AUGUSTA, Ga. — It was little after 6 p.m. on the eve of the Masters. The players’ Wednesday practice rounds had been completed. And there was a line of fans snaking through a parking lot waiting to purchase merchandise.
Not Masters merchandise, though. They were not even on Augusta National property.
They were in a Hooters parking lot about a mile down Washington Road from Magnolia Lane, patiently waiting to score items from the John Daly catalogue. There were boxes of merchandise with his slogan of “Grip it and Rip it,’’ including T-shirts, ball markers, head covers, license plates, hats, CDs, pin flags, towels, coozies and belts as well as apparel, including shorts and skorts from Loudmouth, an apparel brand he endorses. There, too, were cans of Daly’s branded “Grip it and Sip it” beverages made with iced tea and vodka, or sweet tea, lemonade and vodka.
Most importantly, the people were there to meet Daly, have him sign autographs and take selfies with them.
Daly has been posted up with his RV and a bunch of tables with his merchandise outside the gates of Augusta National during Masters week since 1997, hawking souvenirs.
With a cigarette hanging limply from his lips, he engages with all who stop by, and if you buy it, he’ll sign it. He’ll actually sign anything you ask him to — whether you’ve made a purchase or not.
“I’ve probably signed about 20 sets of boobs this week and about 30 asses,’’ Daly said as he signed for fans in line, rapid fire. “And they are fine asses, too. I’ll sign any ass, it doesn’t matter. Like Jesus, I love ’em all.”
Make no mistake: This is a certifiable sideshow bordering on a carnival act — as it always has been since Daly first started doing this.
“I just figured it’s a good way to sell the brand,’’ Daly said while signing the package of someone’s pimento and cheese sandwich from the Masters. “When I started back in ’97 with the logo, I just figured it was a great way to sell it. We’ve got a great relationship with Hooters. I help them and they help me this week.
“It’s a good week. The money doesn’t really matter to me. It’s just so much fun to be out here, seeing people, getting the brand out.’’
It used to be a sad look when he first starting doing this: Daly, with his incredible golf skills being wasted, peddling cheesy T-shirts from a parking lot outside of Augusta National instead of bombing long drives down the fairways, competing for a green jacket.
Daly played in 12 Masters and had one top-10 finish — a tie for third in 1993, his second try. He missed the cut in four of his final five Masters, including the last three, his final invite coming in 2006.
He’s 52 now and a part-time player on the Champions Tour, complaining of arthritis in his knees that prevents him from walking more than six or seven holes. So this road show is pretty much his full-time gig. The Masters stop is the 11th in a 37-week tour that Daly has scheduled this year.
What once looked and felt like a sad small-town carnival act has become a wildly popular and profitable venture for Daly, who sets up shop at about 8 a.m and is normally still selling and signing past dinner time.
“This is the greatest town in America this week,’’ Daly said. “Then everybody tells me it’s a little dead after that.’’
You never know who’s going to stop by to see Daly. He said Eric Trump was over the other day. Ed “Too Tall’’ Jones has visited, as has Cowboys coach Jason Garrett.
Dave Saracino, a high-ranking executive with BIC (pens and lighters) befriended Daly years ago and visits him regularly.
Hearing that backhanded compliment, Daly interjected, saying, “I can’t putt? It ain’t my putting, man. It’s my attitude.”
“This says that he’s us,’’ Saracino said, looking around at the scene. “There’s nothing else you can say except he’s the real deal. He’s as great as he ever was. If he could putt, he’d win everything.’’
If you ask the masses who line up all day to see Daly as if he’s some sort of golfing pope, they have no problem with his attitude.
Cory Moore, a private security guard who travels with Daly, said, “I have a video of about 200 people chanting his name the night before last when he walked off the bus.’’
Moore stays around Daly’s RV until about 3:30 in the morning every day to make sure people don’t bother him late at night.
“I’ve found people knocking on the bus,’’ Moore said. “They’re just having fun. They’re excited to see him, because nobody else comes and does this.’’