John Daly and Butch Harmon

[Shindig]

According to http://www.johndaly.com/news.asp?ID=121 , Daly is going to seek the advice of Butch Harmon. Is this Daly's first time going to a swing coach?

This could be interesting for a number of reasons.

Some consider Daly to be among the most talented golfers in the modern era, even if he doesn't take full advantage of his talent. This may allow him to get closer to doing so.

One of Butch's four fundamentals for winning golf is golf fitness. I don't doubt that John Daly is in pretty good shape, but I have to wonder how well this will go over with him if Butch brings it up.

[N.V.M.]

to put it bluntly, Daly is lazy and fat. i don't even think he practices very much,nor does he even go early to a tournament to play the course before the tournament starts.not to mention that he doesn't play smart golf, going for the high risk shots too much. that can make for a great round of golf, but over four days it bites him in the ass more than not.
and what's with withdrawing from events all the time? 6 times this year,after making the cut and not citing reasons? not good.


don't get me wrong, i really like the good old boy, but he's not young any more and he's got to pull up his socks and get serious about golf.

[albatroz]

The way i see it Butch is not so keen in taking Daly under his wing . For what ever reasons i think John has to clean his act befor even thinking of rejoining the 08 PGA Tour . There are a lot of Ghost bethering him as of now that he should perhaps undergo some Exorcism to cleans his mind and get him on track . On the other hand if Butch can turn John around then it will be one of the greatest comeback for both Coach and Student .

[themasteroncbs]

Butch shouldn't be wasting his time with someone like Daly. I mean he's already coaching two of the best players in the world with Mickelson and Scott, there's no need to take Daly on only to ruin his good name.

[Shindig]

Butch shouldn't be wasting his time with someone like Daly. I mean he's already coaching two of the best players in the world with Mickelson and Scott, there's no need to take Daly on only to ruin his good name.

I don't see Daly hurting Harmon's reputation. Here's the thing: if Daly flops under Harmon's guidance, the response is going to be

Of course he flopped; Daly's been doing that lately . If he succeeds, the response is going to be That Butch Harmon can not only make Phil Mickelson hit a fairway, he can bring Daly back to the game. What can't he do? .

[N.V.M.]

well, it's definitely going to happen. i just saw Daly(along with Fred Couples) on the Golf Channel,in a post game interview (after their round in the Greg Norman Meryl Lynch Shootout). he said he's eager to work with Harmon sometime after the new year,and he even made a bit of a joke about his weight. what i found interesting as well was that Daly said his shoulder separation injury was constantly bothering and had to have it popped back in a dozen times so far this year.

[Bluenoser67]

Daly doesn't need a swing coach he needs a Life Coach. Or maybe a babysitter. The guy is a waste of talent. He's kinda like Nascar you only watch for the crash. The best comment I heard on John was from VJ during one of Daly's Episodes on the Golf Channel. John was playing a practice round at the Old Course in St.Andrews (the Mecca of Golf) and was whinning about the time it was taking. VJ just looked at him and said "you've lost the love of the game" and walked away. I think if John didn't have a gambling addiction, make poor choices about wives and subsequently end up in divorces that cost a fortune he wouldn't even care if he was playing. I heard that he didn't even play a practice round at the last tournament he was invited to because he was out gambling. All that Being said it would be a real cool story if he ever truly took his gift seriously and performed the way he could.

[Golf Yokel]

I just have a couple of things to say about the people seemingly bashing Daly...

I'm not sure why some people have to constantly bad-talk the man... his choices are simply different than ours...

The man is a naturally talented golfer, and no one can deny that. But the fact that his main passion in life isn't golfing, like most professionals, seems to sort of piss people off.

For example, some of you banter him because he doesn't play practice rounds... but in 1991, the year he joined the PGA, he won the PGA Championship without playing a practice round.

Sadly, it is agreeable that other habits of his, namely gambling, take precedent over golfing for him... but it seems like some people simply hate him for the fact that he can go out with no practice and out-compete other pros on any given day.

Instead of trying to judge the man off of the golf-course, judge him for what he has accomplished in golf, as I'm sure it's more than most of us. I may drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes and weed, and partake in other things you may deem unfit... but like most others, I know what I want to do and others shouldn't judge me on my choices. I may have unfit habits, but I am also an International Business/Philosophy major, make 28k a year through a self-run part-time job, and pay my own way through college as a full-time student.

Just because you don't agree with some of mine or others' choices doesn't mean you should label me or anyone else in a bad way. You shouldn't say someone "needs a babysitter" and "is a waste of talent" just because their lifestyle doesn't live up to yours.

The man doesn't want his life to revolve around golf, and that is fine in my eyes. He has made over $9,000,000 playing golf, and $248,000 just in 2007 alone. What have we done to merit the right to judge him?

As Daly himself said... "Nobody can know what's in my heart. Nobody can know what I'm thinking. I know what I've got to do."

[allin]

I just have a couple of things to say about the people seemingly bashing Daly...

I don't feel that criticism is really personal. We naturally feel frustrated when such a tremendous natural talent is wasted. I do think it is more than making poor choices. When individuals consistently act in a self destructive manner they have a serious problem. This is not just a matter of poor judgement. Daly clearly suffers from mental health issues which require intervention and possibly medication. How severe, and what the underlying causes are is impossible to tell without personal contact, and appropriate testing. It is easy to apply labels such as Bi Polar, addictive personality, borderline personality disorder etc., without sufficient basis. I think it is fair to state he clearly needs help. I hope he seeks the help he clearly needs.

[Jeepthrills]

I agree with Shindig. The only thing this can do is help Butch. It's a no lose situation. If he fails, it's because Daly is unteachable. If he succeeds, he could lay claim to the greatest reclimation project in professional golf. I think it actually shows a bit of maturity on Dalys part. He is finally saying that he needs help. Who knows, it could lead to him realizing the same thing in his personal life...OK, probably not but I will still pull for him.

[shredfit]

I think Golf Yokel is correct, Daly doesn't really care about his golf game or money because both came rather easy for him... via his talent.

Being a musician, I've met a person that I thought was similar to Daly in not really caring about her talent. This person(she) can/could play or write out music for every part of a song(or piece) from start to finish no matter how complex, hearing it ONLY once! This absolutely amazed me(I suspect Mozart had the same talent). She easily could conduct ANY major Symphony or transcribe ANY album to songbook and make GREAT $$$ doing this... What does she currently do? She raises horses of course, in a sleepy midwestern town.

The point? She like, Daly really don't care too much about their natural talent because it is something that somes so easy to them.