson right at The Masters in 2002
The major changes to Augusta National dominated the discussion at The Masters in 2002, when nine of the 18 holes were made longer.
The significant renovations were largely aimed at rewarding accuracy off the tees, with Mickelson having been backed to succeed at the new-look course.
It was put to the American beforehand: “Greg Norman says you should have the best chance of anybody with these changes, for the way you can cut it. Do you agree with that?”
Mickelson responded: “Well, that’s nice of him to say. I do feel… I’ve always felt comfortable on this golf course.
“I’ve had a lot of opportunities to win. I feel as though the golf course has set up well for me in the past, and I feel the same this year.
“But again, the player to look at is the No. 1 player ranked in the world, Tiger [Woods]. He’s the guy that everybody has got to watch out for, and given his length and accuracy and distance control, he’s going to be the guy to beat.”
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Intriguingly, both Daly and Mickelson were proven right in their own ways, in the long-term and short-term respectively.
It was indeed Woods who clinched the Green Jacket at Augusta National in 2002, successfully defending his title.
Mickelson was forced to settle for third, but won The Masters in 2004, 2006, and 2010, and is now a six-time major champion.
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