TAKE 2: An alternative look at the day in sports

If you were to prioritize John Daly’s professional-help needs, a swing coach would be down the list. The moving parts of Daly’s golf swing usually hum in harmony, as opposed to the rest of his life, which plays out like a Hank Williams Jr. song on a continuous loop. Those human frailties are what make him such a man of the people, but the affection felt for such lovable lugs is inversely proportional to the degree to which one is invested in their success.

Renowned swing coach Butch Harmon agreed in December to help Daly reclaim the form that helped him win two majors in the 1990s. As with most Daly marriages, this one was brief and eventful. It has led to his selection as the Take 2 Person of the Week. It was bound to happen sooner or later.

The breakup happened in March, when Harmon cut ties with Daly after the golfer spent a 2½-hour rain delay at the PODS Championship at the Hooters hospitality tent and resumed his round with Tampa Bay Buccaneers Coach Jon Gruden as his caddy.

“The most important thing in his life is getting drunk,” Harmon huffed.

At a press conference before the Spanish Open on Wednesday, Daly said that Harmon had it all wrong. He said the coach had apologized for his comments. Harmon told a different tale, saying that Daly had called and asked him to retract his comments because they had cost Daly endorsements.

I suspect the endorsements Daly gets are based more on his good-time lifestyle than his golf — he’s ranked 595th in the world and relies on sponsor exemptions to make PGA tournaments. If seriously interested in projecting a more button-down image, Daly would have conducted a recent television interview in a collared shirt … or a shirt at all. But that was Daly, at his Murder Rock Golf Club in Branson, letting it all hang out. He explained his casual attire by saying he was letting an injured rib “heal with some nice sun.”

Barefoot and bare-bellied, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, Daly played a hole with his interviewer. After hitting a nice drive that left him 30 yards short of Daly, the TV journalist asked Daly if he was getting nervous. Poised over his ball, half-naked and smoking, Daly gave the only possible response: “Do I look nervous?”

Don’t ever change, John. Not that there’s much danger of that.

— Joe Walljasper

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