Tag: bladder cancer

John Daly on playing after cancer diagnosis: ‘I figure I can’t just sit at home’

John Daly teed it up at the Sanford International Friday after news broke of his bladder cancer diagnosis.

The week after John Daly had surgery to remove the recently diagnosed cancer in his bladder was brutal.

Eight days of chemotherapy and surgery left the 54-year-old feeling tired Friday at Minnehaha Country Club. Despite his fatigue, Daly chose to compete at the Sanford International this weekend.

“(My doctor) didn’t really say just sit at home. He didn’t really recommend I be playing, either,” Daly said. “I figure I can’t just sit at home, it’s just going to get in my mind and it’s going to make me feel worse, so going to try to keep playing as much as I can. I’m going to go back home after this week and go see the doc again.

“I hate missing PURE Insurance and Pebble, but he wants to go and sit down with me and go through everything and set up an appointment sometime early November, right after the season, and go back in and check it out again.”

LEADERBOARD: Sanford International

Daly played pretty well Friday, considering the physical and mental stress of the past few weeks.

He finished the first round 2-under 68 to sit T-11, one shot behind Steve Stricker and three behind a three-way tie for the lead. Daly, who won the 1991 PGA Championship and 1996 Open Championship, said the cold, rainy weather in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, was “brutal” and the course didn’t play easily, but he was satisfied with his performance.

Daly, who withdrew from the field at the PGA Championship in early August due to health concerns, last competed on the Champions Tour in mid-August at the Charles Schwab Series at Bass Pro Shops Big Cedar Lodge. He withdrew from the tournament after two rounds due to illness. The last full event Daly played was the Bridgestone Senior Players Championship, where he finished T-70.

John Daly on the 17th hole during the first round of the 2020 Sanford International at Minnehaha Country Club in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. (Steve Dykes/Getty Images)

The good news surrounding Daly’s diagnosis is the cancer has not spread to his kidneys, pancreas or liver. Daly said his doctors informed him the cancer is beatable if he changes some health habits.

“Learned an awful lot in the last week about it,” Daly said. “It’s something that a lot of people have beaten and can get through it but it’s going to be painful but three months, three months, six months, a year, it’s going to be pretty painful how they do the operations so 80-85 percent chance it comes back and I’ll be getting it done in November again.”

In November, Daly said he’ll check in with his doctor and if the cancer has returned, he’ll undergo another surgery to remove it.

“They’ll just cut it out again and keep cutting it out until hopefully one day it goes away,” he said.

One of the major changes Daly told Golf Channel he is trying to make in order to decrease the chance of a recurrence is drinking less Diet Coke and smoking less. Daly said he lit up a few cigarettes on the course Friday, but significantly fewer than usual.

“I feel confident if I do what they tell me to do — hell, I only smoked six cigarettes, not even six cigarettes out there today,” Daly said. “It’s usually about a pack and a half so I’m trying to slow everything down but I can’t just quit everything right now and (the doctor’s) cool with that.”

Same old John Daly.

Despite the uncertainty of his cancer diagnosis, the resulting surgery and chemotherapy, he’s still smiling.

“I’ve got to (smile), man,” Daly said. “We’ll beat it, I’ll beat it.”

[lawrence-related id=778065422,778058286,778042230,778041910]

Report: John Daly diagnosed with bladder cancer

John Daly said he’s been diagnosed with an aggressive type of bladder cancer.

John Daly has been diagnosed with bladder cancer, according to a report from the Golf Channel.

On an episode of Golf Channel’s “PGA Tour Champions Learning Center,” the 54-year-old revealed he underwent a procedure to remove the aggressive cancer. Although the procedure was successful, Golf Channel reported Daly said there is still a possibility of recurrence.

“(My urologist) said there’s an 85 percent chance it comes back. So I’ve got to go back and see him in three months. They will probably have to cut it out again,” Daly said, according to Golf Channel. “It’s probably going to come back, and then another three months that you don’t know. 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.”

The 1991 PGA Championship winner has not posted on social media about his diagnosis.

Daly, who said he was battling kidney stones and back pain for weeks ahead of his diagnosis, said he will change his eating habits and undergo frequent check-ups as he battles the disease.

At the forefront of Daly’s health changes are cutting back on Diet Coke and attempting to quit smoking.

“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,” Daly said in the interview. “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.”

Despite the diagnosis, Daly remains optimistic.

“Well, you know what, I always tell people I’ve lived one hell of a life. No matter what happens, I’m not scared to die or anything,” Daly said. “It would have been nice to play the last seven or eight or 13 years of my career a little more healthy. But hey, I’m still working, I’m still living life, I’m still doing the things I need to do. … 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 last competed on the Champions Tour in mid August at the Charles Schwab Series at Bass Pro Shops Big Cedar Lodge in which he withdrew after two rounds due to illness. Daly also competed at the Bridgestone Senior Players Championship in early August, where he finished T-70.

Daly also withdrew from the field at the PGA Championship in early August due to health concerns.

Golf Channel’s “PGA Tour Champions Learning Center” episode with Daly’s full interview airs Monday at 11:30 p.m. ET.

[lawrence-related id=778061551,778061395,778058286]