Magic Moments

He claimed his mood would have been a lot better had the McDonalds stand been open for business. But as it was, John Daly couldn't have been more friendly when I approached him on the putting green at Mount Juliet. We were about to play together in the Murphy's Irish Open Pro-Am.

It was such a thrill for me that I don't think I'll ever forget the date: June 29th, 1994. The other members of our team were the Liverpool comedian Tom O'Connor and Irish Independent columnist Myles McWeeney.

I reckon I was off a respectable eight at the time but as things turned out, it wasn't to be a very competitive afternoon. Fun was the key ingredient. I was rather pleased, however, to outdrive John on the first, even if he happened to hook his long iron off the championship tee, nine yards back from where I was hitting.

It was close to mid-day when our round got under way so we had fairly big galleries. And as I looked at John and the way he responded to their enthusiasm, I thought what a gracious guy he was. Then there was Tom cracking jokes all the time while Myles, I'm afraid, was having a bad day at the office.

The real highpoint of the round was the short 14th. John's caddie, Dave McNeely, had difficulty in getting through the crowds around the 13th green, so the big man found himself on the tee with only his putter. "Watch this," he said to me with a mischievous grin.

With that, he teed-up the ball and proceeded to hit it with his putter. I was absolutely amazed. It was a fine shot, though it hooked a little into the left greenside bunker. "Good exhibition stuff, eh?" said John (right), clearly delighted with the roars from the crowd.

By the time we reached the green, he had got his sandwedge from the caddie and proceeded to hit a glorious bunker recovery to gimme distance from the hole. A pretty straightforward par, you might say.

All the while, I was aware that Christy O'Connor Snr had been following us in a buggy from about the 12th. Knowing Christy from Royal Dublin, where I'm a member, I asked John if he'd ever met him. No, came the reply, but he had met Junior. With that, I went over to Christy and said "John Daly would love to meet you." To which Himself replied: "I would love to meet him."

After shaking hands, they had a few private words together. Then, as Christy headed off in the buggy, Daly turned to me and, positively glowing, enthused: "What an honour that was!" He was like a kid who had just won a balloon.

To the best of my reckoning, we finished last, but if any of the other teams had half as much fun as we had, they must have had a terrific day. But there was more to come. When I asked John to join me for a Coke in the bar afterwards, he declined, saying he'd prefer to go back to Mount Juliet House.

There, he took me up to his bedroom which was a veritable treasure trove of golf equipment and accessories. The upshot was that he presented me with two sweaters, two shirts, two pairs of golf socks and two dozen golf balls with his own, special logo, incorporating the emblem of the University of Arkansas.

Since then, he has won the British Open. I wish him many more successes. His warmth and generosity of spirit, quite apart from his wonderful skills, can only be good for the game.