There he stood, in the middle of the ninth fairway, cigarette in mouth (the new New York state ban on smoking applies only to the great indoors) and seemingly a man without a care in the world as he watched the flight of his ball heading towards the green during his practice round, writes Philip Reid.

But John Daly is a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders.

The two-time major champion - winner of the US PGA in 1991 and the British Open in 1995 - has been married four times and undergone alcohol rehabilitation twice and thought he had turned the corner on July 23rd when his third child and first son, "Little John", was born.

Just five days later, however, Daly's world fell in again when his current wife and her parents were indicted on drug and illegal gambling charges. If found guilty, Sherrie Miller Daly faces 20 years in prison.

"It's not fair to kick someone down when they've not proven anything. I just have to wait and see what happens," said Daly, adding: "I might not stick with her if she's guilty, but let's find out first."

When he arrived on Monday, Daly was told by his caddie, Mick Collins, to dump his wife or find another caddie. The golfer found another caddie.

"It's weird," he said. "You find out how many people love you for you. When things are great, you've got all the friends in the world.

"When something goes bad, they all just . . . turn on you. Life, it's unbelievable sometimes."

Long odds on an Irish win this week

Any punters who let their hearts rule their heads and prepare to put some euro on an Irish winner of the US PGA would be well advised to look at some hard and cold statistics concerning the past form of Darren Clarke, Padraig Harrington and Paul McGinley in the championship.

Fact One: Only one of them, Clarke, has managed to finish in the top-10 . . . he was tied-ninth in the 2000 US PGA at Valhalla, won by Tiger Woods.

Fact Two: Clarke has only once made the halfway cut in five previous appearances in the championship, that top-10 finish in Valhalla. He missed the cut on his debut appearance at Winged Foot in 1997 and also failed to survive at Medinah (1999), Atlanta Athletic Club (2001) and Hazeltine (2002).

Fact Three: Harrington's best finish in the event came last year at Hazeltine, when he finished in tied-17th, only a shot outside a top-10 finish. He missed the cut on his debut at Winged Foot (1997), finished tied-58th at Valhalla and missed the cut at Atlanta.

Fact Four: McGinley's roller-coaster ride in his previous three US PGA appearances has seen him go missed cut, tied-22nd, missed cut. He survived the cut at Atlanta.

Europeans haven't fared much better

European players have a terrible record in the US PGA. You have to go back to Tommy Armour's win in 1930 for the last European winner.

This year's championship, however, sees a record number of European players - 29 - tee it up in the quest to win the Wannamaker Trophy.

The country breakdown is: England (8), Sweden (7), Ireland (3), Spain (3), Scotland (2), Denmark (2), Wales (2), Germany (2).

Today'sTeeTimes

(US unless stated, Irish in bold - all times Irish)

1st Tee

12:30: J Guyton, A Hansen (Den), J Durant

12:40: C Franco (Par), D Lucchesi, R Gonzalez (Arg)

12:50: A Stolz (Aus), P Tataurangi (NZ), R Sabbatini 1:00: B Baird, P Casey (Eng), W Austin

1:10: J Rose (Eng), R Allenby (Aus), T Herron

1:20: J Williamson, A Forsyth (Sco), M Gronberg (Swe)

1:30: KJ Choi (Kor), K Triplett, F Jacobson (Swe)

1:40: B Tway, J Daly, J Jacobs

1:50: M Weir (Can), J Furyk, B Curtis

2:00: T Izawa (Jpn), B Faxon, R Gamez

2:10: S Schneiter, G Sauers, L Donald (Eng)

2:20: S Micheel, J Lankford, K Sutherland

2:30: W DeFranscesco, S Farren, C Sciorra

5:35: M Schuchart, J Maggert, A Baddeley (Aus)

5:45: B Dredge (Wal), B Sowards, J Kaye

5:55: Padraig Harrington (Irl), F Funk, S Kendall

6:05: H Kuehne, J Haas, J Parnevik (Swe)

6:15: S Verplank, G Norman (Aus), S Garcia (Spa)

6:25: T Petrovic, G Evans (Eng), L Mattiace

6:35: E Els (Rsa), J Leonard, M Calcavecchia

6:45: J Coceres (Arg), C Campbell, B Davis (Eng)

6:55: S Maruyama (Jpn), Paul McGinley (Irl), B Estes

7:05: (2:00): D Love, V Singh (Fij), H Sutton

7:15: (2:10): L Nelson, T Watson, M Brooks

7:25: (2:20): K Schall, S Ames (Tri), B Crane

7:35: (2:30): R Schuller, T Fleming, D Tentis

10th Tee

12:30: G Oglivy (Aus), R Philo Jr, R Pampling (Aus)

12:40: D Waldorf, I Garrido (Spa), T Hamilton

12:50: S McCarron, T Thelen, L Westwood (Eng)

1:00: C Montgomerie (Sco), J Kelly, A Cabrera (Arg) 1:10: P Jacobsen, J M Olazabal (Spa), S Appleby (Aus) 1:20: T Bjorn (Den), P Mickelson, K Perry

1:30: C Parry (Aus), C Riley, L Roberts

1:40: J Sluman, B Langer (Ger), P Azinger

1:50: C Pettersson (Swe), J Rollins, S Katayama (Jpn)

2:00: R Beem, T Woods, D Toms

2:10: P Price (Wal), C Howell, S Cink

2:20: R Karlsson (Swe), J Huston, D Berry

2:30: M Combs, C Sullivan, D Spengler

5:35: G Owen (Eng), T Hatch, D Wilson

5:45: T Clark (Rsa), P Lonard (Aus), S Flesch

5:55: E Romero (Arg), D Forsman, J Byrd

6:05: M O'Meara, R Goosen (Rsa), T Lehman

6:15: Darren Clarke (Ire), C DiMarco, M Campbell (NZ)

6:25: F Couples, D Duval, L Janzen

6:35: S Hoch, I Poulter (Eng), S Lowery

6:45: B Mayfair, S Leaney (Aus), F Lickliter II

6:55: T Pernice Jr, T Immelman (Rsa), JL Lewis

7:05: T Taniguchi (Jpn), R Mediate, N Fasth (Swe)

7:15: B Burns, K Burton, A Cejka (Ger)

7:25: A Scott (Aus), A Morin, P Fulke (Swe)

7:35: S Porter, R Labritz, JC Anderson