A 2009 AP file photo shows golfer John Daly.
John Daly has been suspended five times and cited 21
times for not giving his best effort, according to a 456-page
rap sheet kept by the PGA Tour that is now public record
because of libel lawsuit Daly failed to win.
The Florida Times-Union reported on Tuesday on
Daly's disciplinary file, which the tour had to give Morris
Publishing Co. during Daly's libel lawsuit against a
columnist who once worked for the newspaper.
The Times-Union is part of the Morris group.
The lawsuit was dismissed in March 29.
The disciplinary file grew to 456 pages over 18 years of
Daly's career, starting in April 1991 when the tour said Daly
cursed a playing partner and ending in the fall of 2008, when
Daly was suspended for six months.
The two-time major champion was placed on probation six
times, ordered to go to counseling or alcohol rehab seven
times, cited for conduct unbecoming a professional 11 times
and fined nearly $US100,000 ($NZ135,377), according to the
file.
Most of the incidents have been widely reported, such as Daly
trashing a hotel room in 1997 during The Players Championship
or getting into a scuffle at Firestone with a 62-year-old man
whose son, Jeff Roth, said Daly had hit into him at the World
Series of Golf.
Even so, the PGA Tour does not disclose its discipline, and
Daly usually makes for good reading.
Despite the file becoming a public record, the tour stayed
with its position of not commenting on discipline.
The Times-Union said the file also contains letters
from fans and tournament officials, some flattering and some
not. One fan wrote to former PGA Tour commissioner Deane
Beman after Daly was suspended: "I'm disappointed the
suspension is indefinite. Please reconsider and get John Daly
back so many of us can get enthused about the PGA."
Another golf fan wrote, "How long does it take for this young
man to grow up and remember that thousands of young junior
golfers are out there watching him make an (expletive) of
himself?"
Daly won the 1991 PGA Championship as the ninth alternate,
and won the 1995 British Open at St. Andrews. His last
victory was the 2004 Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines.
He has not had a full status on the PGA Tour since 2006 and
is playing mainly on sponsor exemptions.
The Golf Channel is producing a reality show on Daly that was
to begin Tuesday night.
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