John Daly
2023-12-13 00:37:05
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One of the great ironies of living in a world that fetishizes diversity is how similar everybody is. Everybody in charge is exactly the same. They have the same opinions, they wear the same clothes, they even look the same physically.
So when you see somebody in the public eye who doesn't look the same, it tends to kind of stick out and you don't forget it. If you've watched professional golf anytime in the last 35 years, you may have noticed golfer, golfer, golfer, golfer, guy smoking Marlboro red, golfer, golfer. Who is that guy? And that, of course, is one of the most famous golfers in the history of golf, John Daly. Who doesn't look or act, or think like pretty much anyone else who plays the game. So we thought it'd be really interesting to sit down with him and find out what he's like. He joins us on set.
John Daly It's an honor to have you here, honored to see you too. Are you kidding? So you've played? You said you started at Arkansas, like 40 years ago.
Yeah, so you're still playing, yeah, older.
But I play the champions, sir. We have a blast, yeah.
It's one sport you can play all your life.
All your life, do you ever think of yourself as like the one guy who doesn't seem like everybody?
Else on tour kind of fit that mold, you know, I didn't have really a pot to piss in when I grew up. Where'd you grow up in? A little town called Darnell?
We had nine holes in Arkansas, Darnell, Arkansas, and we had nine holes. And I'd wait in the ponds in the first hole and throw the good balls to the club and take the old balls. I wasn't old enough to play the courts.
So on Sundays, I could go out and play, some of the members would let me play with them, but I learned how.
To play on a baseball field just right down from my house. How did you pick golf? Was your dad a?
Golfer I saw it on TV, my dad played a little bit, but it wasn't his a game sport. But, you know, I just fell in love with it. Watching it on TV. Were you good at it right away?
I was kind of natural at it, but I'd learned. Jack Lifford came out with these golf digest lessons. He taught me how to grip it, how to hit a cut, how to hit a hook. And so when I learned, I'd sit on home plate, grip it, and I'd hit a cut to the right field, I'd hit a straight shot to the center. Hit a draw to the left, flop, shot to the pitcher's mound chip and runs to the first base. Third base, flop, shot to second base, flop shots over second base. I mean, I just learned it from a cartoon that he did back in the early seventies.
That's how I learned the interlock and grip, everything from Jack Lifford. So you didn't grow up in a country club? No, no, it was a nine-hole.
Club I played there and we lived there for a long time. As I grew up. I just fell in love with the place. It's very quiet, peaceful there. What did your parents think?
I was pretty much played all sports, played football, basketball, baseball, everything but the one thing I loved about golf. You didn't have to run in it. I'm very flat-footed, I couldn't run for anything.
Trying to play football as a field goal kicker, and I could throw it a mile, I just couldn't run. I was fortunate to kick football at Elias High School, where I kind of finished my two and a half years of kick football at Elias High School. In Jeff City, Missouri, and finished up in Arkansas to get in-state tuition in Arkansas, How long were you in Arkansas? Three years and then you went pro.
Yeah, how was it then? For professional golfers like before, it's tough, back then it was all state open.
You didn't have the Corn Ferry Tour, you didn't have these tours. I ended up playing. My first tournament was Missouri State Open, it was in August. I think of 87. I borrowed $300 from my mom, paid the entry fee, won the tournament, won $6,800 and never looked back.
I tried to get mom.
To take it and do what you got to do with it, so you've never had any other job. No, I had to clean carts and stuff and pick up range balls. No, I mean, as an adult, once you left college, No.
You still like it. I love it, I love to play, I love it, but when you're hurt and things you know you just can't play this game hurt.
Basically, the last seven years, I've had both knees done, both feet done, I've had shoulder problems, I've had back problems. You know, I got diagnosed with bladder cancer four years ago, so right now it's benign. But you know you just, it's part of getting old.
And you know, when I can't, you know, everybody knows me saying this. They think I'm full of, you know what? But I do like to practice, but when you can't, that's what sucks. I'm more of a. I like to go out and hit 500 wedges, you know, I don't sit on a driving range, I like to hit into greens and stuff.
I'm kind of a player practice guy, but when you can't do that to your ability, it's tough to compete. Because these guys on the Champions Tour and all over the world are so good, they're unbelievably good.
