‘I don’t consider the US Open a major’ – John Daly got so frustrated at Pinehurst’s fast greens that he whacked a golf ball while it was still moving
It was one of the greatest 'bad' shots in golf history.
With golfers and fans expecting fast greens at Pinehurst for the 2024 US Open, John Daly's crazy run on the eighth green 25 years ago is more than just a hilarious memory.
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It could be a telling sign of things to come when Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Bryson DeChambeau and more try to win golf's latest major tournament.
Daly's seething frustration at Pinehurst in 1999 is now the stuff of golf legend.
"I don't consider the US Open a major anymore," said Daly, after he received a big, fat 11 on the eighth green.
If that sounds bad, Daly's ball whack was even worse.
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The United States golfer -- who has five PGA Tour wins and stunned the sports world with his miraculous victory at the 1991 PGA Championship -- felt that he'd been betrayed by a course that played too fast and was unfair to the best golfers on the planet.
"When you go over the green, you should be able to at least have a chance to get it up and down," Daly said. "Where the USGA put that flag was two feet on the back, maybe three or four or whatever.
"I just I hit it and i thought I hit a good chip or putt or whatever. Came back to me."
Then Daly became even more famous.
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The 1999 US Open felt more like its UK counterpart during the final round, thinks to a temperature that was almost 20 degrees below normal, drizzling rain and an overcast sky.
Severely sloped edges of the greens were so unforgiving that Daly lost it when his ball came back to him again.
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His answer?
One of the most unique golfers in the sport's history walked up to his rolling ball and whacked it with his putter while the ball was still moving.
With the ball rolling backward like Daly was playing goofy golf putt-putt, the pro simply gave up and didn't care anymore.
"The ball starts to roll back down the hill and he decides he's seen enough of that," an announcer said.
Daly received a two-stroke penalty for hitting a moving ball and finished the tournament tied in 68th place, last among everyone who made the cut.
Daly also ended up 29-above par.
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Payne Stewart made history in 1999 with an iconic victory.
Daly showed the other side of Pinehurst, which could return again 25 years later.
The 2024 tournament begins Thursday in North Carolina and concludes Sunday with the final round.
Video footage showed the greens being watered to address a potentially fast course.
In the opening round at the recent PGA Championship, Daly finished 11-over par, carding an 82 to sit next-to-last.
He drove himself around on a golf cart while his caddie carried his clubs around for him.
According to a reporter at Valhalla, Daly smoked two packs of cigarettes, ate four Snickers bars and drank two bottles of Coke through the opening 18 holes.
He was then forced to withdraw from the tournament due to a thumb injury.
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Pinehurst's sharp edges were already on display early in the first round on Thursday.
But Rory McIlroy was in fine form, sharing the lead with Patrick Cantlay at 5-under.
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