Daly in Tears After Bout With Shakes

John Daly, struggling through a difficult year and battling alcoholism, broke down and cried during the first round of the Greater Vancouver Open on Thursday at Surrey, Canada.

Daly began shaking at the 15th hole. Looking distraught and haggard, he crossed his arms on his chest and walked around the green, tears coming down his face.

“He gets the shakes every once in a while and he did [today],” said Corey Pavin, who was in Daly’s threesome along with David Frost. “It’s hard to see. You feel sorry for him. I know he’s working really hard and trying to stay off the alcohol and he’s doing a great job, a very admirable job.”

Daly parred the 15th hole, birdied the 16th and finished with a three-over-par 74.

Pavin and Frost tried to comfort Daly, who put on a second jacket even though the temperature was in the mid-80s.

“He just said ‘I’ve got the shakes. I’ve got the shakes and it’s something I’ve got to deal with,”’ Frost said. “I think we did what anybody else would have done if it were them playing with him. It’s a tough thing that he’s going through.”

Daly declined to speak with reporters afterward.

“He’s down,” Pavin said. “Things have been very hard for him, he hasn’t had a very good year. It takes a lot of courage and heart to stay out there and finish up that round.”

In his last four tournaments, Daly has missed three cuts and was disqualified after completing three rounds in the St. Jude Classic.

Earlier this month, he threatened not to play another PGA Tour event this year, and refused to talk to reporters earlier this week during a charity tournament in Oregon.