Stuart Appleby on John Daly: 'He's a Walking Train Wreck'

John Daly has plenty of reasons his peers could judge him. His on-course antics, his off-course antics and oh, you know, the occasional "getting arrested at Hooters" thing.

The past few weeks, however, have actually been filled with positive Daly news, as the 42-year-old shot an 8-under 62 to close out the Hong Kong Open and improve his scoring average over the last 14 rounds to a smooth 68.86.

Stuart Appleby, however, is not impressed. It appears the Australian, whose home country is hosting Daly over the next two weeks for the Australian Masters and Australian PGA, became one of the few golfers to speak out against the long-hitting Daly, saying he was worried about Daly at these events.

"His game hasn't been to the level he wants it, and the sponsors have seen fit to see John Daly (play). Unfortunately there's a million guys who hit it as long as John Daly now. Very few, I guess, make it look as effortless as John does, but I don't think John's here because of his world ranking (603).
"I'm not quite sure how that works. I guess he's a walking train wreck and unfortunately, people turn their heads to watch the train wreck."

It might be a little harsh but the statement couldn't be more true. Daly averaged 302.1 yards off the tee this season, good enough for eighth on the driving distance list, but not nearly as dominant as he once was in that category. We have guys like J.B. Holmes and Bubba Watson who can drive the ball miles down the fairways, yet haven't gambled, drank or disqualified themselves to the ninth ward.

As for the train wreck thing, that is Daly's niche. He is the "people's golfer" because he, like most of us, is a little crazy and wears his heart right over that Hooters patch on his sleeve. If I was Appleby, I'd probably be a little concerned with Daly coming back to Australia for a golf tournament since the last time he played the Australian PGA he tossed his putter in the water after shooting a 78 and was disqualified for not signing his scorecard.

Appleby had been paired with Daly at the Australian Masters that year and said Daly gave him something to model himself against.

Appleby remembers it well; he was paired with Daly on the opening two days in what was his first appearance at the Masters, and remembers the hype, plus Daly's running commentary about his drinking habits.

"I'm trying to live the cleanest, straightest life here, and this is one of the world's greatest players. I was really confused by what he was telling me ... I'm thinking, 'I want to be the opposite to that'." The tournament starts on Thursday.

So, Appleby avoids Foster's at all costs? I guess that makes two of us.

The tournament kicks off on Thursday in Melbourne.