Daly's first step on road to redemption; The self-styled Wild Thing

JOHN DALY'S life has been ravaged by drinking, gambling, erratic behaviour and, in case we need reminding, some pretty good golf. He says the wild days are over, but then we've heard that before. Months of sobriety followed by a blaze of destruction. Yet, is it too much to ask that one of the game's most talented, charismatic figures has finally got his act together?

Physically, he appears to be in good shape, having lost nearly four stone last year. He has eliminated much of the trademark junk food from his diet, drinks copious amounts of water, and eats salads. He claims he hasn't touched alcohol in about 10 months.

"I don't drink because I don't want to or need to," he says. "I'm not as scared of the cravings; it's a lot easier now."

He has also stopped taking a battery of anti-depressant drugs - Paxil, Prozac, Luvox, and Lithium.

"I tried all those drugs and more," he explains. "They made me feel like a ghost. I lost all interest in playing and practising and I was tired too much of the time. I didn't feel healthy. There's no answer in the medication, not for me anyway."

Daly has gone through alcohol rehabilitation twice. He walked out just a single day into his last rehab effort saying, "I tried to do things for everybody else instead of for myself. Christ, if you keep talking about drinking, sooner or later you'll drink."

That failure to stay sober cost him a lucrative #2m contract with Callaway. However, a new contract with Hippo has enabled him to pay off money owed to his former sponsor.

He is working on the game that brought him two major champ- ionships. During the winter he practiced putting and pitching on a green he had installed in his back garden. "Three weeks before this season began, I went to Palm Springs to practice and play. I've never worked so hard and it's been frustrating because it's taken so damn long to come round."

Recently, he shot a final round of 66 which gave him a tie for ninth in the Tucson Open, his first top 10 finish on Tour since the 1998 Honda Classic.

Despite his popularity, there are still sceptics who consider him a sideshow to the main event.

A lengthy catalogue of walk-outs, temper tantrums and seedy off- course headlines mean that it's probably only a matter of time before Daly loses the plot yet again.

At the start of the third round of the Pebble Beach National Pro- Am it seemed as if the doubters were about to be vindicated. Daly had a nine at the first hole after driving out of bounds, and then moving an out of bounds stake cost him an additional two strokes.

On the 12th hole, another par 5, Daly's ball cannoned off several trees before coming to rest on a root. He hit into another tree, and finished with an eight. Three holes into the day and he was already 10 over.

"We were a little bit nervous at that stage alright," says David Feherty, one CBS's analysts. "But fair play to him, he kept his cool, he didn't get rattled and he played on. I'm sure there were a few disappointed onlookers."

Memories of Daly's disastrous 14 on the par 5 18th hole in last year's opening round of the US Open are still vivid. This time at Pebble Beach, however, Daly birdied four of the last six holes to finish with a 79. He missed the cut, but he gained respect for some new-found composure; his decision not to quit a small victory in his on-going battle.

"I've been down that road too often," he says. "I'll be damned if I'm gonna let my golf game get to me again."

Daly again made the cut at the Buick Open, won by Phil Mickelson after a farcical play-off, and picked up a cheque for $8000 - a trifling sum for a man who used to play a blackjack hand for $200,000, and frequently played the $500 slot machines. But like the booze, he says his gambling days are over.

"I'm strapped for cash," is his version, and with outgoings of $40,000 a month in alimony and child support, as well as the sale of his house in California to pay outstanding taxes, who knows?

Meanwhile, he is engaged to be married for the fourth time. "Being divorced and not seeing the kids as much as I would like has not been easy for me. I tend to work around their schedule as much as I do mine."

At 34, Daly believes he can win again in the US. "I lost confidence over the past few years, but it's starting to come back. I'm thinking more about my shots now. I've slowed down the takeaway on my driving, and my accuracy is better."

Equally, Daly is no longer relying on his driver as much as in the past and has decided to use a one-iron more frequently off the tee. He is also playing with steel-shafted irons for the first time in almost 20 years and the result has been an improvement in control and a lower trajectory.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm not playing like Tiger or the rest of those guys. I don't have an A game to speak of. I never did. But I know I can still play, and four good rounds would make a hell of a difference."

Fuzzy Zoeller, now one of the elder statesmen on the US Tour, remains Daly's closest golfing confidant. "I'm so happy to see that guy out here," Zoeller says. "I've seen him at his worst, and I wish the hell I'd known more about alcoholism and addiction. Boy, we have some great times together, and I wish that I could do more to help him.

"John is his own worst enemy. He does some of the dumbest things. Of course I'm concerned given his history. I used to tell him to try and relax, but what the hell do I know? Part of me wonders how long this will last, although he sure does looks great."

Ten years after he stormed into golfing history with a sensational victory at the USPGA at Crooked Stick, Daly insists there will be no more setbacks.

"Look, this is the healthiest I've ever been. Apart from my Marlboro mediums, which I'm not giving up, I'm doing okay. I'm focused. I want to do well. I was late to mature, but I'm getting there. I know I'm getting there."

Let's hope so, as long as the Wild Thing doesn't disappear completely from the world's courses.

Copyright 2001
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