John Daly and his health struggles are something every golf fan knows all too well. The 1991 PGA Championship winner has been through a whirlwind of surgeries, with 16 in four years alone due to tangled tendons—and that’s not even counting his battle with bladder cancer, which he thankfully caught in time. As he recalled, “I was peeing blood, puking’ blood. I thought my back was killing me, and I didn’t know. And I went to Little Rock, got a checkup and everything on my back, and then, was it a neurologist? The doctor saw it and said, “You have to come back.” He did and has been in remission for four years. “I’m like Lazarus — I keep coming back from the dead,” he quipped, adding with a hint of humor, “Waking up is a win for me.” And now another PGA Tour veteran is talking about his struggles as he tries to get on the greens.

Speaking at the latest American Family Insurance Championship press conference, Steve Stricker candidly shared his struggles with health and golf, with a dash of humor underlying his frustration. “Yeah, good questions, questions I really don’t want to answer,” he joked, before diving into the meat of the matter. “Yeah, it’s been a challenge, it has. I’m not playing that well; I’ve kind of lost some feelings, strength, whatever it is. It’s been hard to get it back.”

Stricker’s golf game has been a rollercoaster, with moments of promise followed by disappointing results. “It’s been frustrating because I feel like I’m feeling good enough at times to play, and then I try to put some practice in, and it’s just not translating into seeing the results when I hit it. It’s been a struggle.” As he navigates the ups and downs of his game, the golfer is also grappling with the inevitable—his “golf mortality.”

“Yeah, of course I think about, you know, when that end is going to come,” he said with a tinge of realism. At 58, Stricker’s not feeling his best, and physical therapy has become a regular companion. “When I’m spending more time in the physical therapy room than I am practicing or playing, that’s an issue—so that’s been the problem,” he admitted, highlighting the challenges he’s facing on and off the course. Stricker’s health issues aren’t anything new, as the veteran has not been well for quite some time.

In 2022, he revealed a terrifying battle with a mystery illness that almost claimed his life, which began with a minor sore throat and bad cough that rapidly escalated into pericarditis, an irregular heartbeat, and severe symptoms like jaundice and dark urine. “I’m peeing Coke-colored urine… that was probably the scariest part,” Stricker recalled, adding that his brother had similar GI problems, making the experience all too familiar. After a grueling six-month ordeal, during which he lost 25-30 pounds and struggled to eat or walk, Stricker made a miraculous recovery and returned to golf.

But it is not only Daly and Stricker who have come forward with their health struggles!

Cameron Percy reveals what’s been ‘killing him for two years’

Cameron Percy’s stats on the PGA Tour Champions are nothing short of impressive – 26 consecutive cuts made, and he’s just one event away from extending that streak to 27. But despite his stellar play, the Australian has been battling a secret foe: a bone spur in his hip that’s been “killing” him for two years. After a reporter asked him what had been “clicking” for him following his impressive 8-under par 64, Percy revealed the truth.

“I’ve got something wrong with my hip, I’ve got a bone spur, it turns out, just found out. It’s been killing me for two years. I’ve had an injection and I don’t feel pain now. So, at least when I swing, I don’t feel pain, so I’m just swinging freely. It’s amazing how golf is when you’re not in agony.”

With his newfound freedom from pain, Percy’s been playing some of his best golf, sitting just one stroke off the lead. “So I don’t know how long it will last, it could last until tomorrow, and then I’ll be in agony again,” he added, showing his uncertainty about the longevity of the relief.

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