Alcoholism

John Daly once claimed that he drank a fifth of Jack Daniel's every day during the year he was 23 years of age, and the various reported incidents include being removed from a British Airways airplane by airport security for harassing a flight attendant while drunk. He has entered into various alcohol addiction programs, including the Betty Ford Clinic, at least three times, and has experienced three divorces since becoming a professional golfer.

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. 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.

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.

Gambling

In 2006, Daly revealed in the last chapter of his autobiography that he has had great difficulty with a gambling problem.[2] He claims to have lost between $50 and $60 million dollars(US) over the past 15 years. This includes losing $1.5 million in October 2005, after winning half that amount at the WGC-American Express tournament, most of it lost on $5,000 Las Vegas slot machines.[5] Daly has been able to pay his gambling debts mostly through making more paid public appearances and through sponsorships opportunities.


Drugs and the PGA

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. Daly voluntarily missed the remainder of the 1994 season for physical and mental exhaustion.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Daly_(golfer)