Two-time major champion John Daly said he was just joking around when he talked about having a cure for COVID-19 in a 50-second video posted to YouTube and shared by The Trump Organization on April 9.
Speaking Monday on Golf.com’s Subpar show hosted by former PGA Tour pro Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz, Daly addressed the backlash he received concerning his remedy consisting of vodka, Diet Coke and cigarettes.
“Shame we can’t have any humor in this country or this world anymore, you know, without somebody busting your you know what,” Daly said. “I didn’t mean to hurt anybody’s feelings. Hell, I was just doing it for fun, just try to get some laughs in the tough times we’re going through.
“We all need some (fun) right now, we all need a sense of humor right now. We pray for the people who have fallen and pray for this virus to get over. I didn’t mean any harm by it.”
“WHO” really did a lot for us didn’t they? Grow up reporters, I did a video for fun to put some laughter in us through this tough time! Y’all are a joke!
— John Daly (@PGA_JohnDaly) April 20, 2020
In the video he said he shot for members of President Trump’s golf clubs across the world, the 53-year-old Daly, who has battled alcohol problems throughout his career, said he only has one drink a day but it happens to be a bottle of “good ol’ Belvedere.”
“Just drink one of these a day,” Daly says in the video as he holds up the bottle. “You know, sippy, sippy on a McDonald’s Diet Coke ya know, wash it down pretty good. Never have a hangover. And that’s the way you kill this coronavirus, I believe. But y’all be safe, take care and hopefully, we’ll be getting back to the things we do best pretty soon.”
The World Health Organization, however, says alcohol may put people at increased risk of contracting the coronavirus.
Over 50 candid minutes on Subpar, Daly also talked about his large memorabilia collection; how he’s playing a lot of golf at his own course in Arkansas during the pandemic; his wins in the 1991 PGA Championships and the 1995 British Open; and whether or not he belongs in the World Golf Hall of Fame.
And Daly remembered his first encounter with Tiger Woods. It came at the prestigious Big “I” Junior Classic at Texarkana Country Club in Arkansas in 1989. Daly was a professional but put on a clinic for the junior golfers and also was paired with Woods in a practice round.
“I hit a 5-iron 220 yards or something and the ball came unwound,” Daly said. “And I think that kind of freaked him out, he thought it was the coolest thing that ever happened and that he’s seen in golf, that’s what he told his mom and dad. I had to get a rules official because it just had the rubber bands sitting there on the front of the green. I didn’t know what to do. Can I play it?
“Luckily, I got to replace the ball. I only beat him by three shots that day. He was only 13.”
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