The beer-swilling, cigar-smoking John Daly likely isn’t somebody that fans should be taking health tips from, but nonetheless he has been forced to apologize after saying that a steady diet of vodka will help fight off Covid-19.
Daly has a history of alcohol and gambling addiction through his storied career, which saw the former Open and USPGA champion emerge as one of golf’s biggest names in the 1990s and early 2000s.
However, given an almost innate predisposition to burning the candle at both ends, Daly’s career stagnated towards mediocrity soon after – and with the titles, accolades and adulation almost entirely dried up, the 54-year-old continues to make headlines off the golf course.
A video – which was produced to send to members of Donald Trump’s golf courses across the world – emerged online recently showing Daly holding a bottle of vodka, where he implied that drinking a bottle per day will stave off danger during the current coronavirus pandemic.
“Just drink one of these a day,” Daly says in the video. “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.”
In honor of #NationalGolfersDay, here’s a special message from our dear friend and golf legend @PGA_JohnDaly ⛳️ Hope everyone is staying safe and healthy! @TrumpGolfpic.twitter.com/lKiIVayy16
However, what Daly says was intended as a joke certainly wasn’t receive in that fashion by many who saw it – and he has since backtracked.
“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,” Daly explained to Golf.com.
“Shame we can’t have any humour in this country or this world anymore, you know, without somebody busting your you know what. We all need some fun right now. We all need a sense of humour 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.”
Believe it or not, John Daly isn’t the only prominent member of society to have prescribed vodka as a possible pandemic prevention after the leader of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, stated in March that a few shots of the liquor is enough to ward off the deadly virus.
Also among Lukashenko’s recommendations from last month for maintaining health during the pandemic were farming, visiting a sauna and playing sports. The Belarusian Premier League remains among the only sporting leagues in the world not to have ceased activity amid current Covid-19 restrictions.
