Daly's vital victory

John Daly is today £480,000 richer and several pounds heavier after claiming the most important win of an extraordinary golfing career in California.

The 37-year-old American, whose battle with alcohol abuse and marital problems have made more headlines than anything he has achieved on the fairways, vowed to celebrate with a full plate of food rather than a full bottle of booze after winning the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines.

The play-off victory over countryman Chris Riley and Britain's Luke Donald was Daly's first big win since the Open Championship at St Andrews in 1995.

He has triumphed elsewhere in the world, most notably in Germany in 2001 and in Korea last year, but the selfhyped 'wild thing' of golf admitted that the Invitational victory was particularly special for him.

'It's the greatest,' he said. 'I can't explain it. I've had a lot of ups and downs. Geez, this is sweet.'