Slim, fit and sober, John Daly projected a very different image here at Winged Foot yesterday from his USPGA Championship breakthrough of six years ago. That was when the sobriquet of Wild Thing fitted perfectly, as he turned the golfing world on its head, on the rain-soaked fairways of Crooked Stick. It was when Nick Price's wife went into labour with their first child and the Zimbabwean withdrew, allowing Daly to make the field as a ninth alternate. And he had the further benefit of getting the services of Price's caddie, "Squeeky" Medlen who, sadly, died recently from leukaemia.

At 25, Daly became a new American hero. High on alcohol, his wild, blond hair blowing in the breeze, he smashed 350-yard drives and became the talk of the galleries. He seemed to have found a golfing secret Ben Hogan could only have dreamed of, while chain-smoking his way to a three-stroke victory and a winner's cheque of $230,000. "I was telling myself that that was the only way I could play," he said.

What happened over the next few years became the stuff of lurid, tabloid headlines. Finally, on instructions from the then Tour Commissioner Deane Beman, Daly entered a rehabilitation unit in Tucson, Arizona but ignored recommendations of an after-care programme. Still, he was sober when winning the British Open at St Andrews in 1995.

Now, at 31, he is back with his old pal Fuzzy Zoeller, practising for this week's event. But their understanding has changed dramatically. Zoeller and other, fellow professionals will no longer drink alcohol in Daly's company.

"I can no longer go into a bar," admitted the recovering alcoholic, whose career hit a new low during the Players' Championship at Sawgrass in late March of this year. That was when Daly's wife Paulette called Zoeller to their hotel room at 1.30 a.m., fearful her inebriated husband was having a heart attack.

Recalling the incident, Zoeller said: "He was as far down as any human being. Until these guys (alcoholics) fall off the face of the earth, which is what happened, they just don't think they have a problem."

After treatment in the Betty Ford Clinic, Daly no longer needs convincing. "One day I'll be able to handle drinking situations but for the moment, I can't be around it (alcohol)," he said. "Every time I'm around it I get a funny feeling and I don't like feeling that way."

He went on: "When I went through this the first time, sobriety was about fifth on my list. Now I put it above everything, including family. Otherwise I know I won't be a good dad or the sort of person I believe I can be." Indeed as a constant reminder of that priority, he has the words "God, serenity, courage and wisdom," painted onto his golf bag.

While in the Betty Ford Clinic, Daly learned that his third wife, Paulette, had filed for divorce. And two days before his birthday on April 28th, he was informed that his equipment company, Wilson, had dropped him. "They just gave up," he said resignedly.

Within a month, however, his enduring appeal to the golf industry was emphasised by an endorsement contract with Callaway, up to the end of 2001. In the process, the company's chairman, Eli Callaway, paid off Daly's outstanding gambling debts and structured the contract so that it was contingent on the client attending an aftercare programme.

It was also Callaway who put Daly in contact with Dr Jim Loehr, an expert on sports psychology and nutrition. Loehr concluded he needed such help after the player had inexplicably walked off the course halfway through the second round of the US Open at Congressional in June, leaving his caddie and playing partners, Ernie Els and Payne Stewart, standing bemused on the 10th tee.

Apparently, Daly was experiencing "the shakes" through the interaction of an antidepressant drug and the "six or seven" Diet Cokes he had been consuming each round. Having been weaned off the sugars and caffeine, Daly eventually stopped the medication as well.

So it was that in late July, to warm support from the galleries, his comeback took shape in earnest in the Greater Hartford Open, where he finished in a share of 21st place. And he has since played in the Buick Open in Michigan last weekend, when he missed the cut.

"I have confidence right now that I'm going to stay sober today," he said. "But I can't say that I've chased the demons away for good. I don't know what tomorrow will bring."

As one of only four American players since the Second World War to have won two major championships in his twenties, Daly should now be entering his golfing prime. Instead, he is taking the first steps in a new life. A life in which for the first time, he is relying solely on his golfing ability.