Photo (above) John Daly at Thundering Waters GC. Thundering Waters Facebook.

On The Record, with Jeffrey Reed
June 20, 2026
John Daly Versus Niagara Falls: A Match Made In Heaven

If ever there was a golfer put on this green earth to showcase his skills amongst the Clifton Hill carnies in Niagara Falls, it was John Daly. Blessed with what Tiger Woods called “the softest, surest hands in golf,” but cursed with alcoholism, panic attacks, a gambling addiction and long string of bad relationships, the five-time PGA Tour winner is much more than just the Babe Ruth of golf. His story is a tragic tale of what could have been, but also a story of amazing talent on the golf course and a life worthy of an entire album of sad country tunes.

Yet this isn’t a story of Daly’s struggles. I’m taking you back to August 3, 2005 when the two-time Major champion – 1991 PGA Championship and ’95 Open Championship – took on another brute force: the thundering waters of the Horseshoe Falls, one of the natural wonders of the world which attracts visitors from around the globe. Twenty-one years ago, one of the greatest sporting matchups of all-time – big John Daly versus the Canadian Falls – drew 5,000 onlooking fans at Niagara Parks Centre’s Table Rock where JD would attempt to enter the Guiness Book of World Records by hitting a golf ball across the Falls from Canada to the U.S.

Daly versus Niagara: sounds like a damn monster movie. On this day, the Falls would win. But Daly went down fighting. In fact, he has been a fighter all of his life. And, just like Niagara Falls, he has always been about entertainment. For those 5,000 fans and a small group of reporters, including yours truly, that hot, hazy, humid afternoon will never be forgotten.

This was my first encounter with Daly – my next interview wouldn’t come until the 2012 Canadian Open championship at Hamilton Golf and Country Club. I missed Daly’s multiple appearances at The Oaks Golf and Country Club in Delaware. Odd, since I was writing for SCORE Golf and Golf Ontario Magazine at the time. But for whatever reason, I was never invited during Daly’s nor Fred Couples’ visits to the private Delaware club. Golf is a great game, but sometimes the people of golf can be funny that way.

On Aug. 3, 2005 I was on assignment with Golf Ontario, the now-defunct official magazine of the Golf Association of Ontario. In addition to his publicity stunt at the Niagara Gorge, Daly was in town for the official opening of Thundering Waters Golf Club, designed by Daly’s golf architectural arm. I’m told Daly didn’t play a major role in the actual design of the course, but he did offer input and attached his name to the project. Often that’s good enough in the highly-competitive golf biz, although you would never see the likes of Jack Nicklaus play such a minor role.

On this day, I was the first interview going with JD – 8 a.m. at the club. Entering the gates and met by one of multiple PR flacks on site, I was directed to a golf cart near the clubhouse where I was allowed 15 minutes with the PGA Tour star. Now, at this time in his life, Daly was supposedly on the wagon. But as I sat down beside him in the cart, the first thing I noticed was that Daly was probably up all night partying. To say he had bags under his eyes would be like saying Dean Martin never played the part of a drunk crooner. Daly looked trashed, spoke with slurred words and spent most of the 15 minutes smoking cigarettes and drinking Diet Coke than any other human could manage. He has always said, two of his favourite food groups are “nicotine and caffeine.”

Most of the interview saw Daly spew the usual garbage about what an amazing piece of property Thundering Waters occupied, and how excited he was to be in Niagara Falls to attempt setting a new world record at Table Rock. For this particular story, that would suffice.

But I’ve always had a knack of getting interviewees to open up to me with candid chit chat, and that is what happened with Daly. Before I exited the golf cart, I looked at JD and said, do you really think you’ll be able to hit a golf ball across Niagara Falls from Canada to Goat Island on the U.S. side? His reply: “Not a chance in hell, brother, but we’re going to entertain the fans and make a whole lot of money!” He let out a loud laugh as only JD can, and we shook hands, just as the PR folks were pointing at their watches, ready to whisk me out of the cart themselves.

