Wild Thing?

In 1995, Daly earned golfing immortality when he beat Costantino Rocca in a play-off at St Andrews for the Open Championship. There was now no doubt in anyone’s minds concerning the talent Daly possessed – his win at the Home of Golf was achieved more through his wondrous short game than his gigantic hitting – but a troubled personal life, and various addictions may have been what kept him from winning again until the Buick Invitational in 2004.

If there were ever a golfer that a country song could be written about, it would be John Daly. Actually, Daly has recorded an album, titled My Life, but more on that later. Daly might have been a golfer, but since his US PGA breakthrough he has lived the life of a rock star. He has four ex-wives, battles numerous addictions including alcohol and gambling, and has been suspended from the PGA Tour multiple times.

Daly first married in the summer of 1987, when he tied the knot with Dale Crafton. However this only lasted a few years, and they divorced in February of 1990. Two years later, Daly married Bettye Fulford, and they had a daughter, Shynah Hale. However they too divorced after a series of personal problems. In 1995, Daly was once again married, this time to a woman named Paulette Dean. Daly and Paulette gave birth to a daughter, Sierra Lynn. This was one of Daly’s longer marriages to date, lasting four years until 1999.

Finally in 2001, Daly married Sherrie Miller, and they had a baby boy, John Patrick Daly II. This marriage seemed to be a case of “fourth time's a charm” for Daly, but the couple eventually split after several incidents.

Daly’s other troubles also lay in his multiple addictions, mainly alcoholism and gambling. Daly once claimed that when he was 23, he drank a fifth of Jack Daniels every day. In May 1993, Daly was upset after a disappointing opening round at the Kemper Open. He threw his card into the scoring tent, walked off and was disqualified. Later in 1993 Daly was given an indefinite suspension for the 1994 season after quitting in the middle of the Kapalua International, and was told to seek treatment for his alcoholism. Many think that Daly’s abusive alcohol consumption is what caused a lack of professional victories, and some very memorable blow up holes. Daly currently holds the record for the most strokes taken on a single hole in a professional event. Daly took 18 strokes to find the bottom of the cup at the 1998 Bay Hill Invitational, when he hit six balls into the water.