John Daly will have no case to answer despite grabbing a fan's camera and smashing it against a tree in a wild rage as his opening round at the Australian Open unravelled today.
The two-time major winner will escape official sanction from Golf Australia after tournament officials pinned most of the blame on local golf fan Brad Clegg for bringing the camera onto the Royal Sydney course.
The sadly out-of-touch Daly, who was on his way to a disappointing first round 78, exploded when Clegg took a photo of him as he was about to take a shot out of the rough on his final hole.
He took the camera and hurled it baseball-style at a tree, damaging it beyond use.
While conceding Daly's reaction was over the top, Australian Open director Trevor Herden said Clegg was clearly in the wrong.
"This gentleman had taken a lot of photos during the day and apparently was quite close to John Daly quite often," Herden explained.
"He's not an accredited photographer and you're not allowed to have cameras or mobile phones on the golf course.
"On all the gates and entry gates here it says there's no cameras allowed.
"This gentleman thought he could come in the golf course and take his own photos.
"John was a little annoyed (and) took the camera from the gentleman and threw it and it hit a tree and, yes, it got damaged.
"He (Clegg) understands that he was in the wrong by not having accreditation.
"He's at fault and, yes, John might have been at fault too. He was frustrated and it was an unfortunate incident."
Asked if Daly was remorseful, Herden replied: "John didn't have the best day out there but that's no excuse.
"Of course he's sorry. It's certainly not right but people react differently to different circumstances.
"It (the camera) hit a tree. He didn't throw it at the bloke or assault the guy or do anything like that.
"He just took it off him and pushed it against the tree."
Daly rushed from the course after the incident and spent the rest of the day holed up in his hotel room.
He later released the following statement: "I was looking to take a drop and the camera was six inches away from my face.
"If I was 10-under par I would have felt the same. My eyes are still burning from the flash of the camera.
"I feel it was very rude to put a camera that close to anybody's face in any situation.
"The guy that had the camera had already taken a dozen shots at close range."
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