Table Rock at Niagara Falls

After spending most of the day with my better half, eating at a great Niagara Italian restaurant, Mama Mia’s, and doing the tourist thing at Niagara, it was time to again put on my reporter’s cap and head to Table Rock for Daly’s attempt at conquering the Falls. Geography and history lesson, kids: Horseshoe Falls, also known as the Canadian Falls, is the largest and most powerful of the three waterfalls that collectively make up Niagara Falls. Situated on the border between Ontario and Niagara Falls, New York, it gets its name from its distinctive 2,200-foot curving crest.

Horseshoe Falls stretches between Table Rock and Goat Island. Its water volume carries about 90 per cent of Niagara River’s total flow. During peak hours, hundreds of thousands of gallons tumble over the edge every second, and it stands roughly 188 feet (57 metres) tall.

John Daly at Niagara Falls

With 5,000 fans looking – enough to have the Clifton Hill carnies crying like babies from all the absent customers – JD hit a total of 20 golf balls into the pounding, blinding mist and wind but failed to reach the U.S. side where a yellow flag marked the spot – 362 yards from his makeshift tee. It’s only fitting that the show lasted only 20 shots, since trying to win any of the carnival games on Clifton Hill last just about as long.

Daly’s second ball had a chance, but bounced off a wall of rocks just short of the target. “I killed that!” he said. After his third ball fell short, he proclaimed, “That’s all I got.” And after his 15th ball, Daly said, “I can’t hit it any better than this!”

Before hitting golf balls, Daly said, “No, I’m not gonna’ back out,” after he was asked if the thundering water of the Falls intimidated him. Post-publicity stunt, Daly admitted that “there’s a wall with the mist. It just knocks ‘em down. Can’t get nature, but it was fun trying!” If you were in that golf cart with me and JD earlier that day, then you would have known that.

After Daly’s attempt to conquer The Falls, he held a short media conference at one of the large Niagara hotels. You think JD had it tough trying to hit golf balls into the mist? Try walking quickly up that hill in time to make the news conference. Note to self: you should have hailed a taxi. But I made it on time, and big JD remembered me from the 8 a.m. chat. “Hey, big fella’, thanks for coming!” he said, shaking my hand. His paw was as big as a bunch of bananas.

Afterwards, I attended a private party in the hotel ballroom where I got the feeling most attendees probably didn’t even know who John Daly was, and were instead just there for the free food and drinks. Niagara will do that to you. What happens in Niagara … you get the picture.

In 2006, an episode of Daly’s reality TV show, The Daly Planet, featured his 2005 visit to Niagara, and there I was, in the background, on the screen, watching Daly hit golf balls at Table Rock. Another portion of that episode chronicled Daly’s panic attack as he flew in a helicopter over the Falls. I’m with Daly: give me the Maid of the Mist anytime.

John Daly with his son, golfer John Daly II, and a few friends from Hooters

Fast track to May 30, 2019, and World Long Drive champion Maurice Allen’s attempt to conquer The Falls. He was successful, with a drive carrying 393 yards and landing 427 yards onto Goat Island.

Also that year, in May 2019, Daly made history at the PGA Championship at Bethpage Black by becoming the first player in seven years to use a golf cart in a major championship. He was granted the cart under the Americans with Disabilities Act due to severe osteoarthritis in his right knee. Just as he had failed at Niagara, Daly missed the cut.

But the gallery at Bethpage Black, and the crowd at Niagara in 2005 all got more than their money’s worth from Daly, always the entertainer. Despite his faults and tribulations, he is the People’s Champ.

As Daly said, trying to beat Niagara – for him, on that day – was not possible. But he sure had fun doing it, and he sure put on a show. Perhaps one day that’s how his tombstone will read.

He is, after all, golf’s Babe Ruth – and a whole lot more.

–30–

On The Record is published every Saturday at LondonOntarioSports.com. Multiple award-winning writer and broadcaster Jeffrey Reed is Southwestern Ontario’s senior sports journalist, with roots dating back to 1980. A three-time author, Reed penned, EBBA 40 Years of Baseball (1994) and, The Canadian Seniors’ Golf Association, Celebrating 100 Years of Seniors Golf 1918-2018 (2018). Reach him at jeff@londonontariosports.com.