04/26/24
March 02, 2010
PGA Ordered John Daly to Rehab 7 Times: During his career, golfer John Daly has been ordered into alcohol rehab seven times by the PGA, fined $100,000, cited 21 times for "failure to give best efforts" and cited 11 times for "conduct unbecoming a professional," according to his 456-page personnel file. He also nearly ran over an ATF agent at a U.S. Open security checkpoint and insulted a tour participant's mother at the 1994 World Series of Golf. The file became public because of the spectacularly unsuccessful defamation suit Daly filed in 2005 against Florida Times-Union columnist Mike Freeman. The Times-Union obtained the file as part of its defense of the suit and reported on it for the first time today. "Many of the incidents detailed in Daly's Tour file involve alcohol-fueled misconduct," the paper reported.
Why would the paper that he sued time its story to help his show?
posted by rcade at 08:46 PM on March 02, 2010
I have no idea, but doesn't it seem odd that of all the days to break their story they picked today? Maybe they thought his show would give their story more visibility. It's not like they had no idea his show was going to air today. I'm sure their TV guide section has the show listed. Seeing as how they had this information for a while makes me wonder about the timing.
posted by dviking at 09:34 PM on March 02, 2010
Seven times?! The guy has a problem. Where I used to work they only gave you 3 times and then out the door.
And I like John Daly. I am always drawn to the "bad boy", the noncomformist, the one who pushes the rules, but seven times? Maybe AA would help.
posted by steelergirl at 09:53 PM on March 02, 2010
As to the reason he's still around after 7 times...the article states that he's still one of the most popular golfers on the tour.
posted by dviking at 09:57 PM on March 02, 2010
Makes me curious as to what else is locked up in the PGA's files of shame.
posted by BoKnows at 10:35 PM on March 02, 2010
Any first-year law student knows that truth is an absolute defense to defamation liability. The jackass who brought the case on behalf of Daly should be disbarred.
posted by tahoemoj at 10:50 PM on March 02, 2010
I am always drawn to the "bad boy", the noncomformist, the one who pushes the rules
He's just a good looking loner who plays by his own rules.
*Sigh*
posted by owlhouse at 12:08 AM on March 03, 2010
"I'm a loner, Dottie. A rebel."
posted by BoKnows at 01:22 AM on March 03, 2010
Yes, BoKnows, nothing says rebel like a bulb honker horn for you bicycle! : )
posted by steelergirl at 06:44 AM on March 03, 2010
It's pretty amazing how many chances Daly has been given by the PGA. I'd love to hear how the seventh "we're ordering you to rehab" meeting went with the commissioner. "This time we mean business, buddy!"
posted by rcade at 08:09 AM on March 03, 2010
I don't use Twitter to respond directly to celebrities very often, but I made an exception for Daly and told him this: "Garry Smits did the right thing by covering your personnel file. Your libel suit against his colleague was bogus."
I also emailed Smits. As a local resident and reader of his paper, I'm glad he covered the story. Mike Freeman didn't write anything in his column about Daly that was defamatory -- I think there was one minor slip where he said something was plural when it happened once. But overall, it was just Freeman's opinion about the many inappropriate things Daly has done over the years.
There is one thing I will grant, though. Daly's a lot more human and down-to-earth than Tiger Woods. I can see why that appeals to some people as much as it does.
posted by rcade at 11:39 AM on March 03, 2010
It's pretty amazing how many chances Daly has been given by the PGA. I'd love to hear how the seventh "we're ordering you to rehab" meeting went with the commissioner. "This time we mean business, buddy!"
It was probably the same as the conversations MLB had with Steve Howe.
posted by grum@work at 12:46 PM on March 03, 2010
Rogers, if you were the ME of the Jacksonville paper and sports wanted to run this story on the exact same day Daly's new show starts, you wouldn't have looked at it and thought, "I dunno ... doesn't it make us look petty and vindictive?"
Because it makes the paper look petty and vindictive.
posted by wfrazerjr at 12:49 PM on March 03, 2010
Daly's a lot more human and down-to-earth than Tiger Woods. I can see why that appeals to some people as much as it does.
