Daly captures attention of Melbourne
BY Bruce Young | Australasian PGA Tour | 2008 Australian Masters | General | 27 Nov 2008
Irrespective of what John Daly does or doesn’t do between now and the final round of the 2008 Sportsbet Masters, he has already repaid the tournament organisers many times over.
Daly is here on a sponsor’s invite to which he is entitled due to his major champion status. Essentially he can accept as many invitations as he wants in European Tour events and with this event being co-sanctioned between the Australasian and European Tours, he is here on his merits.
Whether or not John Daly received appearance money for being in the field is now almost irrelevant. His contribution to the event in terms of the publicity he has generated has been well beyond even the wildest expectations of those who had the vision to involve him in the event.
On every television news service in Melbourne this morning the lead story surrounding the Masters wasn’t about whether Robert Allenby or Stuart Appleby would win the event but rather about the candid nature of John Daly’s press conference yesterday. It was there that he opened up about the issues he has and the fact that he is now planning on playing more in Europe to develop some momentum in his game.
“On our (USPGA) Tour it is hard for me because I am getting in on exemption just here and there and having a week or two off,” said Daly in his post Pro-Am press conference.
“I have decided I will probably play the European Tour all of next year. Any tournament I have won around the world it has three or four weeks that I have played to build momentum before hand to get some rhythm going and confidence in my game. I can’t do what Tiger does. He’ll play one tournament and take four weeks off. He will win. It is amazing how he does that but each to his own. I’m better off not being as fresh as Tiger is every week.”
Whatever anyone thinks about a player such as John Daly being given more chances than most – and opinions are still divided – there is little doubting the role he has played in a greater awareness of the event’s existence than would have been the case if we were relying on the Allenby’s and Appleby’s of this world to do so.
That is meant as no disrespect to either of the two favourites in the event but, whether it is right or wrong, the game at this level of tournament is as much about personalities as it is results.
“I’ll get through anything people will throw at me,” added Daly referring to the amount of focus on his personal life. “I’m a fighter, I’m a survivor. I have done a lot of stupid things but I take responsibility for it. We’ve got to live it and get through it. My main goal is to try and get my golf game back.”
By Sunday most of the attention will be on the winner and it may be by then that Daly is long gone from the memory. Many of those who have taken interest in the event or who area at Huntingdale to witness the finish however may well have been attracted here initially by the enigma that is John Daly.
