There is only one person who can, “hit balls for maybe 20 minutes, putt a little bit, smoke 4-5 cigarettes, drink three diet cokes, and then go to the first tee.” That person is John Daly. The Wild Thing as he is referred to on the course, is an enigma for golfing fans then and now. A talented golfer, Daly was a phenomenon on the golf course.

Be it his whacky outfits or his infamous smokes mid-game, Daly has carved a space for himself in the golfing ecosystem. The 58-year-old is still going strong and competing on the PGA Tour as well as the Champions Tour.

His most recent appearance? At a podcast called ‘Like a Farmer’, wherein he put forth some tidbits from his playing career as well as his respect for one particular golfer. He joined with host Pat Spinosa and recalled his initial meet with Tiger Woods on a golf course and how his career has grown since meeting him.

The first meeting was special. John Daly, 20 then was playing in a junior tournament and he comes face to face with this young kid who is playing against grownups way older than him. He knew that the kid was going places. Even though, he was not sure about himself. That prompted him to go talk to Woods’s parents and tell them, “If you ever need anybody to look out for him, I will.”  What a sweet gesture from Daly, beginning a year-long friendship built on mutual respect.

They have a distant but mutual admiration that transcends the game of golf. Woods has redefined what success is in the game of golf. He is tied at 82 for the highest number of PGA Tour titles and also won 15 Majors during his stellar career. “What he has done for the game of golf is amazing.”

In the podcast, John Daly shares that he feels, he and Tiger Woods are similar in many ways. And that is true to a huge extent. Both Daly and Woods are huge fan favorites and draw in huge crowds wherever they play. In fact, their personal life and habits have been very heavily scrutinized by the media, something not a lot of the other golfers have had to deal with. “He is going through the same crap I am.”

Daly’s admiration for Woods goes beyond the field. The Big Cat is known to be a proper professional when it comes to following a training schedule and it is his hard work that translates onto the course and turns appearances into trophies.“The way he works out the way he practices and everything he does is 100%.” Tiger Woods’s daily routine is insane. Run 4 miles after getting up in the morning, go to the gym, hit balls for 2-3 hours, go to play, come back and work on the short game, run another 4 more miles, and then play basketball or, Tennis. You don’t get to be considered a generational talent for doing nothing.

But his respect and admiration also come with a stern warning. Modern-day golfers put a lot of focus on improving their physique off the field, to suit the game of golf. While that gives them improved performance in the short term, it is going to be troublesome for them when they get older. “Hardcore working out is gonna hurt these guys and they won’t be playing when they’re 55, 60. Daly still competes at a high level, having featured in two majors last year”, the PGA Championship and the Open Championship. He withdrew from both after round 1.

The rigidness of the regimen, compromises the longevity of the muscle, leading to loss in mobility and flexibility. “I think a lot of guys lose their flexibility,” stated John Daly. Flexibility is a key component when it comes to driving and most guys fail to generate the necessary force as they are not able to twist their bodies as they get older. Woods and his constant back injuries are a clear sign of the wear and tear his body is going through.

Tiger Woods’s long-fought battle with injuries

In January 2021, Tiger Woods underwent a fifth (yep, you heard that right!) procedure on his back. That was done to remove a pressurized disc fragment that compromised his game during the 2020 PNC Championship. His back was again in focus, on September 2024, when he underwent surgery to repair a nerve impingement on his lower back, a sixth back surgery during his 28-year career.

This is just the back. His left knee is another sore spot. Literally. During 9 years from 2002 to 2011, the Big Cat underwent medical procedures 4 times on his left knee. It started in 2002, when he had to remove fluid surrounding the Anterior Cruciate ligament(ACL) on his left knee, sidelining him for weeks. 6 years later, he had arthroscopic surgery to mend the cartilage damage on his left knee.

Two months later in June 2008, he had reconstructive surgery on his left ACL, which sidelined him for approximately nine months. He reported in May 2011 that he had an MCL ligament sprain and a strain on the Achilles tendon, both on his left knee.

No wonder John Daly is concerned about the modern golfer’s training regimen. Maybe he was right in believing that modern-day golfers are compromising mobility in the latter stages of life due to their high-performance regimen. What do you think?