Sydney, Nov 10 (IANS): Temperamental American golfer John Daly walked out after putting a series of balls in the water in the disastrous 11th hole during the opening round of the Australian Open here Thursday.
Daly had earlier triple bogeyed on the tenth and to make matters worse incurred a penalty for playing the wrong ball out of a bunker at the Lakes Golf Club.
After claiming that he had run out of balls, Daly shook hands with his playing partners Craig Parry and Hunter Mahan and immediately walked off the course where he made a hasty getaway in a car along with his wife and son.
"I believe he hit five or six balls in the water. I'm not really sure," Trevor Herden, tournament director, told the Sydney Morning Herald. "I'm extremely bitter and disappointed. It's becoming a bit of a habit. It's unacceptable and unprofessional."
If Herden is to be believed, it seems unlikely that the estranged golfer would be given another invitation to apply his trade in Australia.
The American golfer has become a notorious figure in Australia after this latest saga.
In 2002, Daly quit prematurely at the Australian PGA at Coolum and at the 2008 Australian Open, the erratic American was involved in an altercation with a spectator, where he smashed his camera in the opening round.