John Daly Suspended by PGA Tour

It's been a tough year for two-time major winner - in case you forgot - John Daly.  The year culminates with a six month suspension levied from PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem.

Suspensions and fines are never disclosed by the PGA Tour.  It's something that irks me.  But, Daly took his case to the fourth estate by talking to the Associated Press.

Daly told The Associated Press on Wednesday that his suspension is “not fair in reality, but it’s probably fair in perception.”

Not fair in reality?  Well, Daly may have had a case if the independent contractor idea that so many Tour players flee to was actually true.  But, if you consider the kind of year that Daly has had off of the course, some kind of suspension is well earned.

What kind of year did he have, you wonder?

In March, he parted ways with Butch Harmon.  Then it turned ugly because Daly claimed that he found out through Butch's revelation of the split in the media.  Oh, and Butch said that Daly was more concerned about drinking than actually getting better as a golfer.  Then Daly lied about a Harmon apology.  Then Harmon said that Daly blamed him for losing all of his endorsements.  Yowsa.

Then, he got DQd from the Arnold Palmer Invitational for missing the pro-am.  That's standard PGA Tour practice.

Then, in October, Daly was found passed out drunk at a Hooters restaurant in North Carolina.  By the by, Hooters dropped their sponsorship of Daly this year and he was still patronizing their restaurants.  Must be the wings.

And, lest you forget, Daly took a camera from an overzealous (and rule breaking) spectator at the Australian Open and slammed it into a tree.  Even though that's not a PGA Tour event, it's still pretty "unbecoming of a professional."

Oh, and then there's this.

I always thought of John Daly as the basis for the movie Happy Gilmore.  He claims that he's the basis of Tin Cup, but I think Happy is more fitting.  The fits of rage, the kinds of fans that Happy brings to golf, and the boisterous behavior just remind me so much of Daly.  Consider that he threw putters and balls into lakes, walked off of events out of frustration, and the celebration at the 1991 PGA Championship.  Put those images together in your head.  It's basically Happy Gilmore in three minutes.

In a post over at the old GNN Blog, I wondered if Finchem would have the guts to suspend one of the Tour's most popular players.  I guess he did.