John Daly is to professional golf what Dennis Rodman was to the NBA, or what John McEnroe was to tennis.
Don’t be fooled: Daly was an exceptional golfer in his prime – one of the most talented players to have ever graced the PGA Tour in fact.
With two major championships to his name before the age of 30, he had the world at his feet.
Unfortunately for Daly, though, a variety of outside influences prevented him from ever fulfilling his true potential.
His off-course problems often seeped into his performances during tournaments.
Back in 1994, Daly actually ended up in a fist fight with the father of Jeff Roth – one of his competitors at the NEC World Series of Golf.
Daly was banned from the Australian Open back in 2011, after he walked off the golf course mid-round when he supposedly ran out of golf balls.
However, the now 59-year-old did something three years prior to that incident which was arguably far more deserving of a lifetime ban.
What John Daly told a fan after smashing his camera at the Australian Open
South African Tim Clark won the Australian Open in 2008 at Royal Sydney Golf Club, after beating Mathew Goggin in a playoff.
However, the biggest story of the week was Daly’s indiscretion during the tournament.
The American’s opening round at Royal Sydney in 2008 went from bad to worse when he drove his ball into the trees on the final hole on his way to a six-over par 78.
After spectator – Brad Clegg – attempted to take a photo of Daly, the aptly named ‘Wild Thing’ snatched his camera out of his hands and smashed it into a tree trunk.
After smashing the camera into a tree, Daly reportedly told the fan: “You want it back, I’ll buy you a new one.“
Clegg confirmed that the American did indeed offer to buy him a new camera after the round.
While Daly’s behavior was quite clearly not acceptable, he did offer an explanation for his actions.
What John Daly said about the Australian Open camera incident
After finishing his first round in Sydney, Daly received criticism from the media for his involvement in the incident which took place out on the golf course.
However, Daly defended himself, saying: “I was looking to take a drop and the camera was six inches away from my face.
“If I was 10-under-par I would have felt the same. My eyes are still burning from the flash of the camera. I feel it was very rude to put a camera that close to anybody’s face in any situation,“ as quoted by UPI.
The bottom line here is that no matter what happened before, there was no excuse for Daly’s reaction to Clegg’s apparent encroachment.
The sad thing is that the incident in Australia back in 2008 was not a one-off for Daly. There have been many more rule infractions since then from ‘Big John’ but in a strange way, that is why he is so popular with the fans!
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