I think one of the reasons people are mesmerized by you, and have always been, is because clearly you're succeeding through natural talent. I mean, it's not like, what are we looking at here? Just to give the audience some perspective. This is right. So this is what you would consume over 18 holes.
Well, I used to. I drink a lot of John Daly Good Boys.
What is that is that health drink?
No, no, it's my sweet tea, lemonade, vodka. I can't drink it while I play, but I drink a lot of it.
But you still have, like, played at the highest level.
Yeah, yeah, I still play the British Open, I'm still in that till I'm 60 in the PGA till I'm 65. Regular ones.
I guess what I mean. You see some athletes and you feel like they were trained from birth, almost like the Soviet bloc used to do in the Olympics.
Oh yeah, well, look at Michelle Wee, what a great human being she is. I mean, her pop was on her. I mean, I remember we played at the beautiful, uh, Nimma Cullen Woodlands, you know, Joe Hardy's place. Maggie's 84 number.
And I was fortunate enough. When she came out, everybody said how long she was. And Maggie set it up where I could play nine holes with her. What a great girl, but she hit balls seven hours before she played nine holes.
I would have had to get the stretcher, I had to hit that many balls for seven hours. That's the mentality of the game. Now. Guys work and they work, and they work, and all of them have teachers and psychiatrists, and, you know, their food.
Guy, food, girl, whatever.
They have psychiatrists.
Yeah, they all have. Yeah, I just never. I grew up taking golf serious, but not taking it that serious. You know, when we Fuzzy Zeller, Tom Watson, Arnie Jack and all of us, you know, we. We go, we go play a practice round, we go to the bar and have a drink.
All these guys go work out well, we'd hit some balls, but maybe hit some puz. But then we go to the bar and have a drink, go to dinner, wasn't going to work out and all this stuff. It's a 10 hour day job for all these guys.
That's what they put themselves through.
There's something kind of cool and old fashioned about the man who doesn't do that, who doesn't have a problem pausing for a cigarette mid-game and still wins.
Well, it's been a while, but you know, I still compete.
Was there ever a point when you thought I'm getting out, I can't do this anymore?
Yeah, I think a lot of us go through that. You know, you're not playing good. I mean, these last seven years have been tough. I really have not played one Champions Tour a hundred percent, and I was fortunate to win Houston, I think, in 2016. But, you know, just trying to be healthy, giving yourself a chance to compete really well is what you want. But, you know, I finally got to. I've had both knees done full replacements and this will be the first year I've actually been able to have two good knees.
So hopefully 24, without any other stupid crap, maybe I could actually get through a year without limping.
Are you sick of being on tour?
No, I love the game, I love to compete, but I just want to compete the way I know I can compete.
So when you're playing on tour, do you like go to dinner with the other players at night?
A lot of times, yeah, a lot of us hang out on the championships.
So you're open in your politics, you're pretty direct about it.
Yeah, worst common sense in our country.
Do you think you've got the majority of you among golfers?
Yeah, I think all of us on the tours and everything, we all want Daddy Trump back.
Really, why?
Because he was a great president, he's a great guy once you get to know him. I've known him since the early 90s and it was funny. I can't remember the tournament. He flew his helicopter and we played a pro-am. We went out back, we talked a little bit and when he stood up, he says, Mark my words, I'll be president of the United States.
This is back in 92, 93, 94, maybe.
How did you believe him?
I did, I did interesting.
Unbelievable smart individual that people got to get behind him. You've got to do something.
So, but among professional golfers, that's like a pretty common view.
No doubt. How's his golf? How would you assess it?
I got to work with his chip in a little bit, but he hits it good, he puts it good. um, we just got to work on his chip.
What's wrong with the chip?
He just, I keep telling him, you got to move the ball up. Everybody thinks when you chip, you got to move it back. You actually need to move it up a little bit. If I don't see him for a while, it goes back to that bad habit again.
So when you correct him.
Oh, he chips it like a tiger or Phil.
So why not be like full-time Trump golf coach?
I don't think he has time to play that much golf.
He does seem serious about it.
Oh, he loves it, he's passionate about it, but he what I love about him, he plays quick. We'd go out play golf, we could have an eights in with him and we're done in three hours.
Really, he don't mess around.
The Clinton cheating golf. Is that true?
Oh yeah, I mean, Bill would. He would take the club back and say, Oh shit, give me another ball. Before he even hit the first one, he'd throw another one down, but he never kept score, I mean.
