With his collection of wacky pants, penchant for life-destroying vices like gambling and alcohol, and utter disregard for what others think of him, John Daly has earned every bit of his “Wild Thing” moniker.
He stunned the golfing world when he won the PGA Championship in 1991, and he has struggled to maintain his form since then. Daly had a similar lack of luck in his love life. He has four marriages and four divorces. The 55-year-old is currently planning his fifth marriage with his fiancée, Anna Cladakis.
The Fifth Time’s a Charm
Daly first met Cladakis in 2007 while working as a publicist for Hooters during his divorce from his fourth wife. She was working as a promotional director at Hooters, and Daly appears to be content with his life since meeting Cladakis.
The couple took their time and got engaged in 2014. Daly became healthier and changed his ways as a result of Cladakis, who has been credited with taming golf’s former “Wild Thing.” In an interview with Corey McKernan, the golfer extolled her positive influence on him.
He gushes about how she is one of the most supportive people in his life and how she assists him in every way, including dealing with sponsors and setting up his zoom interviews. The interviewer then asked Daly if he would have listened to her if he had been younger.
That is an excellent question. But I believe I would because of the encouragement. No other woman attempted to assist me in the same way that Anna did. The couple has no children together, but both have children from previous marriages.
Stormy Marriages
Daly’s first marriage was in 1987 with ex-wife Dale Crafton, an Arkansas hand model. Crafton and his wife moved to Crafton’s hometown of Blytheville, Arkansas, to start their new lives, but he quickly became bored and unhappy in the small town.
It became too much for them, and they divorced two years later. Daly met his second wife, Bettye Fulford, just two months after his divorce, and their relationship was fraught from the start.
He discovered Fulford was ten years older than he thought and that she had a 13-year-old son, which led to their breakup. However, they reconciled and married in 1992.
Fulford gave birth to Daly’s daughter, Shynah Hale, not long after. After assault allegations surfaced, the marriage did not last long, and they divorced in 1995.
Daly’s third marriage was to Paulette Doan, whom he had briefly dated while on a break from his second wife. Daly and Dean reconciled and married after his divorce from Fulford were finalized. Daly had another daughter, Sierra Lynn, with Dean.
The marriage was as tumultuous as the ones before it, and they divorced after four years. Daly later married Sherrie Miller, a native of Memphis. The couple married and had Daly’s first and only son, John Patrick Daly II. However, their marriage was strained in 2007 when the couple got into a fight in a restaurant, and they divorced in 2010. His failed marriages did not deter the pro golfer from looking for love, which he eventually found with Cladakis.
