“I’m Shaking A Tree & Then I’m Jumping In The Pool”– Golfer Andrew Johnston Shares Epic Story About Blacking Out With John Daly In Turkey

No matter how high your tolerance is or your years of experience as a drinker, if you're going into a "session" with John Daly, you shouldn't expect to keep up. Better yet, don't even try. Just go at your own pace, for John Daly is not a mere mortal like the rest of us. The man has a liver that might as well be made out of a 1-iron, for it's impossible to hit and is just that hardened and strong. Professional golfer Andrew Johnston found all this out the hard way in Turkey of all places several years back. The good news? He survived to tell the epic tale, which really is up there among the best related to Daly. That's saying something considering how much of a Paul Bunyan-like folk hero Big John is. Johnston has his own loud personality and fun-loving free spirit, earning the nickname "Beef" for a heavier-set frame not dissimilar to Daly's. Anyway, he told this story on the DP World Tour's Life On Tour podcast. Hat tip to Golf.com for the report of what happened several years ago between Daly and Johnston at the Turkish Airlines Open: "After the Sunday, we got a chat in, and I was having a beer, and he was like, 'We’ll get a bucket of these beers.' And he was obviously straight on whiskey. And he was like, 'Look, go back to the hotel, and come meet me and stuff. We’ll carry on.' I remember sitting there. He had music playing as always. And he ordered, like, two large whiskeys. [...] And he’s got the can of coke on the side. "As the waiter put them down, he went, 'Can we order two more?' Mate, they've just come! Like that. Next thing, I’m in my pants, and I’m shaking a tree, and then I’m jumping in the pool, and I’m like, ‘He seems OK! I’m not! He seems OK!' He was just like, 'Oh my God.' “And I wake up and I was like, ‘What happened?’ And my missus at the time was like, ‘Yeah, you stripped down to your pants, and you were shaking this bush for some reason, and you kinda jumped in the pool.'” [...] I was like, 'What'd John do?' He just walked to his room. He's absolutely fine." Johnston must have plenty more stories where this came from in his autobiography Golf Is Hard, but I'd be shocked if anything tops this in terms of pure imagined entertainment value. One of my favorite parts is how Daly was totally unfazed by the heavy drinking, whereas Johnston blacked out, shook a tree, and took a dive into a pool. Good thing he was autopilot-coordinated enough not to wipe out poolside or injure himself whilst not having his wits remotely about him. We haven't seen much of "Beef" in recent years because of nagging injuries, resulting inability to play (or play well), and mental health. He broke out in 2016 with an eighth-place finish at The Open Championship, and his first big pro victory at the Open de España. Johnston played in 28 tournaments that season. However, leading into 2024, Johnston had played just 30 events since the start of 2020, falling all the way to 1,777th in the world rankings by 2023's end. He used excessive drinking as a crutch during those struggles. Thankfully, Beef is working back into form in a big way. A third-place finish at the Omega European Masters last month has helped boost him all the way back to 378th in the world. Still far from his peak of 74th, but Johnston is in a far better headspace these days, with plenty of golf ahead in what should be his career prime. All the best to Beef going forward. Even though his time with Daly had to overlap some with his darkest days as a pro golfer, at least he has a life experience that would be the envy of millions who've been diehard Daly fans for so many years. https://youtu.be/iZQ3-qUEFG8?si=6pLp0-OFuoft66a4&t=2940