Top 5 John Daly Moments

John Daly was my golfing hero growing up. The 1995 Open was the first time I remember watching a major. He was this big scruffy fella, who seemed like a normal bloke, who happened to hit it a million miles off the tee, a backswing that never ended, and could feather in his wedges with hands softer than fairy liquid. 

Our cap was much cooler than this promise...

This was exactly how I wanted to play golf. It was a lot more exciting than trying to copy Nick Faldo or Bernhard Langer. Pride of place in my golfing wardrobe was a navy blue Reebok cap, 'Grip It' emblazoned down one side, 'Rip It' down the other, and his signature stitched into the back of the cap. It wasn’t golf as we knew it, and it set me on the path to being a GolfPunk long before I’d ever heard the term. Who else had a streaker turn up when they were winning the Open?

So the fact he turns 50 today is a big deal. We know he can't wait to get started on the Champions Tour, playing with his contemporaries. A John Daly, with the bit between his teeth and a level playing field will be dangerous at that level.

We're partly amazed that he's made it this far, what with all the problems he's endured on and off the course. Multiple wives, lawsuits, alcohol addictions; John Daly has lived. We're just happy he's still alive.

His 50th birthday is also starting to make me feel old. I'm 34. I've been involved with GolfPunk on and off for 12 years now. In that time I've interviewed my golfing hero. And after getting over the glazed over fanboy expression I had on my face, JD was funny, intelligent, and a lot more eloquent than you would ever expect. 

Enough of my personal love letter, here are five of the best John Daly videos we could find, showing off every side of this unlikeliest of double major winners.

That time he did an interview topless...

That time he had a total meltdown in Australia, losing all of his golf balls...

That time he used a beer can for a tee peg...

Oh and a golf fans mouth...

And David Feherty's

That time he sang Dylan in Thailand...

When he outdrove Tiger Woods by 15 yards in a playoff...

Oh and why we're at it he did win the PGA Championship

And the Open!

Check out John Daly in the Top 50 GolfPunk's