John Daly Was Once Left in a $1.7 Million Gambling Trouble Due to Alcohol

With great power comes great responsibility. However, not all have the ability to adapt to the power. Something that results in them failing to take up the responsibility. Similar was the case with John Daly. The American golfer today stands as an in-fame golfer on the tour. However, unlike other players, along with his game, his fame is also a gift of his past controversies.

Daly instantly tasted fame after making his debut in 1987 with his title-winning performances at the 1991 PGA Championship and the 1995 Open Championship. Having an impressive game, Daly took no time to enter the list of favorites during tournaments. However, failing to absorb the newfound fame, Daly entered the world of alcohol and gambling. Failing to withstand the addiction of the two, in 1997, he suffered one of the most turbulent phases of his life.

John Daly gets diagnosed with alcohol poisoning

Hoping to replicate his previous performances, in March 1997, Daly was all set to play in the Players Championship in Florida. However, not having his stars aligned, he ended up hitting a bad round at the TPC Sawgrass Golf Course. Disappointed by his performance, he headed to the hotel. However, failing to soak up the despondency, the American star was soon back to his bottle of alcohol.

Soon after the incident, Daly was found unconscious in his hotel room. Following which, he was driven to hospital, to be diagnosed with alcohol poisoning. While many might have been sympathetic towards him, that clearly didn’t seem to affect the aftermath of the situation.

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A couple of days after being diagnosed with alcohol poisoning, he was temporarily banned from the PGA Tour. While the tour officials announced the ban, they also went out of the way to get the ban repealed. As per the officials, the only way Daly could come back to the tour was by checking into the Betty Ford Center for Treatment of Alcoholism or in other words…rehab.

Further downfalls of alcohol poisoning

Daly’s impressive performance in the previous years had made him the hot favorite for sponsors. However, the incident took no time in spreading its arm to Daly’s sponsorship deals. With Daly in the Bety Ford Center, Wilson announced a pull-out from their sponsorship deal with him.

Sponsorship deals clearly play a vital role in a player’s life. Something that Daly surely understood after Wilson pulled out. Without Wilson, Daly was left with $1.7m in gambling debts and hundreds of thousands of dollars owing to tax.

The PGA Championship winner was banned from the PGA Tour and chucked out from the sponsorship deal. However, that wasn’t all. The incident also had a major impact on his then recently stabilized married life. After two divorces, Daly married Californian model, Paulette Dean in 1995. However, the incident also turned out to be the breakthrough point of his third divorce which took place in 1999.

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This wasn’t the only time that Daly suffered a downfall like this. Five years earlier, in 1992 as well, Daly visited the Betty Ford Center for Treatment of Alcoholism. On the gambling front, Daly admitted to having gambled away close to $60 million in a span of two decades.

What are your thoughts on renowned players like Daly getting into addictions like these? Let us know in the comments below.