John Daly has been hospitalized in Florida and has undergone emergency surgery on his hand.
The 58-year-old revealed the news on Instagram with a photo from his hospital bed, captioning the image: ‘Emergency hand surgery… grateful (it) went great and Doc McClimans for caring for me. You’ll be playing again in no time!’
In a separate post, with the location tagged as Tampa, Florida, he added: “I should visit them again soon! Thanks for all the messages.’
Daly hasn’t revealed much more about his condition, but in the hospital photo his left hand appears to be bandaged.
Daly is a huge fan favorite in the golf world and has never made any effort to disguise his tough lifestyle.
He is always seen on the track with a lit cigarette and says he doesn’t drink water or eat vegetables.
John Daly has revealed he needs emergency hand surgery and is in hospital in Florida
“I drink Diet Coke, I like to have ice, which for me is water, so I get enough water in my Diet Coke,” he said in a 2016 interview.
‘Rich Beem calls me ‘the camel’. I don’t drink water. I hate water. I can’t stand drinking water. I drank twelve to twenty Diet Cokes a day and went to McDonald’s three or four times a day. For me, they always had the best fountain drink.
‘I don’t eat beans, spinach, broccoli and things like that. When I was young, my dad shoved it in me and I had to throw it up.”
Recently, during an appearance on Bryson DeChambeau’s YouTube channel, he claimed he drank “20 vodkas” before filming with him.
In September 2020, Daly was diagnosed with bladder cancer which he later said was benign, but would require regular visits to his doctor for the next five years.
“Oh, I started drinking at 9 o’clock this morning,” Daly told DeChambeau in the video. ‘Maybe the 20th. I’ve slowed down a little bit.”
CBS reporter Will Brinson once infamously tweeted that after following the golfer at the 2008 Wyndham Championship, Daly smoked 21 cigarettes.
“I followed him for 18 holes, watching his every move, every time he reached for his golf bag, taking meticulous notes, taking a bite, a sip or a puff,” Brinson said.
“The first few holes were just kind of eye-opening. By the back nine, I realized I was essentially watching someone throw a perfect game.
“The final tally of literally everything he put into his body over a full 18 holes: 21 cigarettes, 12 Diet Cokes, 6 packs of Peanut M&M’s, 0.0 ounces of water.”
Despite his cancer scare and other health issues, such as being diagnosed with osteoarthritis in 2019, Daly hasn’t shown many signs of his lifestyle catching up to him so far.
He brought in 2025 by sharing a video of himself driving down a street – after checking for oncoming traffic – all with a lit cigarette in his mouth.
Daly ended 2024 by competing in the PNC Championship with his only one – against Tiger Woods and his son Charlie.
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