John Daly isn’t just known for his drive or his short game. Many people know him for his escapades off the course instead. Wikipedia once again provides a nice little summary for Daly’s less savory side. Probably Daly’s two worst offenses would be his alcoholism and tremendous gambling problem.

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.

In March 2008, Daly’s swing coach Butch Harmon quit, saying that “the most important thing in [Daly's] life is getting drunk.”^[5]

On Sunday, October 26, 2008, Daly was taken into protective custody by Winston-Salem police after he was found drunk outside an area Hooters restaurant.^[6]

Due to John Daly’s various drinking escapades, the alcoholic drink consisting of sweet tea-flavored vodka and lemonade (also called a Dirty Arnold Palmer) is often referred to as a John Daly.^[7]

In 2006, Daly revealed in the last chapter of his autobiography that he has had great difficulty with a gambling problem.^[1] He claims to have lost between US$50 and $60 million 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.^[8] Daly has been able to pay his gambling debts mostly through making more paid public appearances and through sponsorships opportunities.

Watch Daly in action as he goes shoe and shirtless against a TV reporter.