Product Description

Legend has it that one of the things you really should see if you're a true golf fan is the swing - the awesome 'killer swing' - of John Patrick Daly. Rewind to August 1991 and the USPGA Championship at Crooked Stick, Indianapolis. Twenty-five-year-old rookie pro John Daly tees off as an eleventh-hour replacement for Nick Price and blasts his way to a spectacular and entirely unexpected victory. Now fully updated, Gavin Newsham's award-winning biography examines how that triumph, which, which should have signalled the start of the big time for Daly, instead prompted a shocking descent into alcoholism, gambling addiction and more indidents and accidents than most people encounter in one lifetime - maybe two. He has been arrested, suspended, and seen his world ranking plummet to 507. Yet, his no-nonsense 'grip it and rip it' philosophy has struck a chord with golf fans the world over and his length off the tee is legendary. 'It's all good because I'm still living,' he shrugs. Despite his trials and tribulations, John Daly remains one of the biggest draws in the game.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #87552 in Books
• Published on: 2005-06-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Review
"'A moving and well-written biography' The Sunday Times 'Meticulously researched and crucially, highly readable.' Observer Sports Monthly"

From the Back Cover
Legend has it that one of the things you really should see if you're a true golf fan is the swing - the awesome 'killer swing' - of John Patrick Daly.
Rewind to August 1991 and the USPGA Championship at Crooked Stick, Indianapolis. Twenty-five-year-old rookie pro John Daly tees off as an eleventh-hour replacement for Nick Price and blasts his way to a spectacular and entirely unexpected victory.
Now fully updated, Gavin Newsham's award-winning biography examines how that triumph, which, which should have signalled the start of the big time for Daly, instead prompted a shocking descent into alcoholism, gambling addiction and more indidents and accidents than most people encounter in one lifetime - maybe two.
He has been arrested, suspended and seen his world ranking plummet to 507. Yet, his no-nonsense 'grip it and rip it' philosophy has struck a chord with golf fans the world over and his length off the tee is legendary.
'It's all good because I'm still living,' he shrugs.
Despite his trials and tribulations, John Daly remains one of the biggest draws in the game.

About the Author
Gavin Newsham is a freelance journalist and the sports editor of Maxim, the world's biggest-selling men's lifestyle magazine. He has written extensively on sport for a variety of publications including the Guardian, Observer, Total Sport, Loaded, Goal and Time Out. This biography of John Daly earned him the NSC Sports Book Award for Best New Writer in 2004.

Customer Reviews

Amazing study of flawed genius
John Daly is one of the most colourful sporting figures the world has seen. This biography follows his life through to about 2002, and takes us through the astonishing ups and downs of this flawed genius, as well as providing a vivid description of the trials and tribulations of the pro circuit. Daly battles severe alcoholism, domestic violence and a huge gambling addiction, not to mention major problems with diet and weight...and yet wins his first Major, coming from 9th reserve, on a course he has never played, while drunk!

At times, we despair as we follow Daly into his next cycle of self-destruction. Even so, he rebounds and even having flirted with suicide, the man's resilience is astonishing. This is the book's greatest strength - the way that it depicts Daly's rollercoaster life with humour, honesty and compassion. Eventually, Daly matures and gains control, and the story is genuinely uplifting as we see how it is possible to come back from the lowest low.

The interest and pace are maintained throughout, and Newsham sidesteps the obvious pitfall of giving a shot-by-shot account of every game. It is well written and well structured and is fully deserving of its award-winning status.

John Daly: The Biography
This is the best sports biography/Autobiography you'll wish to read. I will bring you to tears recalling the the trial and tribulations of the ultimate flawed genius. I really cuts to the bone of Daly's troubles, some of the stories make the mind boggle. A must!