ShareThisLess than three years ago, John Daly stood center stage and tussled with the king. His electric duel with Tiger Woods, played before a large and enthusiastic gallery at San Francisco's Harding Park, vaulted Daly to No. 23 in the world rankings and restored some luster to his tarnished image.
And look at him now.
Daly has become a sad sideshow, as he illustrated once again Wednesday. To briefly review some snapshots from his 2008 season: He used a football coach as his caddie, played shirtless and barefoot at a course opening and hit one drive off the top of a beer can during his Buick Open pro-am round with singer Kid Rock.
Then, on the eve of this week's 137th British Open at wind-swept Royal Birkdale, Daly talked his way back into the news. He re-ignited his feud with former swing coach Butch Harmon, abruptly ripping Harmon during an otherwise benign news conference.
Daly, 42, was talking about his string of injuries (ribs, shoulder, hand and elbow) and his struggle to land sponsor exemptions on the PGA Tour. Asked why tournament directors seem more reluctant to invite him to their events, Daly blamed Harmon.
"I think Butch's lies kind of destroyed my life for a little bit," Daly said. "I wish he would become a man and just talk about some of the stuff he lied about. ... I don't know what his problem is, but he needs to stay as far away from me as he possibly can."
No problem there. As you might recall, Harmon -- who counseled Woods during his initial rise to stardom and now counts Phil Mickelson, Adam Scott and Ernie Els among his clients -- essentially fired Daly four months ago. That's not exactly the customary way for a swing coach and tour pro to part ways.
Harmon had agreed to help Daly, provided he cleaned up his act and showed he was serious about reviving his game. That lasted until the tour stop in Tampa in March, when Daly disappeared into a hospitality tent during an opening-round rain delay and came out with Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden, who served as Daly's caddie for the rest of his round. Daly insisted he drank only Diet Pepsi during the break and didn't understand the fuss about Gruden carrying his bag.
Later that weekend, Daly went into a Hooters tent and, he said, signed hundreds of autographs. But the Tampa Tribune later posted video of Daly drinking heavily and making crude, profane comments. Harmon, who had his own drinking problems in the 1980s, stopped working with Daly, publicly characterizing him as "a drunk" and chastising him for not addressing his problems.
It seemed like a forgotten story until Wednesday, when Daly pretty much pinpointed Harmon as the cause of this year's downward spiral.
"I think you just consider the source," Harmon said when told of Daly's comments. "I feel bad for John. I like him and a lot of people like him. But I think John has a lot of personal problems and a lot of demons in his body.
"I think it's another case of John never wanting to look in the mirror and take responsibility for his actions. He's always looking to blame someone else. ... Until he can blame himself for his shortcomings, he's always going to have a problem."
Harmon could not be more right. But Daly will not acknowledge his own role in his off-course issues or his plunge off the golfing map -- from trading Herculean drives with Woods to begging tournaments to let him play. He's in the field this week because he won the 1995 Open at St. Andrews.
That's part of the sadness surrounding Daly's fall -- he can be a sight to behold on the course. One early-round image from Harding Park still lingers in the mind: Another player in Daly's group hitting a controlled, 3-wood tee shot on No. 15 and then Daly taking out his driver, uncorking a huge swing and crushing a mammoth drive down the middle.
The fans around the tee laughed, at once amused and amazed.
Daly also has soft touch near the greens -- remember his final-round chip-in on No. 13 at Harding? -- but the injuries and personal issues have dragged him down. He's made 12 starts on the PGA Tour this season, resulting in two withdrawals, seven missed cuts and no finishes higher than 60th the three times he made the cut. His world ranking now stands at No. 643.
That leads us to Royal Birkdale, where Daly arrived Tuesday. He hadn't even seen the course as of Wednesday morning. If he really wants to get his career back on track, wouldn't he scout the place more meticulously? Daly then shot an 80 in the first round Thursday.
Later in Wednesday's news conference, Daly was asked about the PGA Tour's new drug-testing program. "All they're going to get out of me is nicotine and caffeine," he said, chuckling.
Too bad they won't find much common sense.
(E-mail Ron Kroichick at rkroichick@sfchronicle.com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
