John “Wild” Daly readily admits he has thrown many clubs in frustration during a stormy career. He insists, however, that the latest incident during the Allianz Championship in Florida was different.
''If I throw a putter, it's going to be in two pieces, not one. And it's going to be 50 yards in the lake, not five.'' Now competing on the US Champions Tour after turning 50 last year, Daly said his sciatic nerve was acting up and he probably shouldn't have played. He decided to withdraw after the seventh hole, he explained, and while walking off the green he flipped the putter over his shoulder to his caddie, who wasn't watching, and the club went into the water.
''I take responsibility,'' Daly said. ''I shouldn't have tossed it.'' He was more distraught at losing the putter, which he described as a 50-year anniversary model of the Ping Answer that company chairman John Solheim had given him. Daly said he called the head pro at The Old Course at Broken Sound to see if he could get it back, but by then someone had already retrieved it.
Daly finished 71st on the senior tour money list last year in his first season, and his best finish so far is a tie for 11th. His career has essentially stalled since his last US PGA Tour win in 2004. Interestingly, he is the only player from either Europe or the United States to have won two majors (1991 PGA Championship and 1995 British Open) but not compete in the Ryder Cup.
