john and phil
So another interesting part about John Daly’s win on Sunday: Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods at one point were within a stroke or two of the lead. In fact, Phil had the low round on Sunday (67) and was within striking distance until a costly double bogey at the 12th. Tiger also had trouble on 12, with a bogey that seemed to stall his charge.
One of the things John Daly said during his interview was that this was the first tournament he won that Tiger Woods was in the field, and that made it all the more special. But, for me, the more interesting comparison to draw is between Phil and John.
Their games have a lot of similarities: a lot of power, plus amazing short games (perhaps Phil’s is stronger or at least more creative), and a “gambler” mentality. But their careers have a lot of differences: Phil’s won plenty of tournaments and been a consistent Top 5 player (except for last year), but no majors. John, on the other hand, has won only 4 tournaments on the PGA tour, but 2 of them were majors (the PGA and British). Be interesting to consider whether Phil would trade some of his wins for 1 of John’s majors? Both golfers obviously have a world of talent, and both probably have “underachieved” to a certain extent given their talent. One stat on CBS that was pretty telling: almost every one of the instances in which John Daly has had the lead after the 3d round, JD has closed out the deal and won (now it’s, I believe, 4 out 5 opportunities). For all of the criticism JD receives for his “wild thing” persona, he displays a tremendous ability to seize any opportunity of winning that he has. My wish this year: Phil does that at one of the majors.
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