Jeff Chiu / AP file

"My life is unbecoming of a professional," John Daly said in his book.

He has trashed hotel rooms in South Africa and Florida, and stood in the kitchen of his Colorado home breaking everything he could touch. Given handsome appearance fees to play around the world, he has rewarded tournaments by tanking rounds or getting disqualified. It is rare to see him without his gut hanging over his belt and a cigarette dangling from his lips.

Yet he remains one of the more popular figures in golf. Perhaps people relate so well to Daly because everyone has flaws, and everyone knows about his. In an era when celebrities deny anything that might be remotely disparaging, Daly hides nothing.

Will the book cost him any fans?

“I hope not,” Daly said. “I might gain some.”

The book is sure to put him in demand, and perhaps he can use the money to support his gambling habit. Daly says he lost $1.65 million in five hours — mostly on a $5,000 slot machine — after losing in a playoff against Tiger Woods at a World Golf Championship last year in San Francisco.

He said Tuesday it was an innocent mistake. He had never seen a $5,000 slot machine.

“Twenty pulls is $100,000,” he explained.

Clearly, there’s more to Daly than a few drinks, a few smokes, a few wives and more than a few tugs on the slot machine.

He gave $30,000 to the family of a man killed by lightning at Crooked Stick in 1991 after he won the PGA Championship — as a rookie, when $30,000 meant something to him. Daly met the victim’s daughters last year. Both had graduated from college because of his gift.

He raises $60,000 a year for the Boys & Girls Clubs in Arkansas, and the John Daly Make-A-Wish Foundation Tournament has raised $5 million over the last 12 years.

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He wrote about winning the British Open at St. Andrews and facing a dilemma. Wilson and Reebok, his corporate sponsors, were on the phone with agent Bud Martin, desperate for Daly to get out to the Swilcan Bridge for a promotional picture. The sun was setting, so there was no time to spare.

But hold on — the president was on the phone and wanted to talk to Daly.

“My first thought was ... the president of the United States wants to talk to me,” Daly wrote. “But then Bud pointed out that Wilson and Reebok were putting $4 million a year in my pocket, and all Clinton was doing was taking 40 percent away.”

He went to the bridge.