John Daly (golfer)

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John Daly, after winning the 2004 Buick Invitational

John Patrick Daly (born April 28, 1966) is a professional golfer on the PGA Tour.

Daly is known primarily for his "zero to hero" victory in the 1991 PGA Championship, his driving distance off the tee (earning him the nickname "Long John"), his non-country club appearance and attitude, and his rough-and-tumble personal life.

1 Biography
- 1.1 Off-course life
  - 1.1.1 Controversy
  - 1.1.2 Public involvement
2 PGA Tour wins
3 Other professional wins
4 Results in major championships
5 External links

[edit] Biography

Daly was born in Carmichael, California. His family moved from California to Dardanelle, Arkansas when he was five, and he began playing golf the following year. The family subsequently moved to Fredericksburg, Virginia, then to Jefferson City, Missouri, then back to Dardanelle where John graduated from high school.

Daly attended the University of Arkansas, where he was a member of the golf team. He turned professional in 1987, and won the Ben Hogan Utah Classic in 1990.

He joined the PGA Tour in 1991 and won the PGA Championship that year. This victory gained Daly a significant amount of media attention due to the fact that Daly was the ninth and final alternate for the Championship. He entered the competition when Nick Price dropped out and no other alternate could make it. He parlayed this opportunity into a first round score of 69, without a practice round. He finished the tournament with scores of 67-69-71, giving him a three-stroke victory over Bruce Lietzke. Daly was subsequently named PGA Tour Rookie of the Year. He was also the first rookie to win a major title since 1976.

Image:John Daly at AmEx Crop.JPG

In 1992 he won the B.C. Open and the 1994 BellSouth Classic. He earned exempt status through 2005 in 1995 when he won the British Open at St. Andrews. Daly is the only eligible two-time major winner never selected to play in the Ryder Cup.

Daly's golf swing is easily recognized, as he sends the club way "past parallel" to the ground on his backswing (see accompanying picture), thereby generating tremendous power. Daly is a consistent challenger for the Driving Distance crown and has won that title a record-setting 11 times as of 2004, 8 of which were consecutive. His lifetime average for distance off the tee is 309.4 yards, and his single-season personal best is an average of 314.3 yards, which he attained in 2003. Single drives in excess of 350 yards are not uncommon, and Daly can reach very long par 5 holes in two strokes where no one else can. He is also known for having soft hands and a deft touch in his short game around the greens.

Daly is sponsored by Maxfli Golf (Taylor Made-Adidas Golf), Dunlop Golf (Focus Golf Systems), Hooters restaurants, Winn Grips, and 84 Lumber.

[edit] Off-course life

[edit] Controversy

Daly's career has been interrupted from time to time by off-course personal incidents involving alcohol, including an incident where he was removed from a British Airways airplane by airport security for harassing a flight attendant while drunk. Daly once claimed that he drank a fifth of Jack Daniel's every day during the year he was 23 years of age. He has entered into various alcohol addiction programs, including Alcoholics Anonymous and the Betty Ford Clinic, at least three times and has experienced three divorces since becoming a professional golfer. These incidents resulted in a stretch between 1996 and 2001 without a professional victory. During this stretch, Daly was especially known for having spectacular blow-up holes near the end of rounds such as knocking multiple balls into water or out-of-bounds for a double-digit score or hitting a ball while it was still moving and then walking off the course. During the 1998 Greater Vancouver Open, Daly was visibly shaking as he tried to play, causing the television announcers to audibly wince at the sight. Daly's fourth wife Sherrie pleaded guilty to federal drug charges and was sentenced to a five month prison term.

In December 1992, he was charged with third-degree assault for throwing his then-wife Bettye into a wall. He apologized for the incident and entered an alcohol rehabilitation center and and took time off from golf tournaments in early 1993. He pleaded guilty for a lesser charge of the assault and was withdrawn when Daly completed counseling. In May 1993, he was upset by his opening round at the Kemper Open, threw his scoring card in the scoring tent, walked off, and was disqualified. In late 1993, Daly was given an indefinite suspension for 1994 after quitting in the middle of the Kapalua International and told to seek treatment for his alcoholism. He was at first suspended for the first 12 tournaments of the 1994 season, but he came a few weeks earlier than expected and played in the Honda Classic, finishing fourth.

