Golf, for some reason, has been immune to these kinds of problems…till now.

John Daly, one of the “larger than life characters” has been suspended by the PGA for 6 months. THE John Daly, THE guy that carried this sport from one legend to another. THE guy that set the tone for a decade of distance explosion on tour. THE guy that everyone loved and THE guy that every single player has swung like at least once.

For those that missed it, golf was not always about how many tournaments Tiger will win from year to year. Golf was without a star. Sure it had its Davis Love III, Freddy Couples, Tom Kite, and Vijay Singh. What it did not have is a character. It did not have anyone that rallied the sport.

Then the unthinkable happened. John Daly won the 1991 PGA Championship as the last alternate in the field and the world of golf has never been the same. “Grip it and Rip it” became an overnight sensation as the “everyman” of the golf world rode this win to super stardom. Suddenly, the beer drinking, fist pumping behavior of a football game was not only accepted, but was encouraged at events where Daly played.

Daly changed the way golf was watched and also changed the way it was played…

Then the hero we had embraced and created did something we could not believe. He acted like himself. He did not embrace the uppity attitude of the PGA tour and continued to live life HIS WAY on HIS TERMS. He gambled, he drank, he smoked…alot, he divorced and lived the “high life” of a rock star as a golfer.

We embraced him for this and later destroyed and mourned him for it. The PGA tour built an entire marketing campaign around him and pushed him as someone to watch in all his humanity and now have suspended him for being human too long.

I do not condone his behavior nor do I fault the tour for their actions with him. What I can’t comprehend is how we got to this point. Did we turn a blind eye? Did we just want him to be himself so badly that when he was, we didn’t like what we saw? Did we just not know?

I have no idea. What I can tell you is that at 33 years of age, I have not lived a perfect life and I am not here to judge or condemn Daly or the PGA. What I can tell you is the following…

John Daly gave me a career. Much like Tiger and Jack before him, John Daly transcended the sport of Golf and got to a place that very few ever do. He influenced people. He got people, that would not typically show any interest in the sport, to play golf. He influenced golfers to change their swings and change their mindsets.

“Grip it and Rip it” was not just a slogan anymore. It was a way to play the game for those that did not have the formal training others may have had. It made the everyman get up off the couch and go PLAY golf. John Daly helped create Jobs.

Does anyone remember the Killer Whale driver? I do and I know another guy who does too…My Father. He bought one “because John Daly used it.” John Daly sold golf clubs like nobody before him in the current state of Golf Equipment. He was one of the first to use a Titanium Driver called the Wilson Invex. John Daly REVOLUTIONIZED golf.

John Daly gave me a profession. I had already been in the business a good amount of time when Tiger landed on the golf world and changed the game again. But Daly was the first one that saved my job.

I own John Daly a debt of gratitude. I own John Daly a great big thank you!

I hope that one day John figures out that he owes himself a better life.