John Daly once suffered a stroke but left hospital after just SIX hours to continue drinking, says pal Pat Perez

JOHN DALY once left hospital just SIX hours after having a stroke - to return to a house party and continue drinking.

The larger-than-life golfer, 56, has been wowing fans with his outrageous outfits at this year's PGA Championship.

A two-time Major winner, Daly won the USPGA in 1991 and began his 2022 challenge with three birdies in nine holes.

He wasn't quite at his best after the turn - finishing on +2 - but rolled back the years as social media went wild for his shaggy beard and floral skull pants.

Daly is well known for his outrageous behavior away from the course - and no tale is crazier than one told by long-time friend Pat Perez.

The fellow golf pro was Daly's drinking buddy during the height of his antics and had apparently invited the Californian over to his house for some boozing.

But after losing Daly for nearly an hour the golf star was discovered outside with a cigarette in his mouth, claiming he'd suffered a stroke.

Perez told : "He had a stroke at my house. I couldn’t find him, I was looking for this mother****** for like 45 minutes.

"Go around the house, and I finally see him around the f***ing corner and I’m like ‘John, where the hell are you at?'

"He said 'Oh bubba, I’m having a f***ing stroke.”

'I NEED A F***ING DRINK!'

After an ambulance was called and rushed Daly to the hospital, Perez accompanied his friend to the emergency room before heading home.

He continued: "I go home, wake up and get a call from John saying I need to go pick them up from the hospital.

"It was like 10:30 in the morning, only like six hours later.

";He was outside smoking when I get to the hospital. He gets inside the car and goes ‘bubba, I need a f***ing drink.’

"I go ‘no, that’s actually the last thing you need'.

"We get back to the house, and he’s drinking."

Daly will often light up a cigarette on the course and it's claimed he puffed his way through 21 during his opening PGA Championship round.

He always likes to avoid water, instead getting his energy from a combination of Diet Coke and M&Ms.

His love of a drink is also well-founded and Perez claims that Daly once chugged down an incredible 72 BEERS at a Hooters bar.

Daly was diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2020 but revealed in March that it was now "benign".

He said: "The bladder cancer is benign right now,