In July 1994, Daly claimed that many PGA golfers were cocaine users, and said that if drug testing was done on tour, he would be "one of the cleanest guys out there" which brought an uproar among the golfing community. In the final round of the 1994 NEC World Series of Golf, Daly was accused of hitting his long drives too early, hitting his ball toward the spectators walking across the fairways. He would get into a fight with Bob Roth, whose son was competing in the event, although sources seem to state that Roth provoked the fight and his wife was calling Daly vulgar names. Daly hurt his back and would withdraw from the Swiss Open the next week. Daly voluntarily missed the remainder of the 1994 season for physical and mental exhaustion.

Over the past several years, Daly has gotten his alcohol problem under control and, after winning a few minor tournaments, broke his long PGA Tour drought on February 15, 2004, by winning the Buick Invitational. He clinched his victory on the first hole of a three-way playoff by hitting a long, difficult greenside bunker shot to within inches of the hole. Daly went on to have some of his most consistent play ever in 2004 and 2005.

In 2006, Daly revealed in the last chapter of his book My Life in and out of the Rough : The Truth Behind All That Bull**** You Think You Know About Me ISBN 0-06-112062-6 that he has had great difficulty with a gambling problem. He claims to have lost between $50 and $60 million dollars(US) over the past 15 years. This includes losing $1.5 million in one day, most of it lost on $5,000 Las Vegas slot machines. Daly has been able to pay his gambling debts mostly through making more paid public appearances and through sponsorships opportunities.

Despite prodigious consumption of cigarettes and Diet Coke, Daly has never conquered his weight problem; he refused to partake in the British Open Champions Dinner because "You don't get a guy this big into a suit."

[edit] Public involvement

Daly recorded an autobiographical album entitled My Life, featuring guest performances by Darius Rucker, Willie Nelson, Johnny Lee, and Daron Norwood.

Daly does not fly to tournament sites and instead travels in a personal recreational vehicle. He is known for his involvement in many charities including several in northwest Arkansas. He has donated money to his high school, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and Boys and Girls Clubs of America. Daly is also an active supporter of the sports programs at the University of Arkansas.

He shaved his signature "mullet", and donated the procedes from the event to various charities.

His likeness, voice, and golfing abilities were the basis of a character in the Hot Shots Golf 3 video game.

[edit] PGA Tour wins

Major championships shown in bold.

[edit] Other professional wins

1990 Ben Hogan Utah Classic (Ben Hogan Tour), AECI Charity Classic (South Africa), Hollard Royal Swazi Sun Classic (South Africa)
1993 Alfred Dunhill Cup (team event in Scotland with Fred Couples and Payne Stewart)
2001 BMW International Open (European Tour)
2002 Champions Challenge (with Pat Perez), Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge (with Rich Beem and Jim Furyk)
2003 Callaway Golf Pebble Beach Invitational
2003 Kolon Korean Open (Asian Tour), Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge (with Mark Calcavecchia and Peter Jacobsen)
2006 TELUS Skins Game

[edit] Results in major championships

Tournament	1986	1987	1988	1989
Masters Tournament	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
U.S. Open	CUT	DNP	DNP	T69
British Open	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
PGA Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP

Tournament	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
Masters Tournament	DNP	DNP	T19	T3	T48	T45	T29	DNP	T33	T52
U.S. Open	DNP	DNP	CUT	T33	CUT	T45	T27	WD	T53	68
British Open	DNP	DNP	75	T14	81	1	T67	DNP	CUT	DNP
PGA Championship	DNP	1	82	T51	CUT	CUT	CUT	T29	CUT	DNP

Tournament	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Masters Tournament	CUT	DNP	T32	DNP	CUT	CUT	CUT
U.S. Open	WD	DNP	T70	DNP	DNP	T75	DNP
British Open	CUT	CUT	CUT	T72	CUT	T15	CUT
PGA Championship	CUT	CUT	CUT	CUT	CUT	T74	CUT

DNP = did not play
CUT = missed the half way cut
WD = withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place.
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.