Former two-time major winner John Daly has entered next week's Australian Masters, organisers said today.
The 1991 US PGA and 1995 British Open champion has agreed to play the co-sanctioned tournament in Melbourne after recently saying he wanted to play more European Tour events next season.
‘I am looking forward to coming back to Australia,’ Daly said in a statement released by event organisers.
‘I've always enjoyed my trips there and I'm looking forward to competing at the Australian Masters at Huntingdale.’
Daly, who is also entered for this week's Hong Kong Open, has not played in Australia for six years after upsetting local officials on his last visit.
The American was disqualified and then fined at the 2002 Australian PGA after he threw his putter into a lake and stormed off the course without signing his card.
Five years earlier, he angered local sponsors who had paid him a hefty appearance fee when he shot a third round 83 then raced through his final round in a little over two hours.
The 42-year-old has since slipped to 783 in the world rankings, has not held a US PGA Tour card since 2006, and has rarely been out of the headlines because of his troubled personal life.
Earlier this year, he split from his swing coach Butch Harmon and was arrested in North Carolina last month for being intoxicated.
Joining Daly at the Australian Masters will be leading local players Robert Allenby, Stuart Appleby, Nick O'Hern, Peter Lonard and Craig Parry and New Zealand's 2005 US Open champion Michael Campbell.
