{"id":290889,"date":"2025-07-25T15:13:14","date_gmt":"2025-07-25T15:13:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/290889\/"},"modified":"2025-07-25T15:13:14","modified_gmt":"2025-07-25T15:13:14","slug":"john-dalys-28-year-masters-routine-in-ruins-as-hooters-restaurant-he-made-famous-to-be-permanently-shut-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/290889\/","title":{"rendered":"John Daly’s 28-year Masters routine in ruins as Hooters restaurant he made famous to be permanently shut down"},"content":{"rendered":"

John Daly will need to find a new favorite restaurant in Augusta.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Since way back in 1997, the two-time major winner has pulled up in the parking lot of Hooters for Masters<\/a> week.<\/p>\n

\"Golf<\/a><\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

Golf legend Daly has camped outside Hooters in Augusta for almost three decadesCredit: Getty\"He<\/a><\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

He holds meet and greets with fans, and sells his merchandise during the MastersCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

The larger than life golf legend, who once smoked 21 cigarettes and drank 12 cans of Coke at a Tour event<\/a>, sets up shop just off the I-20 to sell his own brand golf merchandise, sign autographs and hang out with the fans who adore him.<\/p>\n

Less than a mile away from where the stars of today battle for the famous green jacket, Daly’s Masters tradition is truly like no other, but one that might have had its last hurrah in 2025.<\/p>\n

According to local reports, the Hooters restaurant located on Washington Road in Augusta — where ‘Long John’ camps out of his RV for one glorious week in April — has permanently shut down.<\/p>\n

Hooters of America, the company that owns and operates many restaurants, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection<\/a> three months ago.<\/p>\n

“After careful consideration of what is needed to best position our company for the future, Hooters made the difficult decision to close certain company-owned locations,\u201d a spokesperson said in June.<\/p>\n

While a specific list of closures wasn\u2019t released, local reports revealed that about 30 locations — including several in Florida, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina and South Carolina — were affected.<\/p>\n

Now, the spot that Daly made famous in Augusta has become the latest to fall.<\/p>\n

The 1991 PGA Championship<\/a> winner has not yet responded to the news on social media, and it’s unclear if his lucrative Masters tradition will live on elsewhere.<\/p>\n

While he hasn’t played at Augusta since 2006, the golfer cashed in on the annual hype for years thanks to his spot outside Hooters.<\/p>\n

How much money does Daly make outside Hooters?<\/p>\n

Daly’s team told ESPN that he raked in $780,000 on the Hooters patio<\/a> in 2024.<\/p>\n

\"Daly<\/a><\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

Daly makes an impressive amount of money outside Hooters in AugustaCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

There was a chance he exceeded that figure this year, too, as a rain delay that ruined one of the practice rounds led to a long line at the restaurant instead.<\/p>\n

Daly made much of that money by selling $40 hats, $10 autographed golf balls — $1 for the ball, $9 for the signature — and $250 boxes of cigars.<\/p>\n

At Augusta National, which was decimated by flash floods in 2024<\/a>, strict rules for patrons mean there are no phones, no cameras — and certainly no cigarettes — in sight.<\/p>\n

But outside Hooters, regulations are far more relaxed.<\/p>\n

“Eat some good food, smoke, sell some s***,” Daly, who hit the greatest shot Tiger Woods has ever seen<\/a>, told ESPN of his annual pilgrimage earlier this year.<\/p>\n

The 59-year-old was also offered plenty of gifts from his devoted fans, too.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

The Hooters location he has operated from for decades is set to close downCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

‘Dale from Vidalia’ brings Daly a box of onions every year, while others also offer food from their home states.<\/p>\n

“My Wisconsin guy always brings the cheese,” Daly revealed.<\/p>\n

“I eat the s*** out of the cheese and onions. You cannot beat a Vidalia onion. I don’t care who you are.”<\/p>\n

For almost three decades, as the golf was played in front of patrons who paid thousands of dollars for their spot at Augusta<\/a>, Daly carved a niche outside of Hooters appealing to the everyman.<\/p>\n

Andrew Johnston tells iconic story about hanging out with John Daly that involves a tonne of alcohol and shaking bushes <\/p>\n

And if his tradition dies with the closure of the Washington Road Hooters, then Masters week may never be the same.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"John Daly will need to find a new favorite restaurant in Augusta. Since way back in 1997, the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":290890,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4106],"tags":[4285,108264,2307,2826,4366,108252,108253,108263,108261,108262,40992,108254,108250,108258,108260,108251,108255,108257,108265,4286,108256,108259,4298,4287,4288,79,16,15,16022],"class_list":{"0":"post-290889","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-augusta-national","9":"tag-augusta-rules","10":"tag-georgia","11":"tag-golf","12":"tag-golf-news","13":"tag-hooters-augusta","14":"tag-hooters-bankrupt","15":"tag-hooters-closures","16":"tag-hooters-food","17":"tag-hooters-wings","18":"tag-john-daly","19":"tag-john-daly-career","20":"tag-john-daly-hooters","21":"tag-john-daly-hooters-deal","22":"tag-john-daly-majors","23":"tag-john-daly-masters","24":"tag-john-daly-merch","25":"tag-john-daly-rv","26":"tag-john-daly-stories","27":"tag-masters","28":"tag-masters-traditions","29":"tag-pga-golf","30":"tag-pga-tour","31":"tag-rory-mcilroy","32":"tag-scottie-scheffler","33":"tag-sports","34":"tag-uk","35":"tag-united-kingdom","36":"tag-us-open-golf"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290889","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=290889"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290889\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/290890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=290889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=290889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=290889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}