Associated Press
GRAND BLANC, Mich. ó Really, John Daly insists he’s not a beer-swilling, trouble-making guy anymore.
Daly said Wednesday an upcoming reality show on the Golf Channel, featuring him, will provide a glimpse of his new-and-improved boring life.
“I’m more laid back,” he said in an interview with The Associated Press between puffs of a cigarette in the parking lot of Warwick Hills, the site of this week’s Buick Open. “It won’t have the hustle and bustle as the last show.”
The Golf Channel had a 13-part series “The Daly Planet” in 2006, showcasing his wild life.
The first of at least eight episodes of the yet-to-be-named reality show will air in early 2010.
“I think ‘Out of the Rough’ is the perfect title,” Daly said.
The popular player said he’s focusing on his golf career, which has been marked by the highs of winning the British Open and PGA Championship and lows created by problems outside the ropes.
Daly returned to the PGA Tour earlier this year after a six-month suspension, the second time the tour has suspended him for unbecoming conduct. Two other times, he agreed to sit out to get his life in order.
He has been to alcohol rehab twice, has been married three times and wrote an autobiography that was as much about drinking, sex and gambling as it was about his golf.
“I haven’t had a drink in a while,” Daly said.
Golf Channel senior producer Al Pollock, who has known Daly since 1994 and has been with him during filming of the upcoming show, said he hasn’t seen Daly have a sip of alcohol in a long time.
“He’s a different person,” Pollock said. “This show will not be as crazy as the last show. But it’s going to show a different side ó the real side ó of John Daly. He’s lived through a lot of peaks and valleys. Now, he’s got his stuff together.
“He’s more serious, especially about golf. He’s lost a lot of weight.”
Daly said he has lost 81 pounds since February, when he ballooned to 286 pounds.
His next goal is to shave strokes off his game so that he can add to his total of five PGA Tour victories.
“I’m practicing a lot and I’m working hard, but it’s not paying off yet,” he said. “I’m real frustrated with my putting.”
The day before competing in the first round of the Buick Open, a crew planned to follow him as he recorded a song he wrote at Kid Rock’s studio and performed mundane tasks such as ironing the colorful pants he would sport at Warwick Hills.
“I’m still having fun, but I’m more serious,” Daly said. “I’m finally the guy so many people have wanted me to be for so many years.”