Long lost brothers John Daly, 'Beef' Johnston bond over whiskey and music
A new fan favorite, Beef is picking up where Big John left off
John Daly and Andrew "Beef" Johnston are possibly the two most popular cult heroes at the PGA Championship this week. Daly, of course, rose to fame nearly three decades ago and has been on the roller coaster ever since. Beef's rise is more recent, but that doesn't mean it's any different.
Daly and Johnston have played a lot of golf together over the years, but that didn't quite have the same meaning as it does now that Johnston has attained a popularity that belies his actual accomplishments as a pro golfer.
"He ... thought he could drink whiskey like me," Daly told PGATour.com about some time he spent with Beef in Europe a few years back. "And that didn't pan out too good. It was so funny. He came over to the hotel, we just started drinking and listening to music. He tried to keep up -- and he just couldn't."
And Daly sees a lot of himself in Beef. Who doesn't? At The Open Championship, Johnston was grinning at galleries, yukking it up with players and generally seeming like he was having the time of his life. The English John Daly is how it felt then.
"He's a people person," Daly told PGATour.com. "He loves people and he loves people to root for him. That's just the way I was."
Johnston isn't just a one-hit wonder either. He can play some golf. He finished top 10 at Royal Troon and shot 70-69 in the first two rounds at Baltusrol. He will play the weekend about seven strokes back of the lead at the PGA Championship.
"I want to come away and look back in so many years and think, 'Yeah, that's been a great time on the golf course,'" Johnston told PGATour.com. "And not going, 'Oh yeah, well, it was good for a period of time but we had a good laugh.'"
"No, it's all about the golf."
















