John Daly has revealed that he has bladder cancer.
The golfing legend learned of his diagnosis when visiting a doctor recently for kidney stones and back pain and has since undergone a successful surgery, but there is an "85 percent chance" it will return, he told Golf Channel in an interview published Thursday.
"It’s probably going to come back and then another three months that you don’t know," the 54-year-old, who won the 1991 PGA Championship s well as the 1995 Open Championship, said.
"You just don’t know. Luckily for me, they caught it early, but bladder cancer is something that I don’t know all the details. But it doesn’t look like it may go away. We will just see what happens. Maybe there’s a miracle."
Daly's unhealthy habits have been well documented during his turbulent career on the PGA. He has battled alcoholism and at one point was smoking 40 cigarettes and drinking 28 diet cokes a day. Now he is focusing on reducing his consumption in pursuit of a healthier lifestyle.
"I’m cutting way, way back on the Diet Coke and counting minutes before I can have a cigarette. I’m trying to quit smoking," he said. "The doctors aren’t saying it’s too late. Unfortunately, it’s a cancer that keeps coming back. But I’m going to listen to them, and I’m going to try and quit smoking. If it comes back, it comes back. Six months to a year, if it doesn’t go away, I’m going to live my life. I’m gonna have some fun."
Daly admitted that he was not afraid of dying, but did wish he had made healthier choices throughout his career.
"But hey, I’m still working, I’m still living life, I’m still doing the things I need to do," he said. "I can accept the challenge. I’m not scared of that. I just want my kids to be OK and everyone else in my family."
Daly entered a rehabilitation center to treat his addiction to alcohol at the end of 1992 but began drinking again a year after winning the British Open in 1995. Two years later, during the Players Championship, he went on a drinking spree and ended up destroying his hotel room then splitting with his wife, according to ESPN.
He entered rehab a second time and has been in recovery since, but in a previous interview, admitted there was a likelihood that he could relapse.
"I could go out and lose everything (by) gambling and drinking, but there's no sense in denying it. It's in my blood." Daly has also battled a gambling addiction.
"I want to gamble and I want to have a few drinks now and then," he added. "Basically, it (trying to stay sober) had taken over my life, and I was miserable. It's like I've said before, there's no way I'd never drink again."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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