Daly has become a bore

John Daly shot a 75 last Friday, one shot worse than his opening round, and missed the cut in the tournament that made him famous 17 years ago, the PGA Championship.

It was “good riddance.”

Golf’s freak show, now 42, will have to get the freak back on his game somewhere else.

That, however, is apparently a minority position, for to walk with him that Friday (or any other time, for that matter) was to realize that for all his foibles, fans can’t help but watch him, even if it’s like waiting for a race car to crash.

Between him and playing partners Vijay Singh and David Toms, also former PGA champions, Daly (who hasn’t produced a top 10 finish since 2005) was the star.

Someone, for instance, in one of his front-nine galleries wore a “Team Daly” T-shirt. Another fan had “All Aboard the Daly Train” (apparently forgetting the word “wreck”) emblazoned on the back of his shirt.

A third fan opined after Daly blasted a drive 100 yards past Toms’ tee shot, “He’s good for the game.”

No he isn’t. He’s bad for it, wrong for it, because he has no respect for it. He was Manny being Manny before there was a Manny.

Yes, he’s won as many majors (1991 PGA, 1995 British Open) as Greg Norman and been married four times, just one less than Mr. and Mrs. Chris Evert combined.

He’s withdrawn from 11 tournaments the past three seasons, most after sponsors gave him exemptions as blatant attempts to sell tickets. He was also disqualified this year from Arnold Palmer’s tournament after failing to show for his pro-am starting time, costing a struggling alternate a spot in the field, because Daly couldn’t be replaced.

And messing with the King, something you just don’t do.

But Daly, as he’s proven, is simply all about John, writing an autobiography that champions his faults, including an addictive personality for alcohol, gambling and tobacco.

Smoking what seemed like a pack of cigarettes during his round Friday, he tossed each onto the ground before he hit shots, lacking only one other good ol’ boy accouterment: a beer to plunk down on the greens before he putted.

A can, of course.

Then again, up the road at the Buick Open earlier this summer, he and partner Kid Rock hit some of their tee shots off beer cans. This after Mr. Rock (or whatever he wants to be called) showed up in overalls, then eventually removed the shirt he wore underneath, much as Daly did in a YouTube video by showing his disdain for the no-shirt, no-shoes, no-golf rule.

Which also demonstrated that his listed 220 pounds represents the estimate of someone we’d all love to have for a butcher.

But his size isn’t the issue because his game shouldn’t be.

He still hits it a mile, as he did before everyone else started to. He also owns the softest of hands and touch around and on the greens, as his galleries often remarked Friday as he nestled the ball close to holes numerous times.

He even ripped a 4-iron to within three feet on the 219-yard par-3 ninth hole (his finale) and produced his only birdie of the day.

“(He) never gave up or gave in,” Toms said.

Fine. What more can he say about such a waste of talent?

“The most important thing in his life is getting drunk,” Butch Harmon (Tiger’s first teacher) said after dropping Daly as a student only weeks after Daly hired him to rehabilitate his game.

“The partying and other shenanigans, if that’s the way he wants to be, I don’t choose to be a part of it.”

Daly’s fans still do, though, including Friday’s “good for the game” one, who kept waiting for some kind of confirmation, such as, “Yeah, you’re right.”

He got none because he’s wrong. And now his man’s down the road. Good luck next time, J.D.