Why Was John Daly and His Playing Partner Once Fined For Playing Fast?

Golf is most commonly played with the speed of what the golfer desires. Playing each hole slowly will result in players getting fined. However, today we look back at when John Daly and Mark Calcavecchia were fined for playing too fast. Yes, you read that right…too fast!

It may be considered a rare sight for many golf fans and even players to see golfers getting fined for playing too fast. The incident too place back in 1997 Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass.

Daly along with Calcavecchia was playing his final round of the tournament. However, the PGA Tour wasn’t very pleased with the duo’s rapid round.

John Daly and Mark Calcavecchia fined by officials

During the 1992 Players Tournament, Daly and Calcavecchia finished the final round in two hours and three minutes. They finished the round with an 80 and 81 respectively.

After the game, a rules official notified Daly and Calcavecchia that they were receiving a citation for conduct unbecoming of a professional and would have to pay a fine. Evidently, both stars weren’t very happy about that.

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A furious Mark Calcavecchia said, “There are guys who are playing in twosomes, and they are going to fine us for fast play? Put that in the paper. They said we weren’t putting forth our best effort.” 

Later that day, Big John too had his say on the fine. He said “I actually hit the ball pretty good. Me and Mark just wanted to have some fun. We wanted to show the fans a good time, and I think they enjoyed it. They didn’t care what we shot. They had a good time out there.”

Despite the fines, both players admitted they gave their best in the final round. The details on the amount of the fine were never revealed until last year.

Calcavecchia reveals after nearly three decades

Last year, nearly 30 years since they were imposed with a fine at the Players Tournament, Mark Calcavecchia took to Twitter to clear the story. Apparently, they never got fined in the first place.

After a fan tweeted about the incident last year, Calcavecchia shed light on what happened after the tournament. He tweeted, “We didn’t end up getting fined. Wrote letters of appeal that did the trick. John Daly made a 10 on 5th hole and I finished 7-4-7. So our argument was we were playing better then the day before so no fine. My trip on 18 cost us fracking 2 hours. Still mad about it.”

So after three decades of thinking about why Daly and Calcavecchia were imposed fines for playing too fast, we got to know that they weren’t fined at all. So next time you’re at the course, don’t be afraid of this myth and enjoy playing at your own pace.

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