Did you ever play with him?
Yeah, I had to play with him one time.
What'd you think?
He needs to take up tennis.
He's horrible, really, yeah.
What about Obama?
I didn't play with him, I never, never got to meet him or play with him.
But Clinton's that bad. But he loved it, right?
Yeah, that's okay. I mean, hey, there's a lot of people that never get it, they're never good at it, but they love it. Keep playing, if it's something you love to do and go out and do it, it's a great game.
Uh, but you know, these guys, they don't have the time to really work on their game and do the things they want to. A lot of them were running the country, you know, some did a good job, some did a shitty job. We all know who did a great job.
You think Trump's going to win?
He needs to win, I pray to God.
Why?
Just for the satisfaction of bringing our country back together. Get some common sense going in there again. And you know, look what he did for years, how great was our country for years now, look at it.
No secure borders, patients out of the roof. I mean, what the hell happened? where did it go? I mean, I was loving the four years that Daddy Trump was in, and it's all gone to hell in two years, three years.
What happened?
Did you see it? Did you see it coming?
We all did, and when Biden got elected, I definitely saw a lot of corporate people that were around launch our tournaments. Yeah, they knew it was going to happen.
Have they ever leaned on you to shut up?
No, why would they? It's free speech.
Well, cause in every, I mean, if you're in the NBA, you can't have your opinions.
Oh, that's their problem, that's stupid. They should they, you know? When they were kneeling national anthems and all that it was, that was kind of telling us to, you know, telling America to kiss, kiss her ass, yeah.
I mean, what, what was that all about?
You tell me.
I'd like to know, cause I don't understand. Our football players were kneeling, that's not them. And you know, I'll never forget one game in the NFL. There was the the Steeler guy that that served was the only one that came out of the locker.
Yeah.
I don't know. I think it was obvious that certain people wanted Americans to hate their own country, and so they used sports figures to send that message. Your country's embarrassing, it's immoral.
Give it the finger, hate it, you know?
So much power athletes have. Yeah, be able to go that. I don't know if it's that left or just that stupid, I don't know.
Well, they're being used.
Yeah, but then they're the ones who are looking like idiots doing it.
But you never felt that in golf at all.
No, not with our guys, we're. We believe in the American flag, we believe in our freedoms, and we believe in what, you know, we. We travel probably more than any athlete on the universe, and we have to show our passport, we have to get pieces and look at our border. We're just coming in truckloads, and the Biden's administration has done nothing but says, Oh, the border, it's under control.
There's 7 million people whose identities we don't know living here.
And what they say in his term there's over. I don't know how many of that they found, that were felons, or they were terrorist or whatever, more than any other president.
Why do you think they're doing that?
Both votes.
All he wants is both, he just wants to stay in office.
Do you think they're going to make the illegals into voters?
I heard they given him voter cards and anything anyway. They come in. I don't know if it's true, but that's what I've heard.
Yeah.
I would think that's the only why, why? Why else would they let them in? What is the reason Democrats want all these people to come in free? And I got a guy that plays our senior trail, miss his name. Been here forever, one majors on the tour and couldn't get a visa, really.
Yeah, but yet you're letting all these illegals come in, giving them whatever they want.
Makes no sense to me, but there's got to be a reason.
I don't know any other reason.
I don't know.
And that happened, like, instantly second Biden got there.
Yeah.
And no one says anything about it.
I feel bad for Arizonians, the good Californians, Texans, I mean that whole board, and I mean, I feel bad for the farmers and everybody. I mean, you see it every day, I mean the stories, these cutting their fences, raiding their homes.
I mean, why, why? why would? The president has a taste but that? But these people do that to our own Americans.
Maybe if you hated the country and wanted to destroy it, you would do that.
Well, apparently what we've got up there right now, they must hate our country.
You think there's a chance Trump could win with a system like the one we have?
I don't know, I'm looking at Iowa, I'm looking at some of these states that are changing that are kind of wanting to vote for him.
All I know is I hope he wins, I'll have his back. I like that, he's one of the greatest human beings I've ever met. The family's awesome.
Once you get to know them, they're just good hearted people. And he only wants to help Americans, he doesn't want anything out of it, he wants to protect our country. Which I think Putin never would have invaded Ukraine, and I don't think I'm going to attack Israel like they did if Trump was in office.
I truly believe that.
