USPGA Championship: John Daly gives friendly advice to new buddy Andrew Johnston at Baltisrol

JOHN DALY urged pal Andrew Johnston: “Don’t ever stop being cool.”

Beef spoke of his friendship with Daly this week and how the 1991 USPGA champ had told him girlfriend Louise should travel with him because happy golfers are successful golfers.

And, despite slumping to a first-round four-over-par 74, ‘Wild Thing’ was happy to talk about his new “buddy”.

Daly said: “From the moment I met   Andrew four years ago I thought he was a really cool customer — and now everyone else is seeing that, too.

“I had to laugh when I heard he’d told everyone how I saw him off in our drinking competition in Turkey last year.

“He thought he could drink whisky like me — and that didn’t pan out too good.

“He came over to the hotel, we just started drinking and listening to music.

“He tried to keep up and he just couldn’t.

“But he did kick my ass the first time we played golf together at the Dunhill Links — and he didn’t play that great himself.

“I think he shot 76 and I shot 81. But it was at Carnoustie and the weather wasn’t too great as I recall.

“But despite the fact we were both struggling we had a blast. We exchanged phone numbers and got together a few times after that.

“I now consider him a really good buddy of mine.”

Daly, 50, added: “Beef said he could see a bit of me in his   character and I get that.

“He’s a people person, too. We’re a bit like kindred spirits, I guess.

“He loves people and he loves people to root for him. That’s just the way I was.

“To get the crowd on your side, you have just got to be nice and try to sign as many autographs as you can and wave to them, and have the occasional laugh and selfie taken. That’s all they want.”

There was plenty of love for Beef from the American galleries.

They cheered and high-fived him every inch of the way as he began his USPGA challenge with a richly-entertaining 70, sprinkled with five birdies and the same number of bogeys.

He waved his putter high in the air to conduct the yells of “Beeeef” as he birdied the 18th, and commented: “That was more out of relief really. I hit the ball great, but I couldn’t make a putt.

“I just couldn’t get the pace of the greens.”