Golfer John Daly partied DJ Khaled at his 48th birthday bash in 2023 (Image: Instagram/@pga_johndaly)
From partying with celebrities to smoking during rounds. John Daly is by no means a typical golfer.
The 58-year-old, who won The Open at St Andrews in 2000, is known for his wild antics away from the golf course. One of the most notable instances being his surprise appearance at DJ Khaled’s birthday party last year.
Daly posted snaps from the party of the Grammy Award-winning producer as he celebrated turning 48, partying with pop singer NeYo and rapper Raekwon.
Amongst the extravagant entertainment for guests was a ‘mermaid’ in a water tank. And Daly was clearly a fan as he boasted that she blew a kiss in his direction.
Khaled and Daly struck up an unlikely friendship when the former began playing golf as a hobby. As it happened, Daly was one of the interested parties in taking him on in a round of golf and they hit it off from there.
But it wasn’t long ago that Daly was recognised as one of golf’s top names and is still playing to this day.
John Daly, the 1995 Open champion, has led a very colourful life (Image: Getty)
He turned professional in 1987 and has won two Majors during his 37-year career, including an unexpected success at the British Open in 1995 at St Andrews.
Known primarily for his driving distance off the tee, which earned him the nickname ‘Long John’, Daly claimed the PGA Championship title in 1991. However, issues with alcohol and his diet affected his game in the late 1990s.
His last PGA Tour triumph came in 2004 at the Buick Invitational in a play-off against Luke Donald and Chris Riley. The following year nearly brought about more success, only for him to fall to Vijay Singh and Tiger Woods in play-offs at the Houston Open and WGC-American Express Championship in San Francisco.
John Daly puffs on a cigarette during rounds. (Image: Getty)
In interviews over the years, Daly has given some insight into his unusual diet – claiming he cannot stomach eating vegetables and doesn’t drink water.
“Rich Beam (fellow American golfer) calls me ‘camel’ cos I never drink water. I drink diet coke, I like to have ice which to me is water so I get plenty of water in my diet coke,” Daly said in an interview with Graham Bensinger in 2016.
“I don’t drink water. I hate water. I cannot stand to drink water. I used to drink 12-20 diet cokes a day, I’d go to McDonald’s three or four times a day. To me they always had the best fountain drink.
“Burger King, McDonald’s, Taco Bell, I love them. I used to be able to eat two Big Macs, two or three cheeseburgers, chocolate shake and regular coke back then, sitting pretty easily.”
The eccentric golfer, who was pictured puffing on a cigarette while practicing at the 2023 British Open, made a recent appearance in the Ascension Charity Classic at Norwood Hills Country Club. Daly was tied for 64th place after finishing four-over-par in the tournament that promised a £1.57million ($2.1m) prize pot.
His style of play and behaviour isn’t for everyone, but few can deny the golfer is unashamedly himself when he takes to the course. His heritage in golf will live on too, with his son, John Daly II, a budding golfer at his alma mater at Arkansas.