I think there's probably something to that.
I brought you some cigars, by the way.
You make cigars.
Yeah, my buddies in New York, it's a Dominican, they're handmade. I got the shorts, I call it a short game, and I call the longs a long game.
Do you think that tobacco helps your game?
It relaxes me, it's a relief.
I mean, that's kind of your signature on the course. Is a is a Marlboro?
Well, it takes us a while to play, so usually a pack around.
Have you ever been under pressure not to do it on the course?
No, the tour has been pretty good. I mean, there's been places that we go when there's there's a drought or whatever. They said you can't smoke, but I get these little things, I never throw one on the ground. What is that?
It's a little pouch that you put them in. This was a little older, I got some new ones, but it's what the fire department wear. Oh, you just stick it in there, throw it in there, put it in your pocket.
When you own a golf course and you see cigars and cigarettes on your green, yeah, they get the green mowers. It kind of is, yeah, I believe that.
You think Tiger Woods would be better if he smoked?
I feel bad he's hurt, but.
You beat him hungover.
I was still drunk, actually.
But yeah, that was a funny story. When and where?
That was at Sherwood, early 2000s, it was the. It was only like 12 or 15 pros, but we didn't play too good the first day. And I'm sitting there with all my buddies. One is Chris Legu, he's been a sponsor of mine since then.
And I was like, 94, it had to be 94.
It's been a long time ago and we have the round table at Sherwood. And I got my bottle of Jack Daniels then. And all our guys. I just meet these guys, right? Chris Legu is a car dealer in Ontario, California.
We became good friends. He's been sponsoring me since then. Well, Tiger came in and I go t come have a drink with us, man, come on, nah, I'm going to go hit some balls.
Two hours later, we're still in there. T..W Come on, man, come have a drink with us. Nah, I'm going to go work out and this is going on for about five or six hours.
We're still there, just pounding, getting drunk, having a good time. I got a sponsorship out of it, which I was happy. And T.W comes out in a suit, the Tux.
And I go, Where are you going? He goes, Wait, I got a guitar on stage for you. Um, you got to go to the dinner. I didn't know anything about a dinner, I mean, Bud didn't even know about a dinner.
He always tells me when there's a dinner, he says, you got to go. I'm still in golf shoes. I got no shoes on. I mean, I got my golf shoes off, I'm barefooted.
I got my shirt tucked out, I got shit spilled all over me and, uh, I said, all right.
Reeking of Jack Daniels and Marlboro.
Oh yeah, just drunk. And he's played a trick on me. So the ballroom wasn't very far, so I stumbled over there. There's a chair and there's a guitar, but it had nylon strings, like Willie plays, right.
He didn't know. You get your phone and you can, little guitar tuner tune it up. I did knock it on Heaven's door, got a standing ovation, I said, I'll see you guys tomorrow.
TLC Early in the morning, we tee off. My caddy was drunk with us.
So there's only two times I've ever drank on a golf course one. I had a few course bites. We had a long way, played the back nine at Riviera, we had a long way. I downed four or five course lights.
I was playing like, shit, and, uh, there's like four groups. Raise the tee off on the front, I'd down those two, four or five under on that side and make the cut. I got to finish in third, but the funny thing about Tiger was when I got on the tee, I had my caddy.
Bring me a crown or a jack, a coat, and he's carrying the bag. If you've never played true with the first hole, he's walking and walking through all the cactuses and stuff, going down the hill. Not to spill my drink, I grabbed my three iron and go on the tee. Make a long story short, I shoot like 65.
Tiger shot like 71.
He just shook his head the whole day.
That's incredible.
That's fun.
So we did, wasn't the lesson you should drink more in the golf course?
Well, no, I'm not saying you should, but you know, I, I've only done it twice, but there was only that one drink. Yeah, I don't think I think the statute of limitations are up for fine.
Oh so oh, is there? You're not allowed to do that.
No, like the Pro-ams on our Tour Champions Tour, you can have a few in the Pro-ams. Yep, but no, you can't drink.
Would you change that if you could?
Hell yeah, probably play better.
Do you play like in your private life after with the beer?
I drink these, yeah, I drink a little bit of, I drink a good boy vodka, I like to drink it straight with a little diet coke on the side.
You drink the vodka straight with diet coke, like a diet coke chaser.
Yeah, all right, drink good boy vodka now chase it with this.
