Daly DQ also nixes Imada, O’Hern from Bay Hill, Wachovia Declines to Offer Daly Sponsor’s exemption

Now John Daly’s behavior isn’t hurting only John Daly.  Now any panderer and enabler who says “he’s only hurting himself” can eat crow.

This time, John Daly’s reckless attitude towards his responsibilities as a professional golfer cost Ryuji Imada and Nick O’Hern a chance to compete at Bay Hill this week.  As CBSSports.com’s Steve Elling explains in his article, when John Daly bagged his pro-am duties today, the responsibility fell to the alternates, but neither Imada nor O’Hern were on the property of the Bay Hill resort when the tee time was called.  Therefore, they were disqualified from the competition along with Daly.  From the article:

“There was collateral damage this time, too. Pro-am alternates Nick O’Hern and red-hot Ryuji Imada were disqualified for failing to show up for the morning wave of the event.

It’s the player’s responsibility to know their tee times and status for both the regular competition and pro-am play. The pro-am pairings were released Monday and the alternates — with three each for the morning and afternoon pro-am waves — were posted Tuesday.

O’Hern, who lives five miles from the course, told the AP, “we got caught up in John’s snowball effect.”

In particular, Imada’s benching was tough to stomach. Imada, who is seventh in FedEx Cup points, is ranked No. 68 in the world and hoping to crack the top 50 at month’s end in order to secure a spot in the Masters. He’s finished in the top five in three of his past four starts.

Tag Ridings, rookie Michael Letzig and Peter Lonard were added to the field after the other three were ruled ineligible to play.”

Perhaps the most damning condemnation of Daly came from the Wachovia Championship officials, who declined to extend a sponsor’s exemption to Daly, a classy decision that rejects the lowest-common-denominator proposition that Daly’s antics might bring in more money.

I wrote in this article that an intervention is necessary for the good and welfare of John’s young son.  If not for John, then for his little boy.  It is becoming increasingly clearer that Daly’s health will suffer a serious setback if he doesn’t control his weight and alcohol intake.  All those who think that the game and Daly’s family are better served by allowing him to enter events and make a spectacle drinking just so some casual fans can say “I drank with Big John” need to go back to the couch, turn on ESPN and keep their lunacies to themselves because the pandering and enabling indirectly stung some of John’s fellow pro golfers.  Sure, they should have been on the property and that’s their fault.  But what does it say when the reasonable thing to do is say to yourself, “shoot, it’s Daly and he’s as likely to bail as he is to show.” But they also have every right to look daggers at John for putting them in that position by not showing up in the first place.  Fredrik Jacobsen, ahead of both Imada and O’Hern on the alternate list, was excused for medical reasons.

On the subject of panderers and enablers, Steve Czaban brings some good news.  “One small reason to feel a little less cynical about big time sports: A Denver prosecutor has been reprimanded for letting Kenyon Martin off easy on two speeding tickets. One was for 101 mph in a 30-mph zone. Another was for 103 in a 55. Martin got to keep his license.”