John Daly

Born: April 28, 1966, in Carmichael, California
Nickname: "Long John" or "The Lion"
John Daly Pictures
More Photos: Daly in Loudmouth pants

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• British Open: 1995
• PGA Championship: 1991

PGA Tour Rookie of the Year, 1991

• Jack Nicklaus: "Good gracious, what a coil, what an unleashing of power. I don't know who he reminds me of. I haven't seen anybody who hit the ball that far."

• John Daly: "I learned you can't drink whiskey and play golf."

• John Daly: "Everyone has addictions and my problem is that I have 5,000 of them. If it's not drinking, it's gambling; if it's not gambling, it's eating anything from burgers, doughnuts to M&Ms."

• Fuzzy Zoeller: "He's his own worst enemy."

• Daly recorded a musical album entitled "My Life" that features guests such Willie Nelson, Darius Rucker and Johnny Lee.

• When Daly won the British Open in 1995, he was (at the time) just the fourth American since World War II to win two majors prior to his 30th birthday. The others: Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson and Johnny Miller.

• Daly lead the PGA Tour in driving distance 11 times, a record for most times leading a statistical category. Calvin Peete previously held the record with 10 wins in the driving accuracy category.

• Of all eligible American two-time major championship winners, Daly is the only one not to play in a Ryder Cup.

A fan favorite his entire career, John Daly came out of nowhere to win a major championship, then had his golf career consumed by a series of off-course problems including drinking, gambling and divorces. His life often seemed a soap opera, and the controversy around him often obscured his ability - shown on increasingly rare occasions as his career continued - to play remarkable golf.

Daly grew up in Arkansas and played collegiately for the Razorbacks. He turned pro in 1987 and won on the Nationwide Tour in 1990. But almost nobody had heard of him when, in 1991, he got into the PGA Championship as the ninth alternate.

Without even the benefit of a practice round, Daly - with his mullet haircut and grip-it-and-rip-it approach - started booming prodigious drives with a swing that went way past parallel on the way back. Oh, and he played fantastically, too - his long game would always overshadow what was often a very delicate short game.

Daly won that tournament, and his legend was born. The good ol' boy, cigarette dangling from his lips, beloved by fans. The antithesis of the tour's country club image.

He followed up that debut with wins in 1992 and 1994, but was already beginning to experience problems that would become more his hallmark even than the big drives. Daly was suspended by the PGA Tour in 1994 for walking off the course during a tournament, and he entered alcohol rehab for the first time.

In 1995, Daly won his second major in a playoff at the British Open. It seemed he would continue going up, but his demons kept dragging him back down.

Daly wouldn't win again until 2004. During the intervening years, he battled drinking problems, weight problems, marriage problems - he would divorce three times and marry a fourth time - and problems with his game.

Many times he would quit in the middle of a tournament, or even during the middle of a round; sometimes, his hands would be shaking so badly that continuing wasn't an option. Other times, he'd be disqualified; still others, he'd blow up during a round, posting double-digit scores on a hole while dropping ball after ball into play.

By the end of 2006, Daly had not fully escaped these problems. In 2005, his fourth wife served time in federal prison on money laundering charges. In his 2006 autobiography, Daly claimed to have lost $50 million-$60 million gambling. He continued drinking, although claimed he only drank beer, no longer hard liquor.

On the course, Daly had a resurgence in 2004, winning for the first time since 1995. In 2005, he played well in stretches and got into two playoffs, losing both, though, to Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh, respectively.

Daly's game went south in 2006, and by 2008 he had lost his PGA Tour card.