You make your own vodka.
Yeah, Alex Pratt owns it. We got a lot of great, great friends and investors, and we're really, we're in a lot of stores now.
We're in Kroger, Walmart, Circle K just took us on a lot of local and Florida. We started in Florida. We're Key West all the way to Jacksonville. Circle K. Um, Kroger's huge in Kentucky, uh, we're in about 26 states now.
Total wine ABC has been wonderful. Yeah, this is going to be my true retirement for my kids.
How many kids do you have?
Four I know of.
Have there been hints that you have others?
No, no, not yet, Bud would have told me if I did.
Your agent keeps track of the paternity claims.
Pretty much, yeah, no. I got three beautiful kids, blood, and then I got an honest child that she's been with me since she was two. I feel like she's mine.
Are any of them golfers?
Little John Place for the University of Arkansas. We won the PNC a couple of years ago. We're going to hopefully get it and we finished second last year, Hopefully we're going to do good this year.
Does it surprise you that Arkansas, which was always kind of insecure Arkansas, is now like this popular state? The property values are dramatically higher and people are moving to Arkansas?
Yeah, I mean, Fable is one of the, probably one of the Darnell fable. A lot of towns in Arkansas are voted, and that population number one, number two safest place to live. yeah, fable Arkansas is just you.
Come see our campus. It is unbelievable. Our sports stuff is bar none, this football is just as big as NFL. The stuff that we have for these kids are basketball, musclemen coach Warren Baseball.
I mean, every sports ranked, we just got to get football back.
Don't happen. What did you make of live golf?
I think it's great. I mean, I, I would have played it.
Why the hostility?
That's something that, you know, I was hoping that pinch him and say, Okay, look, guys, you play your 15 tournaments, go play. No, we're we. We have to play 15 on the regular Tour and I think 11 and 12 on the Champions Tour. Once you do that, then let us go play wherever we want.
You know, I think golf's a growing game, and you know, I'm not going to sit here and deny. I didn't get paid to go play your. I got paid a lot of money to go play European events. What's the difference? No, it's no difference, but uh, you know, uh, I think golf's a growing game.
I think lives looks like it's a lot of fun.
Yeah.
I would be perfect. They have concerts, the guys have fun, they can wear shorts, you know, pro amp like.
We can now like, ride around a cart. I mean, it's almost like playing the Champions Tour. Yeah, three days of golf, no cut. But we'll say that Lips got a little bigger purses than we do on the Champions.
Yeah.
It's good to win $4 million, $4 million for playing 54 holes, that's pretty good.
I'm not going to math, that's a lot.
And then you got your team, you win your team. I think it's 900, that's 3.6 million, you get 900 extra thousand.
Your team wins, is it true?
Someone once told me that guys on the PGA Tour can actually wind up in the red at the end of the tour. And transportation costs, like some people on the tour, lose money.
Oh yeah, and that's one thing that, uh, Jay Monahan did. I think if you've got your tour card, you're guaranteed to get 500 grand. I think, but I think you're, you're, you're rolling with it, yeah.
I think they give you 500 grand, no matter what you get your card, I think now you get 500 grand. Which didn't pay your expenses easily for a.
Year, but some of the people are not making big money.
No, no, you lose your card. In one 26 to one 50, you might get a few, uh, but after one 50 you're, you're kind of on your own.
I read that you lost a ton gambling.
Yeah.
How'd you do that?
That's fun.
What kind of gambling?
It was blackjack back in the day, you know, you could play seven, you play all seven hands and they've changed, and now you can only play three. So I'm glad they did, cause I quit blackjack and I just play slot.
Have you ever won a slot?
Yeah, really yeah.
How much do you think you lost in blackjack?
Probably lost over 90 million, probably one over 57.
So 39, 40, 50..
Seriously.
Yeah.
You don't sound better.
I did it, got to get over it, move on.
What casinos did you lose?
Everywhere I love Vegas, I went to a lot of them, you know, that's a great contract, good marker.
Anyway, a million here, a million there, a million there.
What's the most you let ride on the hand?
Probably around 400, 400 to 550,000.
From one hand, yeah.
I had a splits and double downs, all that.
Did you win it?
Sometimes, sometimes a lot more lost than I want.
I think it's supposed to work out.
But you talk about some of the drilling now.
Really.
That's how people do it.
