(John Daly) Golfer has penchant for Dubya

The Hill ^ | 5/14/03 | Jonathan E. Kaplan

[LdSentinal]

John Daly, the professional golfer, clad in a red golf shirt and brown soft twill pants, sauntered recently into the Nemacolin Woodlands Resort & Spa in western Pennsylvania to dedicate the opening of a state-of-the-art golf learning center.

Nemacolin will host a sanctioned Professional Golfers' Association (PGA) tournament Sept. 15-21, to be known as The 84 Lumber Classic of Pennsylvania.

The resort is owned by a building-supply company, 84 Lumber, ranked by Forbes as the 101st largest privately held company in the United States and one of chain-smoking Daly's main sponsors. The company is based in Eighty Four, Pa.

Daly, 37, is professional golf's bad boy. In the past decade, he has had two trips to alcohol rehab and three divorces. In a recently released country-western CD, one of Daly's songs is "All My Ex's Wear Rolexes."

At Nemacolin, where Democrats and Republicans have held their retreats over the past few years, The Hill talked politics with the winner of two of golf's major championships.

Q: What's on your mind when it comes to politics?
A: I'm a Bush fan, that is for sure. I'm not the biggest follower of politics, but I have always been a Republican. The Democrats had their chance to get Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden. I won't mention any names, but [national security] is always on my mind.

When it comes to protecting our airspace, that's important. I still won't fly commercial. I'm still scared.

Q: What do you admire about President Bush?
A: I love what Bush is doing. When he got into office, he inherited a Pentagon budget cut in half. He was dealt a pretty bad deck of cards, and he's turned it around.

Q: What's the main reason you are so supportive of the war?
A: I don't like war, but it was important to find those chemical weapons and get those people who want to fly airplanes into our embassies. Anybody who wants to do that, something is really wrong with them.

Q: Whom have you played golf with?
A: I've met Bush Sr. but have never played with him. I've played with Clinton several times. We call him "Mulligan" Clinton. He's always taking mulligans, even on his good shots.

[Yo-Yo]

When it comes to protecting our airspace, that's important. I still won't fly commercial. I'm still scared.

Interesting, since the last Professional Golfer to die in an aircraft accident (Payne Stewart) was in a private plane.

[MotleyGirl70]

What's a "mulligan"?

If it's a Clinton nickname, I know it has to do with being a cheat or cutting strokes off his game or something.

[dfwgator]

Sounds like alcohol hasn't killed all of Daly's brain cells, yet.

[Mister Baredog]

We call him "Mulligan" Clinton.

Clintoon needs a mulligan on his entire presidency.

[Mister Baredog]

What's a "mulligan"?

It's when you take a shot, don't like it, and drop another ball, and hit another shot from the same place. It's golf's version of a "do-over".

[ghost of nixon]

LOL - Daly is from Arkansas, and is a wild-man cut from the same cloth as Clinton - just with a much lower IQ (and a lower handicap). I had always figured he would be a Clinton fan, but I guess any pro would quickly be turned off by the excessive mulligans (very rude, not to mention against the rules).

[dwilli]

If one doesn't like ones tee shot, simply tee another up and play like the first one was "practice"

[MotleyGirl70]

That's cheating, right?

[TRY ONE]

"Clintoon needs a mulligan on his entire presidency."

I wonder......I wonder if Klintoon asked Lewinski for a mulligan after he got the blue dress in the "rough" and ruined it????? I mean, he must have asked for another stroke at least!

[blau993]

Several years ago I had the pleasure of playing The Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland. That afternoon, thanks to some strings pulled by one of our group, we were given a tour of the Royal and Ancient's Club House (for you non-golfers, the Royal & Ancient is probably the world's oldest golf club, and, together with the USGA, it sets the standards and makes the rules for golf all over the world). Our tour guide was the club secretary, a wonderful old gentlemen with a wealth of fascinating and funny stories.

One of the first rooms you come into has a trophy case in the middle of the room in which are housed the trophies for the British Open and the British Amateur tournaments. Around the room are lockers, each one bearing the name of a living winner of the British Open. As the secretary pointed these out to us, being the typical polite Brit and knowing we were Americans, he made a special point of commenting on what a fine gentleman Mr. Watson was, how popular Mr. Nicklaus was in England, etc.

Now, John Daly had won the British Open the year before, and one of our group noticed that there was no locker with his name on it. He mentioned this to the secretary, and the old gent sighed deeply. "Yes," he said, "I suppose we'll have to get around to painting his name on one of these eventually."

Big John may have good taste in poitical leadership, but he doesn't always leave behind the best of impressions.

[koba37]

Clinton is Judge Smails!

[Space Wrangler]

He's always taking mulligans, even on his good shots.

Clinton in a nutshell. Friggin' cheater!

[Munch]

You will find that most guys on the tour are Conservatives.

[dfwgator]

You don't have that freedom with radio or broadcast television. The feds won't let you do it.

Don't you mean that WE need a mulligan from the Clinton presidency?

[dfwgator]

Clintoon needs a mulligan on his entire presidency.

Oops, I was betrayed by the clipboard, that is what I meant to reference.

[dwilli]

I will play with people who take a mulligan off the first tee, but not after that. I don't do it, not because I'm
goody-goody, I don't understand what is to gain. If I take a mulligan and then really play a good round, it feels empty.

[MotleyGirl70]

I just play miniture golf that's why I didn't know what a mulligan is. And I'm not a very good mini golfer either. I'm terrible actually. I try though.

[Mister Baredog]

I wonder......I wonder if Klintoon asked Lewinski for a mulligan after he got the blue dress in the "rough" and ruined it????? I mean, he must have asked for another stroke at least!

His lousy style landed him in a hugh trap, he's still in it.LOL!

P.S. Hitlery=2stroke penalty!