John Daly continues to give a lot of play … but not on the golf course, but to journalists. The controversial American player sent seven balls into the water on the 11th hole and left the course at the Australian Open, which is being played in Sydney. With a reputation more than tarnished, Daly may have gone too far this time with the Australian golf hierarchy, which has banned him, for the time being, from playing on the Australian Tour for two weeks.
“It’s very disappointing for the tournament that he behaved in the championship like that,” said Trevor Herden, tournament director for the Australian Tour. “It’s become a habit,” he added.
Daly was 7-over-par after 10 holes on the first day of the tournament after getting upset on that hole when he hit a practice ball into the bunker thinking it was the one he had hit off the tee. He was penalized with two strokes and also needed three putts to hole, which resulted in a triple bogey.
On the 11th hole he sent ball after ball into the water, some of them wrecking in the middle of the lake. Moments later, Daly shook hands with his playing partners, Craig Parry and Mahan Hunter, and left the course. He would have hit his 16th shot had he teed off on the next hole.
Mahan later commented, “It’s not good for anyone what John did; it’s a shame because he’s a nice person.”
For his part, Parry was sympathetic and said Daly had the right club to reach the green but the wind was stronger than he calculated. “I like John: he’s a great guy,” Parry said.
Daly wrote on Twitter to explain his behavior and said that “when you run out of balls, you run out of balls, yes. Shook hands with my teammates and signed my card.”
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