I can't see that. Daly's long history of getting no more than a slap on the wrist from the Tour, given his lack of respect for the game and the Tour's sponsors, is far more disturbing to me than Tiger's marital transgressions. John is at an age when many players in recent history have played quite well, and if he can't make the grade as a player now, then he will have no one else to blame but himself for the train wreck he has become. He has been given more second chances than anyone deserves, been bailed out of his gambling debts by well meaning people, been mollycoddled and spoonfed ever since he won the PGA in '91, and I for one have no sympathy for his latest claim that financial pressure doesn't allow him to focus on his game. The Nationwide Tour is full of players who would love to get the sponsors exemptions he is getting.
Suck it up, Daly. I'm pretty sure Tiger will.
posted by mjkredliner at 01:10 PM on March 03, 2010
Because it makes the paper look petty and vindictive.
A reality series on the Golf Channel is small time. The story helps get attention for the show. Smits is a well-respected golf writer in the PGA's hometown. All three factors make it hard for me to believe the paper was timing the story to be vindictive. My guess is that the paper's lawyers and/or editors sat on it for a while and Smits finally got the go-ahead.
posted by rcade at 01:28 PM on March 03, 2010
Releasing a story with information you've had for a longgggg time on the exact day the guy you're slagging has a new show debuting goes a lot farther for me in explaining the paper's motive than Smits' credibility or sheer coincidence. It could have easily been avoided by either going sooner or waiting a bit longer, and now whether intentional or not, some readers will view the timing as douchebaggery.
As for small-time, I would offer that being the golf writer at the Jacksonville paper falls more easily into that category than being the focus of a reality show on a television network.
posted by wfrazerjr at 02:25 PM on March 03, 2010
Now you're just taking shots. Garry Smits is a golf journalism institution in a town that's home to the Players Championship, the World Golf Hall of Fame and the PGA headquarters. He's been a sportswriter for 31 years. I said a Golf Channel reality show was small time, not Daly himself. The most-watched show on that channel gets around 400,000 viewers.
Releasing a story with information you've had for a longgggg time ...
You don't know how long the editorial side of the paper had the file. Some papers would have walled off a lawsuit like that from their reporters. When AP was threatening the Drudge Retort over the copyright dispute, the AP reporter covering the story hit me up for information on what AP execs were saying. None of them were talking to him.
posted by rcade at 02:53 PM on March 03, 2010
There is one thing I will grant, though. Daly's a lot more human and down-to-earth than Tiger Woods.
Wow. Really? Apart from the fact that the article makes it clear that he's an out of control drunk asshole, this fact jumped out at me: The PGA Tour cited him 21 times for "failure to give best efforts," during Tour events. That sounds like a quitter to me. And isn't that, as an athlete, the worst thing you can do.
You can say what you want about Tiger's personal life. But "failure to give best efforts" during tour events has never been one of them.
As for Daly: I think This says it all.
posted by cjets at 04:04 PM on March 03, 2010
I don't know much about how the PGA works but I don't understand what difference a players personal life makes. I mean if you can booze it up all night, be a fall down drunk and still qualify to make the cut, why should the PGA have any say. I often feel like sports governing bodies should just deal with behavior on the course or field, and allow the law to deal with behavior off the field. Since there is no law against being an alcoholic, why should the PGA have any say if an alcoholic can still make the cut. If drinking keeps him from performing up to the qualifying standards than he won't play. If his behavior on the course is detrimental to the game then ban him.
Obviously Tiger Woods can party and bang hookers a lot and still maintain his competency on the golf course, therefore it seems to be none of the PGA's business. I think his family and his sponsors have to decide what they will tolerate and what they won't, but the PGA doesn't have a right to. I also don't think legally they can't prevent a golfer from earning a living based on what they do away from the events, if they still qualify by an objective criteria.
That said I think any sports league governing body ie NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, NASCAR, PGA. WCT etc should be able to institute a rule that bans convicted felons from participating in their sanctioned events as long as they enforce it equally and in all cases. Just a thought.
posted by Atheist at 04:05 PM on March 03, 2010
Prior to this story I had no recollection of Garry Smits. I had watched the Golf Channel, and I knew Daly had a show starting this week.
As to the editorial side of the Times-Union, I have no idea how long they had the story, but if it's more than a week I'd say their decision to run the story when they did is suspect.
posted by dviking at 04:14 PM on March 03, 2010
Geez, Daly and Woods. Drinking, womanizing! What do you think golf is? Politics?
posted by Joey Michaels at 04:45 PM on March 03, 2010
hmmm...this breaks on the same day as his new show "Being John Daly" premiers. Coincidence? Does anything in the media happen by coincidence?