Golf cult hero John Daly names his Mount Rushmore but controversially snubs Tiger Woods

JOHN DALY has snubbed Tiger Woods from his golfing Mount Rushmore.

Woods‘s haul of 15 majors is second only to Jack Nicklaus on the men’s all-time list.

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John Daly has named his golfing Mount RushmoreCredit: Getty
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Tiger Woods does not feature in Daly’s top fourCredit: Getty
And while there is room for Nicklaus in Daly’s top four, the inclusion of Tom Watson, Arnold Palmer and Fuzzy Zoeller sees Woods miss out.

Two-time major winner and cult hero Daly, 59, told Hard Rock Bet: “My favourites were always Nicklaus, Fuzzy Zoeller, Watson and Palmer.

“Those were the four, they’re the best. They were so great to me when I came on Tour.”

Woods’ absence will raise eyebrows given that eight-time major winner Watson, seven-time winner Palmer and two-time winner Zoeller all made the cut.

Nicklaus, 86, won his 18 major titles between 1962 and 1986.

Woods might have caught him up if injury issues had not blighted him for the past decade.

But there is no doubt in Daly’s mind about who is the greatest.

He recalled: “Meeting Jack, I was nervous because I learned how to play golf from Jack Nicklaus.

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(Left to right) Tom Watson, Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer were all name-dropped by DalyCredit: Reuters
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Fuzzy Zoeller also made the cutCredit: Alamy
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Daly says he has “always respected” WoodsCredit: Getty
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Mount Rushmore features the four most famous presidents in American historyCredit: Getty
“The 70’s Golf Lesson Tees that came out of Golf Digest – that’s how I learned how to play.

“He was a cartoon character in Golf Digest back then, and I think a lot of kids learned from him that way.”

Daly earned a reputation as a big hitter and a smoking, drinking maverick during the peak of his career.

And by contrast, fellow American Woods was the model athlete when he burst onto the scene in the late 1990s.

The pair have never been best pals but Daly insists he holds Woods in high regard.

He said: “I’ve just always respected Tiger.

“I was 21 when I first met him, he was 12. We were playing the Big Insurance Youth Classic at Texarkana Country Club, and he shot 72. I think I shot 69. I just knew this kid had something special.

“And we haven’t gone out to dinner all the time and all that, but we text a lot. I always ask him how his health is and how he’s doing.

“Hopefully we’ll see him on the Champions Tour a few times this coming year.

“But if he could just get healthy, Tiger probably would have broken all of Jack’s records.”