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John Daly says he’s no train wreck, and he senses his golf game is back on track and gathering steam for the Australian Masters.
The two-time major winner has already earned in headlines whatever money he’s getting for playing the tournament at Huntingdale starting on Thursday – despite the fact he’s barely made a cut in the past two years and is ranked 603rd in the world.
That record opened the door for criticism that his invitation to the Masters was more about capitalising on fascination with his much-publicised troubles off the course.
Stuart Appleby described the American as a “walking train wreck” on Monday.
But Daly politely brushed it off and said his personal life was not the shambles it might appear.
“My life is fine, it is not as bad as people think it is,” Daly said on Wednesday.
“I have just heard about this train wreck thing, Hell, if I’m a train wreck I’m doing pretty good.”
Daly said part of his undoubted appeal was that the public could relate to his personal struggles, but that as a high-profile sportsman he was held to higher standards.
“Athletes in the world today are set on such a big pedestal now that nobody thinks they do wrong or they think they don’t have any problems,” he said.
“Well, everybody has problems and I’m a fighter, I’m a survivor and I’ll get through anything people can throw at me.
“I’ve done a lot of stupid things I take responsibility for, but a lot of it came upon me. It’s just life.”
He put down much of his poor form over the past two years to a rib and shoulder injury, but said stem cell therapy in August fixed that problem.
He added that the loss of his US PGA Tour card and rankings plummet made it hard to get the regular tournament play needed to be at his best.
He intends to play the European Tour next year, because he can get more tournament starts there than in the US, and aims to return to the world top 50.
The Masters is co-sanctioned by the European Tour, as was last week’s Hong Kong Open, in which Daly shot a final round 62 to finish tied for 17th, his best result this year.
He maintained his form as he notched eight birdies as part of a team event in Wednesday’s pro-am at Huntingdale.
“I’m trying to feed off last week … I’m playing again and getting my swing back,” Daly said.
“Here if you just hit the fairways and putt well you can play good, if I keep working hard at it hopefully something good might happen.”
Last time Daly visited Australia, in 2002, his farewell act was to throw his putter into a Coolum lake and storm off, earning disqualification for not signing his card.
That incident came a week after his mother died while he was playing in Thailand and he admitted he was wrong to come to Australia at all.
“I should have flown home but I didn’t, it was pretty stupid on my part,” he said.
Daly will tee off in the Masters at 7.10am (AEDT) on Thursday, playing alongside Australia’s three-time winner Craig Parry and Finn Mikko Ilonen.
Australian Robert Allenby, who won at Huntingdale in 2003 and 2005, is the tournament favourite, ahead of Stuart Appleby and Peter Lonard, with South Africa’s Tim Clark the most highly-rated overseas player.