Wild Thing?

When John Daly released his autobiography, the generally awful My Life in and out of the Rough, in 2006, he revealed that he suffered from a gambling addiction. He estimates that he has lost between US$50 and $60 million over the past 15 years, though he has been able to pay most of it off through paid appearances and sponsorships. Daly’s addictive personality does have a good side though; he is also a compulsive donor to charity.

He has been involved with the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. Daly also appeared popular among his fellow golfers; there are countless stories of his generosity to complete strangers.

For instance, Bruce Smith, who is a PGA teaching professional, had a very memorable meeting with Daly. Smith had the opportunity to play in the 86th PGA Championship, but was playing his practice round early in order to get back to a charitable Pro-Am at his local club for his daughter, who suffers from a lymphatic malformation on a portion of her face.

Smith was playing ahead of Daly, but Daly caught up to him on the 16th tee, and the two ended up playing the remainder of their rounds together. The two talked, and Smith ended up telling John that he had to catch a plane back to his hometown of Dallas to set up a charity event for his baby daughter.

Smith told John that he wanted to go into the pro shop to get some items to auction off. Upon hearing this, Daly told Smith that he could do him one better, and get some items from his van sent over to him. As they neared the green, Daly reached into his pocket, pulled out a wad of cash, handed it to Smith, and said, "here, put that in your foundation." Smith just looked at the money, which totalled US$1000, shell-shocked at the generosity that Daly had shown to a man he had just met.

Perhaps one of Daly’s greatest acts of generosity took place immediately after the world found out whom he was. After winning the 1991 PGA Championship, Daly donated US$30,000 of his US$230,000 winner's cheque towards the education of two young girls whose father had passed away that week after being struck by lightning in the grandstands at Crooked Stick. Those two girls have now grown up, and have both graduated from college.

Daly has had to deal with a lot of unfortunate problems in his life, and we hear all about those problems – the addictive behaviour, and the failed marriages. His charitable nature is often left unreported.

Daly entered the 2007 PGA Tour season without full exemption status for the first time since his 1991 US PGA victory. Because of this, Daly had to depend heavily on sponsor invitations, and exemption category 30, “past champions” to gain entry into tournaments. However Daly does have full exemption into the PGA Championship, AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-am, and The Open Championship, up to age 65, as a past champion.

In December 2008, Daly was given a six-month suspension from the PGA Tour. Daly, who has always had issues with his weight, took this suspension as an opportunity to have Lap-Band surgery. This surgery basically limits the amount of food that he can consume. When we in Hong Kong last saw him – at the 2010 UBS Hong Kong Open – Daly had lost over 100 pounds, making him a svelte 185 pounds. Though he has complained that he now has nowhere to put his elbows when putting.

The past 20 years have been a wild ride for John Daly. He has managed to capture the hearts and imaginations of the golfing world with his fantastic stories of triumph, but at the same time, has shocked us with his self-destructive behaviour. He has thrilled us with his distance, and surprised many with his generosity. The next few years for Daly may seem unclear, but one thing is for certain: good ol’ John will grip and rip his way through it.