In many ways, not much has changed since John Daly came from nowhere to win the 1991 PGA Championship. He turned 50 on Thursday, starting a new chapter in his life and career and saying he has found something new: peace.
The man who still smokes Marlboros, drinks alcohol, gambles and lovingly pats his big belly as if to taunt the Grim Reaper and appears happy as he hits the half-century mark. And next weekend at The Woodlands Country Club outside of Houston, Daly (Dardanelle, Arkansas Razorbacks) is scheduled to make his debut on the Champions Tour, reserved for golfers 50 and older.
He will be the only tour member with two major championships, three children, four ex-wives and, seemingly, nine lives.
"I beat a lot of odds," Daly told USA Today Sports this week. "I never thought I'd get to the Champions Tour."
During a wide-ranging interview conducted in Dardanelle, where Daly spends about four weeks a year, he addressed topics that included:
• Suicidal thoughts. "I was going to drive my Mercedes off a cliff."
• His sex life. "Look, you're loyal to me ... then I won't cheat on you."
• The state of the PGA Tour. "It'd be cool to see some of the guys cut up a little bit and have some fun."
• Sobriety. "I don't want people judging me just because I'm drinking again."
• His future in golf. "I'm still competitive as hell and I always will be."
For a guy whose life often looked so messy, Daly revealed something that might come as a surprise given his unruly behavior on and off the golf course.
"I'm an OCD neat freak," he said. "I can't stand messes. I make my bed every morning. Laundry. I do it all."
Less surprising: Once the owner of an infamous mullet, Daly said he usually cuts his own hair.
"I hate getting haircuts," he said. "It's like going to the damn dentist, man. I can't stand it. It takes time. They got those grooming machines, just use them. You cut your hair perfect every time."
Another dose of Daly
John Daly's 50th birthday on Thursday could be be an expensive one for fellow golfer Fuzzy Zoeller.
"Fuzzy's going to owe me 150 grand,'' Daly told USA Today Sports. "I don't know if he remembers that bet or not, but I'll get that cash from him hopefully.''
The bet took place years ago at Augusta National the week of The Masters, Daly said.
"I think it was Tuesday morning and we played nine holes and went to T-Bonz [restaurant] and had some lunch,'' he recalled. "Next thing I know, we were in the same clothes playing Wednesday at 7:30 in the morning in the par-3 tournament. We stayed through the whole nine [holes], drinking, having a good time and eating.
"Fuzzy said, 'I got 150 grand you're never going to make it to 50.' "
But after recalling the story, Daly said he and Zoeller never shook on the bet.
"So I won't hold him up to it,'' Daly said. "I'll just have him give me a free bottle of his vodka [Fuzzy's Vodka]. That's about it."
That's a slam
Utility man Jake Steinbach, son of retired big-league catcher Terry Steinbach, finally got his first at-bat of the season for the University of St. Thomas and cracked a grand slam home run.
The ball crashed through the passenger-side window of a car -- his parents' car, parked behind the right-field fence.
"It's a good thing it was a warmer April day," Jake Steinbach told the Minneapolis Star Tribune, "as my parents had to drive home 30 miles with the window broken out."
Sports on 04/30/2016