"Next thing, I’m in just my pants" - European Tour pro recalls crazy night of drinking with John Daly

Andrew Johnston played 15 tournaments in the 2024 season. This was after he injured his thumb at the beginning of 2022 while practicing in Portugal. He had to miss the 2022 season completely and only played one tournament in the 2023 season. He returned with a missed cut at the Investec SA Open Championship in November last year.

Johnston recently appeared on the Life on Tour podcast. The podcast also made a comeback after two years with presenters George Harper Jr. and John E. Morgan. In the podcast, Johnston revealed a crazy night of drinking with John Daly at the Turkish Airlines Open a few years back.

The European pro player said that while drinking with Daly, the casual beer quickly became a bucket and eventually turned to highballs filled with straight whiskey. The 35-year-old said (via Golf Digest):

"He [John Daly] orders like two large whiskies … he's got a can of Coke on the side. As the waiter put them down, he went 'can we order two more?' I was like 'MATE, THEY'VE JUST COME!'

"Next thing, I'm in just my pants and I’m shaking a tree and I’m jumping in the pool. I'm like 'he [Daly] seems OK, I'm not!'"

In the podcast, the English pro also shared about the changes he made to his golf game after returning from the thumb injury. Johnston said (via European Tour) :

"The one interesting and major thing that I have changed is my grip. I was always an overlapper and I have had to go interlock to take the pressure off my thumb."

In the 2024 season, he had his best DP World Tour finish in over four years at the Omega European Masters. He finished third in the tournament.

Andrew Johnston recently updated his followers on Instagram that he won't be playing in the 2024 season again as he was feeling soreness in his thumb again. He captioned the post on Instagram.

"I haven’t played the last couple of weeks, and my thumb isn’t 100%, so it looks like the season is done for me. Time for me and my team to hit the reset button!"

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A look at Andrew Johnston's performance in 2024

Andrew Johnston has had an underwhelming 2024 season. In 15 starts on the DP World Tour, he has made 9 cuts. He has had one top-10 finish and three top-25 finishes this year. He is currently positioned 94th in the Race to Dubai standings.

His best performance came at the Omega European Masters, where he finished third. His other notable performances include a T18 at the Betfred British Masters and a T23 finish at the D+D REAL Czech Masters. He missed a great opportunity at the Czech Masters; he was tied for third after the third round. He eventually finished 23rd in the tournament. Talking about it, he said (via European Tour):

"The Czech Masters was a real disappointment over the weekend. I was quite deflated. I was a nervous, anxious shell on Sunday. I didn’t deal with it very well. I came off [the course] and thought rather than picking it apart, let’s go again. [Five or six years ago] I would have been fuming and just beat myself up."

His total official earnings on the DP World Tour are €347,574.96. His last and only DP World Tour victory came at the 2016 Open de Espana. He won by one stroke over Joost Luiten.

Let's take a look at Andrew Johnston's performances in the 2024 season:

2024 PGA TOUR Tournaments

• ISCO Championship: Missed Cut (68-75, 143, -1)
• Barracuda Championship: Missed Cut (2-7, 9, +9)

2023-24 DP World Tournaments

• Investec SA Open Championship: Missed Cut (77-68, 145, +1)
• Alfred Dunhill Championship: T61 (69-72-78-75, 294, +6)
• AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open: Withdrawn (71-71-71, 213, -3)
• European Open: Missed Cut (76-72, 148, +2)
• KLM Open: Missed Cut (72-73, 145, +3)
• Italian Open: T33 (69-68-70-73, 280, -4)
• BMW International Open: T32 (70-67-73-72, 282, -6)
• D+D REAL Czech Masters: T23 (69-63-70-73, 275, -13)
• Danish Golf Championship: T42 (70-70-69-73, 282, -2)
• Betfred British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo: T18 (72-73-70-69, 284, -4)
• Omega European Masters: 3 (65-67-72-66, 270, -10)
• Amgen Irish Open: Missed Cut (78-74, 152, +10)
• BMW PGA Championship: T40 (73-69-73-66, 281, -7)