You may or may not recall that David Duval and stepson Nick Karavites were the best in the field last year at the Father-Son Challenge.
They won by a shot but it wasn’t the Duval team that made the television announcing crew go totally giddy.
There was a new kid in town, as the Eagles song once proclaimed.
Yeah, a new kid that had the talking heads falling all over themselves.
That would be John Daly Junior, Little John a year ago, making his debut in this event at age 13.
It’s tough enough being John Daly but being the son of John Daly is a task. Yes, hopefully the talent passes through, hopefully the bad behavior that helped squander massive talent does not.
Big John is living happily ever after these days, making that transition to the Champions Tour where he picked up a victory and should perform even better next season now that he has a regular place to play and can actually make up a schedule.
As for John Jr., he now goes by “LJ” and just about anyone might figure that’s short for Little John.
It was evident last year that LJ has some game. Should be even better this year because he’s gotten totally into golf per his father:
“He tried other sports. He loves golf. It’s his passion. He just wants to be a golfer,” said big JD of little JD, or LJ, as they’ll refer to him this weekend in Orlando.
LJ’s game is in pretty good shape coming in. He made birdie in a five-way playoff earlier this month at Harbor Town and won an IJGA (International Junior Golf Academy) event. He shot rounds of 79-73 — nice second day rally by LJ.
They’ll be one of the 20, two-man teams playing at the Ritz Carlton Golf Club. Plays 6,800 yards from the back, the old guys (over 70) and sons 16 and under get to play the up tees, about 6,000 yards. Nice for Jack Nicklaus and Lee Trevino, who are really getting up there.
Certainly the Duval team is a force. Bernhard Langer is playing with son Jason and although it’s a scramble, when the senior Langer is hot, he can win this virtually by himself.
Two Paddys are the newest team — Paddy Harrington and son Paddy.
Former major champion Justin Leonard is playing as a son, bringing in his dad, Larry. Retief Goosen makes his first appearance with son Leo.
Jack Nicklaus has a new teammate this time, grandson Gary Nicklaus Jr.
The Golf Channel and NBC have brought out an all-star team for this off-season event. Steve Sands and Peter Jacobsen are in the booth, so is David Feherty, who makes any broadcast worthwhile. Bones MacKay and Notah Begay are on the course and Jimmy Roberts will do the post-round interviews..
But when it’s all said and done, don’t be surprised if the Daly team gets more than its share of air time. Especially LJ.
Father-Son Challenge Teams:
1. Stewart Cink/Reagan Cink
2. John Daly/Little John Daly
3. David Duval/Nick Karavites
4. Nick Faldo/Matthew Faldo
5. Retief Goosen/Leo Goosen
6. Padraig Harrington/Paddy Harrington
7. Lee Janzen/Connor Janzen
8. Tom Kite/David Kite
9. Bernhard Langer/Jason Langer
10. Tom Lehman/Thomas Lehman
11. Justin Leonard/Larry Leonard (dad)
12. Jack Nicklaus/Gary Nicklaus, Jr.
13. Greg Norman/Greg Norman, Jr.
14. Mark O’Meara/Shaun O’Meara
15. Jerry Pate/Wesley Pate
16. Nick Price/Greg Price
17. Vijay Singh/Qass Singh
18. Curtis Strange/Tom Strange
19. Lee Trevino/Daniel Trevino
20. Lanny Wadkins/Travis Wadkins
