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Golf

John Daly Withdraws, Adds Another Career Lowlight


CHASKA, Minn. -- A bad back. That's the official reason John Daly supposedly gave for withdrawing from the PGA Championship Thursday, after shooting a 78 in the first round.

I say supposedly because Daly 4-putted the final hole, shook hands with his group, went to the scoring trailer. And when he came out, he was staring straight at the ground, as a few reporters stood by waiting to talk to him.

He kept staring at the ground, never looked up and was gone. Forever?

You never know.

Is it a bad back or just another Daly flakeout? You make the call.

A few hours after withdrawing, this appeared on his Twitter account:

flash camera back injury from 3 yrs ago still haunting me -- pain is just unbearable making it tough to play -- stretching all day thru the round.

But even if it was his back, consider this: He suggested just Wednesday that his back was hurting because he had lost so much weight from the lap band weight loss surgery he had undergone.

Even that smacks of looking for shortcuts. Daly was not getting into shape from hard work.

This guy is the never-ending story. Last I talked to him was at the British Open, after he had made the cut. Things were looking up. His girlfriend was by his side.

"If anyone wants to lose weight without working out ... " he said, selling the procedure.

He is always selling something now -- medical procedures, clothes that look like motel curtains.

But he said that exactly 27 days ago. The medical procedure was great!

It was an up, part of his resurgence after being suspended from the tour for embarrassing behavior. The PGA Tour does not like the face of golf to be a mugshot with orange jumpsuit.

Then came the down, and 13 days ago, he shot an 88 at the Buick Open, saying that he didn't have confidence and could even consider quitting.

He also tweeted that he would consider surgery to correct his vision.

So now he has pulled out of a tournament for about the millionth time, give or take, and who knows where he's going next?

He's 43 years old, low on money and dressed like a clown.

He still is easily one of the three most popular players on tour, behind Tiger Woods and maybe Phil Mickelson.
But are we cheering for the everyman going with everyman problems or just staring at the car wreck?

It's just always something with this guy, and if this one is legit, well, it's hard to give him the benefit of the doubt. Someone else could have used his spot in the tournament.

Daly is the mess that never cleans up.

Email me at gregcouch09@aol.com

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