John Daly Was Asked Why He's Popular. His Answer Was ...

He dished on what Justin Thomas calls him. 

And his mother coming “out of her grave.” 

And social media. 

And distance. 

And LIV Golf. 

And a text to play golf with the Mannings and country singer Eric Church. 

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There were no cliches. At no point during his pre-tournament press conference for this week’s Shaw Charity Classic did John Daly speak of taking things one shot or round at a time. And that actually segues well into his first exchange, one of the more memorable ones of this golf week, which we present unfiltered:

Reporter: “So I hear that you really appeal to a younger generation of golfers and sports fans in general coming up. Why do you think that is?”

Daly: “No idea. I got no idea. I don’t know. I think Chad does a great job with our T-shirt companies with the sayings on it; young kids like it. I don’t know, maybe because of the beard they think I’m really Santa Claus, but Justin Thomas told me I’m Bad Santa, so that’s out the window. I have no idea.”

Reporter: “How do you explain sort of the connection, whether it’s young or old, that you’ve had with fans all these years?”

Daly: “I think because there’s really no skeletons in my closet. If I screwed up, I’ll honestly say I screwed up, and I think fans like that. I think I’m not — I’m not looking over my shoulder; are they going to know about this or that. Everybody knows everything about me on this tour — my life, my ex-wives, everything — and it’s out there so there’s not really anything to hide. I think, hopefully, it’s the honesty.”

Reporter: “And are you happy you’ve approached it that way?”

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Daly: “Yeah. My mom would have come out of her grave if I didn’t.”

And there you go. Daly was asked about his popularity, he answered, and then he doubled-down on it. But the interview was just beginning. Some of it is news, some of its commentary. We’ll try to help. 

John Daly on social media 

Reporter: “What do you think social media’s done, because maybe 20 years ago, your profile might have been different, but now we see you driving golf balls across a freeway into football fields, stuff like that. Do you like the social media?”

Daly: “I think it’s great, I think it’s great to connect with the fans that way. Some people that don’t get to come watch you play or something like that. And plus for business, it’s great for business as well. I think it gets a little out of hand sometimes, but I think it’s great for everybody. I think it’s saved a lot of people’s lives, for one thing.”