We all can agree that Curtis Strange is a man of opinion and skill. Be it as a player, as evidenced during the 2002 Ryder Cup. Or as a pundit, when he laughed at a rookie Tiger Woods‘s face for wanting to win his first tournament. His strong opinions do come from a very profound understanding of the game. After all, when you have 17 PGA Tour wins to your name, it can be said that you do know a thing or two about golf.

Strange also won the US Open in 1998 and 1999, being the first player since Ben Hogan in 1951 to win the tournament in consecutive years. But can it be said that Strange has had to eat his own words after seeing how much Tiger Woods has achieved in his career? 82 wins, 15 majors, and numerous other accolades? You be the judge of that, but Strange did say that he learned. But after John Daly‘s months-old remarks, you might get more clarity.

Curtis Strange was not that nice to rookies, says John Daly

Appearing on Tucker Carlson’s podcast, The Tucker Carlson Encounter, in December 2023, Daly minced no words. When the interviewer asked him about any pro that he does not like, Daly honestly answered, “Me and Curtis Strange never got along.” “What’s he like?” asked Carlson. Daly replied, “He just wasn’t nice to me. He just wasn’t a nice guy to me.”

Kid Rock, another guest on the podcast, was shocked at the idea of somebody not liking John Daly, a guy who is well-known for his fun personality and larger-than-life persona, and said, “Who would not be nice to you?”. Turning to Carlson, Rock added, “He’s the nicest guy you’ve ever met.” Well, we sure have not met Daly yet, but we can tell that Rock is right. Daly shrugged and said, “He just didn’t like rookies. I was a rookie, and he just didn’t like me.”

Long John joined the American Tour in 1991, and it was a hit. He won his first major title that year, which was the 1991 PGA Championship, and after this, he told Strange’s caddie for the Skins game, as revealed by Daly himself. The then 25-year-old Arkansas native shut out Curtis Strange, Payne Stewart, and Golden Bear Jack Nicklaus and won six skins worth $120,000 and two cars in nine holes at the $540,000 Skins Game.

Daly had an altercation with Strange in his rookie year, as disclosed by Daly in an interview with Sounder’s Dan Davies. During the BellSouth Classic in 1991, Daly claims to have squared up to Strange when he highlighted Daly’s rookie status, saying, “You do not putt where a veteran putts.” Daly was so agitated with the conversation that he lost his calm and said, “OK, there’s two things are gonna happen. I’m a redneck from Arkansas, and I’m going to keep putting at this hole. The second thing that’s going to happen is I’m going to take your body and break it into six f**king pieces so you’ll never win a third US Open. So get the f**k out of my way so I can work on my game.” Apparently, Curtis Strange then walked right off.

Strange also told Daly to “crawl under a rock” following his comments in an interview in Great Britain, as per Golf Digest. It was again in Daly’s early days, and a journalist there asked him if he knew anything about Tour guys smoking anything. The 58-year-old said that he did not know and did not care. The news was broken down in a very manipulative manner, and the 2x major winner got the heat for it.

This interview again shows the strong-mindedness of Strange as a person. It also shows that he is very old school with his approach, expecting rookies to be humble and viewing their confidence as some sort of subversion towards the old guard. The infamous Tiger Woods’s instance is another testament to it.

Curtis Strange’s dismissal of Tiger Woods’ confidence

Woods’ first event was at the Greater Milwaukee Open in 1996. After his first round, the future golf phenom sat down with Strange to discuss his ambitions for the tournament and more. Strange asked young Woods what would account for a successful week for him. “2 things,” naive Woods said. “First, to play 4 solid rounds. We’re off to a good start today. If I can do it for 3 more days, I’ll be very happy. A victory would also be nice, too.” Strange smirked as soon as he heard the comment and inquired, “A victory?” Woods hummed to confirm that Strange had heard him correctly.

Looking up at the heavens, Strange strongly opined that Woods’ statement came across as “c**ky” and “brash” to him as the Tour had much more experienced golfers competing. To this, Woods humbly replied, saying that this has always been his attitude and that he does not see any point in competing if the idea is not to win. The 15x major winner then added his dad, Earl Woods’s words, saying, “…second s**ks, the third’s even worse…“, to which Strange interjected by saying it’s not too bad to finish second or third sometimes. Woods simply said, “That’s not too bad, but I want to win. That’s just my nature.” “You’ll learn,” said Strange with a smirk.

What do you think of Curtis Strange? Let us know in the comments!