John Daly hasn’t played in the Masters since 2006, but that doesn’t stop the former major winner from setting up shop each year at a Hooters restaurant across the street from Augusta National, where he will spend the week signing autographs and mingling with fans.
Daly has never been one to skirt questions about his lifestyle choices, which at times have negatively impacted his on-course performance. He opened up again this week to the Guardian, noting that his voracious appetite for Diet Coke has been curbed - but only somewhat - by lap band surgery he underwent in 2009 to help lose weight.
“The band won’t allow me to drink as many. If I don’t have ice, I can’t drink it. I can’t have it straight because of the carbonation,” Daly said. " I have to drink it slowly and not out of a can, I need some ice. I used to have 26-28 cans a day. Now I have 10-12 at the most.”
The 47-year-old noted that while it’s been nearly six years since he last touched alcohol, he still maintains a smoking habit that can sometimes reach 40 cigarettes per day.
“Some guys want to do a little more cardio training; I can’t see me being allowed to smoke a cigarette on a treadmill,” Daly said. “I don’t think they will let me into the gym if I do that. Will they?”
Daly has made the cut twice in five PGA Tour starts this season, his best result being a tie for 32nd at the Sony Open. In his most recent start at the Valspar Championship, though, he struggled to a 90 in the second round, the highest score of his career.
