'Long John' Daly Showed His True Inner Self at Paradise Valley

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — We were each sitting alone, me having just finished 18 holes and about to eat lunch while waiting for friends so we could play play 27 more. It was obviously a great day at Paradise Valley Athletic Club in east Fayetteville.

"You here to practice?" I asked casually to the blonde-haired guy a couple tables away who was eating a sandwich. Turns out he had a more important mission that day.

"I'm here for the Make-a-Wish program, to play with a guy from Florida," he said. "Do you want to play with us?"

First, I was honored he offered. But just as quickly came the thought that there was no way I'd intrude on that gentleman's dying wish to play golf with John Daly.

But I asked Daly this: "Do you mind asking him if it's OK to ride in a cart well behind you guys and watch and then talk to him afterward for a story?" Daly's big heart was on display that day. It wasn't a side that everyone saw in public although he famously did even more on the occasion of his first major victory.

As ninth alternate, Daly had little chance to get into the 1991 PGA Championship at Crooked Stick. But Nick Price withdrew for the birth of his child and somehow Daly became the fill-in. Well, with Price's caddie on his bag, "Long John" did much more than fill in. His line of "Grip it and rip it" became world famous overnight and the little-known former Arkansas Razorback golfer bombed his way to the championship.

He was an overnight sensation but few likely remember a backstory from that week. A 39-year-old fan had been struck by lightning at the course and died. After pocketing $230,000 with the winner's check, Daly gave $30,000 to the widow, to start a college fund for her daughters, 12 and 8 years old. It was a quiet gesture, befitting John's gentle nature that often got overshadowed by his gregarious personality and personal, well-publicized failures with alcoholism, gambling, failed marriages, and withdrawals from tournaments.

All of that, presumably, will be part of the story when comedic actor Kevin Hart portrays Daly in an upcoming series.If they tell the whole story, it won't be rated "G."

Daly owned a condo on the second hole at Paradise Valley, where his personal manager and childhood friend lived. He had a big house on Pinnacle Country Club in Rogers. He had another house where he spent most of his time a quarter-century ago on TPC Southwind near Memphis.

His biggest win ever came in 1996 when he won The Open Championship, known to Americans as the British Open. That was at the home of golf, St. Andrews, accomplished by bashing his driver and with his exquisite short game that I witnessed more than once as we shared the practice chipping green at Paradise.

Daly was fun and he was funny. He swilled beer, chain smoked, drained Diet Coke endlessly, and sometimes talked like a sailor. He fought demons as well as bladder cancer and knee replacement surgery but was also kind and thoughtful. He was a country boy from Dardanelle, Arkansas, who somehow took center stage in the world of golf.

He still sells memorabilia and represents Hooters during the Masters, He and Hog golfer John II have won the PNC Championship for fathers and sons. Daly is a huge Razorback fan, often shown on the sidelines at UA football games.

Daly has always been an iconic figure, a loyal Razorback, an uber-talented golfer, but a bit troubled and enigmatic to most. Now he gets another turn on the screen with Kevin Hart doing the honors.

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