I mean, 20,000, that's 140,000 up right there, so you get double downs and splits, shit adds up quick.
Did you play the odds, like, play the card, I mean, or did you go by gut?
A lot of times, if you've got a feeling you're on a roll, sometimes I would hit a hard 12 12.
Yeah, I would not hit it. Because, you know, you see a bunch of pictures on there. And I'm thinking, it's gotta be just give me anything less than a 10, right? I don't care if it's a two.
And most times I do that with Greg, but um, they say, don't hit on 12.
I know six or less is showing, but unless it's an eight, but um.
So you would play by intuition sometimes.
Yeah.
And do you think that worked better or not as well?
A buddy of mine said It's all feel, you know you, you know, a two-decker goes really fast, yeah, so you really can't get in the rhythm. You do a six-deck shoot and you get on a run. Oh, that's a home run. But it only happens about one out of every 10 times.
So what's the most you won in one night?
I won 3.
2 3.
3 million on Slots Valley's One Night.
What'd you do that night after I sit with a buddy of mine that was repping, you know, Made or? Tyler said, time model, and it was for me and Sherry got married. And I went to a $25 machine, it was a 10 time machine and hit two tens and a red seven. I go $75 360 grand. He immediately went to the 500,000 and kept hitting 80,000, a hundred thousand.
It was the greatest night I've ever had. Where was that in Vegas?
Did you cash out and walk out?
Actually, I took it and paid off markers and other casinos, I got out of there free, though, I got out of there.
That's like signing up for a new credit card to pay off the other ones.
Exactly Robin Peter to pay Paul.
Did you still go to Vegas?
Yeah, I go there, but I don't gamble like I used to, I love playing the slots. You know, if you come off the road three or four weeks, you just tired. I just want to sit there in front of machine, smoke cigarettes, drink John Daly's and hopefully hit a jackpot. I go to the Hard Rock in Tampa.
I love it, hit the hit my machine 240 grand twice in the last week.
And this week, last week.
Yeah, 240 grand.
Seriously.
Twice, which doesn't happen often.
What'd you put into it to get that?
Probably 150.
I mean, who knows you said you're Robin Peter to pay Paul?
But it's fun, no?
Well, what does your agent say? I'm looking at him.
No, he, he don't like it too much, he doesn't. I don't like it too much, but hey, it's the bad habit that I get my drilling going again.
Just to have you thought about skydiving or anything like that.
No, not knowing diving I'll do is like a belly flop in a pool. I'm good at that, but I don't go to the beach. They don't allow whales on the beach, so I don't go there.
I'm not going to wear a Speedo with this gut.
So even though you know the odds are stacked against you and in the end you'll lose, it's still worth it for you, yeah.
Yeah, it's just a bad habit that I love to do, but I don't do, I don't get markers, I don't do that crap anymore.
What happens? I've always wondered if you're a whale in a casino and you start losing big and you can't pay, like, what? Where does that leave you?
That's why I don't get markers.
But like, what do they do?
Well, that you can do a down payment as long as you pay something. They're they're fine with it back in the day.
No threat.
No, if you don't pay anything, you know, you don't know who's going to come be knocking on your door.
Is that true?
I don't want that ever happened to me.
No, it's true.
It can be, you know, people have gotten in trouble.
I'm gambling a few.
What happened? Well, most of them, they go to legal firemen, they get lawyers now, but can you imagine back in the day what they probably done? I think some knees would have been busted up.
Are the odds better in foreign casinos? Do you play Monte Carlo?
It's all the same, it's all stacked to the house, to the casino itself. Why do you think they got so much money?
You ever played bike out?
No, never got into it, perhaps a little bit, and when I was bored, I bet nine for some reason, I'm a crap and actually did pretty good.
Is there anything you regret from your career? No, really.
No.
Oh, we all do stupid things, but it's part of life. The problem is doing them over and over again. I might regret on some of that stuff I might've done, but yeah, um, no, I really don't. I mean, no, I think everything is just part of life, but we go through. Not everybody's perfect. We're all going to make mistakes, but one thing I've always done is I've owned up to mine.
You never Bud's never had a lie for me. I've never had a lie, I've never lied. I'll never lie in front of my fans and stuff. Because if I screw up, I'm going to admit I screwed up.
Not gonna hide it because sooner or later it's going to get out and then it just makes you look like a liar. Yeah, that's pretty much the administration is right. No, it's totally right.
