John Daly is at The Masters, But he Ain’t Playing Golf

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Former PGA and British Open champion John Daly is at Augusta, Georgia, where the annual Masters golf tournament is being played, but he’s not on the golf course.

Daly is instead selling golf memorabilia in the parking lot of a strip mall across the street from Augusta National.

Daly was one of the most entertaining golfers in the world, winning two major titles with his booming drives and go-for-broke style.

He also was a hard-drinking, hard-living, heavy-gambling (literally) train-wreck-waiting-to-happen kind of guy, and you never knew which one you were going to get.

Daly owns a restaurant in Olive Branch, Mississippi and he occasionally pops in to have a bite and greet customers. I was in his restaurant not long ago when Daly made one such visit.

I asked Daly how life was treating him and he replied, “have you ever seen the business end of a mule?” I told him I was trying to quit and then he said, “that’s my life in a nutshell – a mule’s ass.”

I duly noted the double entendre.

Daly is serving out the last few weeks of a six-month suspension from the PGA tour, and he’s slimmer than he’s been in years after surgery to shrink his stomach.

He says the money he makes from selling his merchandise – cash only, please – will help him stave off bankruptcy – and keep him from having to ride a mule to the tournaments.