John Daly has revealed how his wife helped him to overcome his demons and ensure his return to professional golf. The 1998 Masters champion quit in 2003 after a drug and alcohol addiction, but with it came a public meltdown which saw him assault his girlfriend and finish his career in 2015.
He is trying to rebuild his professional image this year, working with Payne Stewart’s son-in-law, Todd Phillips, and will play the Kemper Open at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm this week. Daly said: “If it wasn’t for my wife, Cara, I probably wouldn’t be here. She’s the one that pulled me out of it. I was completely out of it. I was so deep in the hole I didn’t even know where I was.”
The 49-year-old added: “I went through hell. When my daughter said, ‘Daddy, I want you to come home.’ From then I said, ‘I’ll be back.”‘
As Daly goes back out into the field, the world No9, Ian Poulter, will be kept out. He needs at least a share of fourth place this week to clinch the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup crown but needs a top-two finish if he is to claim the FedEx spot he needs to enter the British Open next week.
The 2006 US Open champion Geoff Ogilvy pulled out of the event this morning, citing a fatigue from competing at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas. He had been due to play in the final round. Ogilvy was in a two-way tie for ninth place at the Hero World Challenge in Orlando, Florida, when he withdrew.