Is that why you're still around after all these years and all this, all the drama, you're still popular, you're still working? Because you didn't lie.
I love people, I love my fans, I love them to come out and watch me play and I, you know. It's been disappointing these few years because I've been hurt and haven't been able to play to my potential. But they still come out and I love them for it.
And the one thing an athlete, if golfers are athletes, I guess they are now because they work out.
You mean, if they're athletes?
I don't work out, I put out.
So, um, but you don't think of yourself as an athlete?
But, I mean, the hand-eye coordination required to hit a small ball downrange has got. I mean, doesn't that qualify you as an athlete?
I guess I don't know, I mean, I'm not a guy that's going to go work out after a round or anything like that. I mean, maybe there's been that talk if golfers are athletes, but I will tell you this. I guess I am. Because all the swings that we've taken, I'll never forget. Playing a pro-am. It's 120 degrees in Memphis with Brett Favre and we're on the great Guy.
We're on the 16th. Oh, I think it's part five. It's, uh, at the TPC course, there's south wind and, uh, it's hot. And he, he's miserable and he's just slow. He looked at me. He says, Man, I'd rather have a 350 pound lineman come at me right now than doing this shit.
But it is. It's, you know, we're always, we're always battling weather, we're always playing in different places, that the weather's good or bad. You know, it's a tough sport and the swings and holes that you take on this, your body takes on the swings that we do, it catches up.
Oh yeah, what's the best course?
I'm kind of favorite. Um, well, Gus is one of them, of course, but uh, 45 South is one of my favorites. Bay Hill was always one of my favorites.
Yeah.
Yeah, I was fortunate to win. I think it's just a good classic long hard golf course and it's public.
Yeah, I've always loved where you find yourself.
And what was the second one?
Uh, Bay Hill, Augusta, Yeah, um.
There's a ton of them, but those are my three favorites. I used to love to play for Arnie. I'd always love going to Bay Hill play his tournament.
Who are your favorite golfers?
Well, he's one of them, Jack, plus he's the other. He's probably my best friend ever. He took me on his wing when I didn't even have my card.
Really.
Why, I don't know, he just liked me for some reason, we became great friends and he was a true friend. You know, these guys out on tour now, don't? They don't seem to to do that as much as they used to hang out with each other.
No, just like, you know, like, um, they talk about who their idols were, but a lot of them didn't hang out with them. You know, I love him, but I love hanging out with Arnie. Just the stories, you know, they get locked around, you know, I'm a Stather half. Eat meat, fuzzy Tom Watson Jack, which is sitting there, you know? Some of us were having a cocktail, some are drinking sodas, but they sit and tell the stories.
So when famous golfers get together over a drink to tell stories, they tell stories about women or golf.
A lot.
Can you be more specific?
No, that's that lawyer client privilege. Some of the stories were amazing, but I can't tell them. But just to be a part of looking at legends like that, idolizing these guys. To me, it was the greatest time. And that's probably not just because Bay Hill is such a great golf course. But just sitting with these guys and parties are in the locker room and just, it's just. To me, that was the ultimate.
And you think that's gone now?
I don't see it happening, I don't know, I haven't played the tour much. You know, you know, they took away. Can't play cards in the locker rooms anymore, a lot of guys don't hang out in locker rooms.
Why can't you play cards in the locker room? I don't know.
The tour just doesn't like us playing cards. Might've been a little gambling going on there.
Well, I would think.
Yeah, but we couldn't do it. That's kind of probably when I first came out, I think that they had stopped it, huh?
Last question, the caddy relationship.
How important is that?
Oh, it's very important, I mean, it's that's gotta be your best friend out there. You got to, you know, you got to know the wind, they got to know how far you hit this. Each and every club, you know the line you know you're putting, they got to know everything about you.
How good are that, on average, as golf?
Well, some are great and some are friends that don't help. You know that they're there just to carry the bag, but some players are fine with that. I'm kind of my own man. Um, I need help sometimes in the wind.
But other than that, I'm pretty much whoever carries it. I don't really need a lot of help.
So you're not taking strategic advice from your daddy?
No, I will, but will I listen? Most likely not.
I'm doing great to meet you too.
About time it's been forever.
It certainly has, I've been a fan for a long time.
I'm going to smoke a cigar in a minute.
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