ORLANDO, Fla. -- Less than a week after he caused a stir for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, John Daly was disqualified for not being where he was supposed to be at another PGA Tour stop.
The troubled star missed his scheduled pro-am tee time Wednesday morning and was booted from this week's prestigious Arnold Palmer Invitational.
"Hasn't been a good day," Daly told the Associated Press. "This is the last thing I needed in my life. I feel like I let Arnold down."
Daly was given a sponsor exemption by Palmer, the tournament host, or he otherwise would not have qualified to play in the invitational field. Players who miss a pro-am time face automatic ejection from that week's event. Daly, who found the unwanted limelight as a result of his beer-soaked behavior at last weekend's PGA Tour stop in Tampa, never showed for this 8:40 a.m. slot.
The AP reported that when Daly called for his pro-am starting time, he was given his Thursday starting time of 9:47 a.m. instead.
"I didn't even know that was my Thursday tee time," Daly told the AP. "I should have looked into it. It stinks for me. I want to do anything I can for the tournament as a sponsor exemption. I wanted to meet the people I was playing in the pro-am. I love Arnold Palmer to death. I called and talked to him and apologized."
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| Out of control? John Daly has gone so far as to use Jon Gruden as his caddie. (Getty Images) |
"There's a guy with so much talent," NBC Sports analyst Dottie Pepper said. "His priorities seem a little lost right now. It's very, very sad what's going on right now and you hope he has bottomed out."
Daly spent much of his week in Tampa in a Hooters beer garden adjacent to the 17th green at Innisbrook Resort, dropping by during a 2½-hour rain delay in the first round and again on Saturday, after he shot 78-80 to miss the cut.
In a scathing quote circulated by the AP, Harmon said he gave Daly one chance to prove he was serious about rebuilding his game, and Daly whiffed on the opportunity. The Los Angeles Times reported this spring that Daly was so intoxicated after attending a party after the third round of the Bob Hope Classic, he had to be helped from the grounds. He withdrew the next day.
"My whole goal for him was he's got to show me golf is the most important thing in his life," Harmon told the AP on Tuesday. "And the most important thing in his life is getting drunk."
Daly told the AP: "I just wish Butch had called me before getting slapped in the face. I love Butch to death. I still think he's the greatest coach out there. I just told him, 'Don't always believe what you read in the paper.' I texted him, 'All I wish you'd done is call me.' It was a shock to me."
In addition to the Tampa photographer, a prominent tour caddie who was on the 17th hole with his player said Daly yelled his name from the beer garden during third-round play competition, then flashed him the bird, too. After the first-round rain delay, Daly emerged from the tent with Tampa Bay Buccaneers football coach Jon Gruden as his caddie, calling into question whether he was making a mockery of the competition.
Daly, who lost his full playing card two years ago, has been playing mostly on sponsor exemptions ever since. Because he remains a big fan draw, tournaments have continued to give him berths, warts and all. But given his propensity to quit and make a fool of himself, tournaments are reassessing whether his baggage outweighs his drawing power. The high-powered Wachovia Championship declined to issue him a sponsor exemption this year after extending one in 2007.
"Doors are beginning to close," NBC analyst Roger Maltbie said.
Even though Daly's behavior has been a point of discussion among tour staffers all week in Orlando, PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said Wednesday that he had not been briefed on the Tampa episodes and had only heard of Daly's no-show for the pro-am a few moments earlier.
"I never leap to any conclusion on anybody's conduct based on what I read in the newspaper or what somebody tells me," Finchem said. "I never do that until I talk to the player and I learn fully what happened."
He needs evidence? In the case of the Tampa beer-garden scenario, a series of photographs posted online in the Tampa paper showed Daly in the beer garden, and an accompanying audio clip captured Daly talking about how much alcohol he had consumed that day. At least one high-ranking PGA Tour staff member has been aware of the incidents since the story was published Sunday.
Daly told the AP he thought he was doing the tournament a favor by drumming up business at the raucous tent.
"I signed about a thousand hats," Daly said. "I love Hooters. I had a few beers and some chicken wings. It was Saturday. I wasn't even playing in the tournament."
Daly was replaced Wednesday by England's Ian Poulter, who was actually listed as a pro-am alternate for the afternoon session but volunteered to replace Daly.
"My life is upside-down right now," Daly told the AP. "No matter what I do, it's wrong. I'm thinking of writing a new song. I'll call it, 'I guess it's my fault, even when it's not my fault."'
But there was collateral damage this time. Pro-am alternates Nick O'Hern and red-hot Ryuji Imada were disqualified for failing to show up for the morning wave of the event after Daly didn't show.
"So now I got these guys mad at me, too," Daly said.
It's the player's responsibility to know their tee times and status for both the regular competition and pro-am play. The pro-am pairings were released Monday and the alternates -- with three each for the morning and afternoon pro-am waves -- were posted Tuesday.
O'Hern, who lives five miles from the course, said, "we got caught up in John's snowball effect."
In particular, Imada's benching was tough to stomach. Imada, who is seventh in FedEx Cup points, is ranked No. 68 in the world and hoping to crack the top 50 at month's end in order to secure a spot in the Masters. He's finished in the top five in three of his past four starts.
Tag Ridings, rookie Michael Letzig and Peter Lonard were added to the field after the other three were ruled ineligible to play.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
