Yet there was a serious side to the mishap on the seniors circuit, particularly as the 59-year-old has undergone 16 operations in the past four years because of tangled tendons in his hands, and Daly was quick to praise John Cooley for his bravery.
“Bellyfloppin’ in the desert”, Daly posted on Instagram. “ [A] true buddy sliding in to save [me].”
Daly had played his first 10 holes in four under at La Paloma Country Club in Tucson and, in the first group out, was heading for his first top-10 finish on the over-50s tour in almost three years. But as he tends to, Daly made an erratic swing on the 508-yard par-five and his hook sent him among the cactus.
Daly was forced to take a penalty drop, but then managed to chop it out on to the fairway. It was a commendable effort, but it came at a price as he lost his footing and ended up on his stomach. Daly desperately tried to reach out to grab on to something to stop slipping further into the greenery. “We’ve lost John Daly,” was Golf Digest’s reaction.
And it was at this point, as he disappeared out of view, that Cooley – who for his main job is a singer-songwriter in Nashville – leapt into the trouble to help out his employer. After a few minutes, the pair apparently emerged arm in arm from the needles looking dishevelled but without severe injury.
The ensuing double-bogey was inevitable, as was the bogey on the next, but Daly, the 1995 Open winner, admirably recovered his focus to pick up two more birdies coming in. The 68 took him to six under and into a tie for 29th, nine strokes behind champion Steve Alker, who beat Ireland’s Padraig Harrington, in a play-off.
Daly will play next at the Hoag Classic in California in two weeks and then in Augusta, where he will, as always, park up his merchandise truck to sell to attendees of the Masters.
However, Daly will not be at his usual Hooters pitch, where a few years ago he sold almost $1m of gear – the famous restaurant just a few hundred metres down Washington Road from Magnolia Drive has been abolished. So Daly has found a new home, a few miles away at a TopGolf driving range. And this footage should ensure that Daly’s stall remains as popular as ever.