Laura Davies teamed up with John Daly in the JC Penney Classic at Innisbrook Resort’s Copperhead Course – the host of the Valspar Championship.
John Daly was the longest hitter in the game for more than 15 years on the PGA Tour.
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Interestingly, Laura Davies was the longest hitter in the women’s game as well.
Long-hitting duo Daly and Davies formed the perfect partnership at the JC Penney Classic 27 years ago.
The duo won a playoff against Paul Azinger and Se Ri Pak at the course which now hosts the Valspar Championship, after finishing at 24-under-par for four rounds.
The tournament ran until 1999 and was comprised of mixed teams with one player from the PGA Tour and one from the LPGA Tour.
What John Daly did on the 16th hole at the Valspar Championship course
The formats used throughout the JC Penney Classic were better-ball and foursomes, or alternate shot.
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On one of the rounds when foursomes was the format of the day, Daly had the even tee shots.
As a result, it was on him to navigate the tricky tee shot on the 16th – a 439-yard dog-leg to the right with water waiting for any drives leaked out to the right hand side of the fairway.
Thick trees and pine straw lined the left side of the fairway, and it is commonly known as one of the toughest tee shots on the PGA Tour.
3 Dec 1998: Laura Davies (right) and John Daly (left) in action during the JCPenney Classic in Westin Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor, Florida. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Laforet /Allsport
However, Daly took everything out of play by bombing his tee shot over the water, according to Davies.
During commentary on Sky Sports, Davies spoke about Daly’s 355-yard carry that day.
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“John Daly hit driver over the water (on 16).
“It’s 355 to carry everything, and that was in 1999.
“I have to finish this story. I had 60 yards left into the green and I fatted it. The crowd actually booed me.“
Would John Daly be the longest hitter in the game now if he was in his prime?
The technology available to the players back in 1999 was nothing like what is on offer in this day and age.
Daly’s incredible power and the clubhead speed that he generated back in the late 1990s was quite extraordinary.
He has boasted in the past about reaching 220 mph ball speeds in his prime, as reported by The Golfing Gazette.
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If he was able to carry his driver 355 yards through the air, there is probably some truth to those ball speed claims.
Wouldn’t it be great to see Daly in his prime hitting a modern driver and golf ball? He may well be even longer than the likes of Bryson DeChambeau, Marco Penge and Aldrich Potgieter.
Daly averaged over 300 yards off the tee in six out of seven seasons from 1997 to 2003. It’s fair to say that those numbers would be over 340 yards now, given the increases in distance that have come around due to the improved technology of drivers and golf balls.
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