For years, the lure of John Daly has been his party-boy persona and his belief in living life to the fullest.
He was identified by his penchant for cigarettes, Diet Cokes and his annual fan get-together in the parking lot at Hooters during Masters week.
All that created a caricature of Daly that gave little hint of the man inside the brightly-colored pants. Now 54, Daly is ready to add another, more impactful chapter to his legacy, putting his “Heart of a Lion” mantra on full display.
Later this month, Daly will launch a new foundation with an undisclosed partner. The 501C3 charity will serve children and veterans, with some of the initiatives to benefit cities where Daly schedules golf appearances.
Its first major donation will be the construction of a new Boys & Girls Club in Dardanelle, Arkansas, where Daly lives and holds his annual golf tournament in support of that club. The new group is also building a home for a veteran in Oklahoma.
The date of that awakening for the winner of nearly $12 million in his PGA and Champions Tour careers remains unknown. Daly declined to comment after carding an 82 Saturday in the third round of the Bridgestone Senior Players Championship at Firestone Country Club during which he broke his putter after carding a 9 on the 16th hole (his seventh). The foundation’s announcement and kickoff is slated for Aug. 26-28.
Daly has another foundation, but it has languished in recent years. Leslie met Daly through the unnamed partner, a close friend of Daly’s. Leslie believes they found each other at the right time about three or four months ago.
Leslie, 50, of Manhattan Beach, California, calls himself an entrepreneur. He owns a CBD company and a printing business. He says he attended “the college of hard knocks,” to which down-to-earth Daly can relate. Leslie had served on boards of other charities and volunteered his help in a new endeavor.
“I said, ‘I have an accounting firm, I have a law firm, I have graphic designers, I have everything in house to do this,’” Leslie said in a Friday phone interview. “Oddly enough, it just clicked like nothing I’ve ever seen in my life.”
Leslie said he plays golf, though not well, and had the same impression of Daly as most of the sport’s fans.
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“From the outside watching golf and watching John, I didn’t realize what a good man he actually is,” Leslie said. “The media portray him as a party boy. He does have some of that, but that’s OK because that’s him.
“In the short time I’ve known him, he’s one of my favorite people on earth. He’s a great golfer and I’m not sure if he even understands his star status. There’s not one time he hasn’t answered my phone call or text. It’s always, ‘What’s up, brother? You know I love you, man.’ How can you not love somebody who says that to you? That’s him in a nutshell. He loves life, loves people and he loves his family.”
Daly has three children — Shynah, 28, Sierra, 25, and John II, 17, a promising junior golfer.
Leslie said he’s already spoken to about 30 potential donors, all friends of Daly’s. Leslie said the new foundation’s goal is to return 85 to 90 percent of the money raised to charity.
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“He goes, ‘We haven’t started yet, brother,’” Leslie said of Daly. “He was in a car with a large music star the other day and all of a sudden this musician goes, ‘Hey, Rick, I heard about you.’
“These are people who would do whatever John wanted, just because of John’s heart. They’re like, ‘[If it’s] set up properly, we’re in. What do you need?’ I’ve never had that, ever.’ When you raise money for 501C3 companies, it’s a struggle. You get 100 or 200 people, it’s a good showing. We’ve already spoken to that many people and 30-plus have been stars.”
Leslie called the new organization “a foundation of foundations.” He said it will partner with other charities and said Gary Sinise’s will be one of them. The actor best known for his role as Lt. Dan Taylor in “Forrest Gump” is dedicated to helping veterans, first responders and their families. If Daly is playing in Memphis, Tennessee, Leslie said it will be St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Two affiliations in Florida are also being lined up.
“Not everybody is as lucky as who we have and what we have, resources-wise and star power. And not just John,” Leslie said.
Daly will always be a larger-than-life figure. It may not be possible for him to eclipse his missteps, his excesses, the outrageousness that made him a cult hero. But Leslie believes he can help Daly use all that for a greater purpose.
“Honestly, he has the biggest heart of anybody I know,” Leslie said. “This is his legacy. It’s an opportunity for him to help the public have a different perception of him.”
