If You Played Nine Holes Today, You Probably Beat John Daly

by Ryan Ballengee on Jul 31, 2009 10:33 PM EDT Comment 14 comments

John Daly, who this week announced that he would be a part of yet another Golf Channel reality show, did not play particularly well in his first round at the Buick Open. It turned out to be a pretty lousy 76. Daly was destined to miss the cut if he did not go low in his second round.

Daly said that he tried very hard in his round today. That clearly was not enough as his game was in disarray through the entire round. Daly fired a stunning round of 88 today. Yeah, 88. Even worse than that, Daly fired 51 on the front nine at Warwick Hills.

The final tally: 51-37--88. Missed cut.

Rick Smith, his instructor, blamed Daly's worst PGA Tour score ever on a combination of poor sleep and diet, six weeks of playing golf in five countries, and losing 80 pounds in four months.

"He hasn’t eaten or slept in a week. His body needs food, and it’s going to the muscle, and the muscle is breaking down to the point he’s in a toxic state.”

Daly has had on course blow ups before and everyone is familiar with them. The two-time major winner said this round was different because he didn't give up on the round. He tried and his game still failed him. It left him wondering what his next steps should be, even after an encouraging 27th at the Open Championship.

Everyone in golf seems to root for John Daly. And the guy seems to be trying to clean up his act. Between the weight loss, new girlfriend, and great fashion sense, Daly is creating a new image. Take it or leave it. When Daly finished T2 at the Italian Open, it seemed like the new attitude may have been paying dividends on the course.

Perhaps not quite yet.

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I’m not sure you’re understanding what Smith was saying. If he is right – and he very well could be – Daly has put himself in a very dangerous physical state.

If you don’t keep your protein intake up – especially when you lose as much weight as fast as Daly has – your body will stop feeding on fat and start in on muscle. If that doesn’t get controlled, the body can really get into trouble – going as far as damaging the heart. (I read somewhere that the heart is fairly important)

This isn’t just bad for Daly’s golf game – this has the potential to be life threatening. Playing 6 weeks in a row, in 5 countries is a lot of stress on the body by itself. If the rest of this is true, he’s going to have to get some good medical attention.

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Jul 31, 2009 11:03 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I would be inclined to think that the stress of six straight weeks is weighing on him. Five countries not so much.

I think the lap band surgery can cause serious medical issues. But he seems to have been playing ok lately.

Email me any comments or questions at ryan@thegolfnewsnet.com.

by Ryan Ballengee on Jul 31, 2009 11:21 PM EDT via mobile reply actions 0 recs

you definitely don’t understand – it’s not 6 straight weeks in 5 countries – if he were healthy, that wouldn’t be a problem. His play has been slipping the last few weeks, and now he says he’s having trouble feeling his hands.

forget golf – this is bad stuff.

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Jul 31, 2009 11:36 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

But then you have to explain the 27th at the Open just two weeks ago. He played very well at Turnberry – a place where touch is a must.

I don’t think he meant “feeling his hands” as in numbness so much as lost touch.

Email me any comments or questions at ryan@thegolfnewsnet.com.

by Ryan Ballengee on Aug 1, 2009 9:24 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Listen – I hope YOU are right and not Rick Smith. I hope it’s just a bad reaction to something, or just tired. But if Smith is right, this could be very bad.

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Aug 1, 2009 9:28 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I believe he is staying at Kid Rock’s house this week. That would lead me to think there might be just a tiny bit more to the story than we’re hearing…

by MattSpence on Aug 1, 2009 12:19 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

If you’re right, then I’d be much more willing to speculate on that.

Email me any comments or questions at ryan@thegolfnewsnet.com.

by Ryan Ballengee on Aug 1, 2009 9:24 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

lol – ah yes – it’s so much fun to speculate on the wild party boys.

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Aug 1, 2009 9:29 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

lol

http://irudey.mybrute.com/
Fun little Time waster!

by Rudey on Aug 2, 2009 2:31 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

John Daly Will be Fine

…he’s determined to lose the weight and he’s doing it the way many stars (George Cloony, Rene Zeleweger, Robert DeNiro) do. They sometimes have to gain large amounts of weight for a roll, then take it back off quickly for another role. They do it with radical calorie restriction + rigorous excercize for a given period. The difference in JD’s case is that he’s competing athletically at the same time and it shows badly because, you don’t have the same endurance/strength on calorie restriction as you do when you’re eating more.

However with phyician supervision…and short of total starvation over a long period… it’s not dangerous, in fact it’s far more dangerous to be heavy like John had been for a while.

I’m just hoping that he’ll take a bit of time off, and continue dieting, with supervison, till he he gets to his optimum weight. I’m really hoping people don’t convince him to start overeating again. Which tends to happen here in the US because of the culturally imposed fear of being thin.

by golfgirl on Aug 2, 2009 6:43 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

The supervision part is extremely critical – particularly with the lapband surgery. John isn’t really undertaking the rapid weight loss in the same fashion as the celebs. They don’t need a surgery to make is possible.

I’ve personally known people who have the surgery done and there is a lot of personal responsibility involved in making sure the recipient maintains their health, etc.

Email me any comments or questions at ryan@thegolfnewsnet.com.

by Ryan Ballengee on Aug 2, 2009 11:04 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I’m pretty sure Clooney, DeNiro and Zeleweger never had lap band surgery and while they did probably radically cut calories, they also probably worked their asses off in the gym. The only reason JD is losing weight is because of his surgery and the fact that he is now physically unable to eat the way he used to.

I would be shocked if he can maintain any decent fitness regime when his primary source of fuel is cigarettes & diet coke.

Friday’s performance showed us he is not as far along as we all hoped. I wish him the best and would love to see him succeed, but won’t be holding my breath.

by MattSpence on Aug 2, 2009 11:09 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Matt’s right, GG. None of those movie stars ever had lap band surgery – and when they finish a movie, they can take 6 months off to get back in shape. Athletes don’t have that luxury. Daly isn’t “dieting”. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like he’s eating healthy, either.

I’m not sure you can draw that conclusion based on one round – especially when his previous outtings had been so successful.

Health is a serious consideration for an athlete. I don’t blame you for not holding your breath on Daly being a consistent fixture on the PGA Tour – he has never had consistency as a strong point – but he has shown that he CAN still play this game. I hope he can somehow manage to find some sort of healthy balance in his life so he can get back to playing well more regularly.

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Aug 4, 2009 12:12 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs