John Daly's PGA Tour Personal File Made Public

Sports News - March 2nd, 2010 - Written By Bryan Cross

Embattled golfer. Fan favorite.

This is but a mere summary of the professional career of John Daly. However, he is in headlines again following the public offering of his PGA Tour personal file at the order of a court.

Daly's file, which is 456 pages in length, details several occurrences by officials of the PGA Tour requesting that the player get help for off-the-course incidences which has plagued him throughout his career.

Obtained by the Florida Times-Union, it was uncovered that Daly was put on probation six times by the PGA Tour, and incurred 11 incidences for "conduct unbecoming a professional." Additionally within the file, Daly was cited 21 times for "failure to give best efforts" and accumulated close to $100,000 in fines by the tour.

Following an incident in which he was arrested for public intoxication at a Hooters restaurant in North Carolina, Daly was put on a six-month-long suspension to start 2009.

Daly burst onto the golf scene in 1991, when as an alternate, he captured the 1991 PGA Championship for the first victory in his career. He also went onto win the 1995 British Open at Royal St. Andrews. However, he has not won on tour since 2004. Still, he remains an immensely popular figure on the PGA tour, with many attributing his personal flaws and "relateability" to his popularity.

To begin 2010, Daly played at Torrey Pines, site of his last victory in 2004, and failed to make the 36-hole cut. As a result, the golfer stated that he was finished with the game. That later proved not to be the case, as he appeared at the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am 10 days later.

As per policy, the PGA Tour refuses to discuss the personal files of players.

"We turned the file over on a court order, but keeping with our policy, we're not going to comment on disciplinary action taken against players," said Ty Votaw, who is the PGA Tour's executive vice president for communications. "The fact that it is public record does not change that."

Daly played college golf at the University of Arkansas, and has won five times in his career on the PGA Tour. In 2004, he was voted as the PGA Tour Comeback Player of the Year.

Since the 2007 season, Daly has been playing in PGA Tour events strictly on sponsorship exemptions. After his 10-year exemption ended following his British Open victory, the win at Torrey Pines carried a two-year exemption.

PGA Odds at Sportsbooks continue to field wager for each event, with the Honda Classic in Florida. Currently, Bodog Sportsbooks have Robert Allenby, Paul Casey, Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood as the betting favorites to collect the victory, going off at 16/1.