updated 5:57 p.m. ET Nov. 7, 2006

Two-time major champion John Daly and his wife have filed for divorce, four months after she finished serving a federal sentence involving finances from an alleged drug and gambling ring.

Sherrie Miller Daly filed for divorce on Oct. 17, and Daly filed a day later, according to records in Shelby County, Tenn.

“It was kind of a race to the courthouse,” said Randy Fishman, the Memphis attorney representing Daly’s wife.

Asked about the divorce Tuesday afternoon, Daly said it was “something that’s on hold right now,” and he would keep personal matters to himself.

It would be the fourth divorce for Daly, whose life outside the ropes has garnered almost as much attention as his victories in the PGA Championship and the British Open at St. Andrews.

Fishman, however, did not rule out reconciliation. Sherrie Daly also filed for divorce in October 2003, a case that was voluntarily dismissed six months later.

This has been Daly’s worst year on the PGA Tour, with only one finish in the top 25.

He dealt with injuries to his back and his hip, and he broke his pinky at the Las Vegas tournament, causing him to miss the final two tournaments of the year. He would up 193rd on the money list, his lowest position ever, and will have to rely on sponsors’ exemptions to play next year.

“It’s been a tough one, with injuries and everything else going on,” Daly said. “It’s tough to play the game of golf when your family is not with you, and the injuries. It’s one of those years when nothing has gone right.”

Daly is playing Greg Norman’s Merrill Lynch Shootout this week in Naples, Fla. He will play in the LG Skins Game on Thanksgiving weekend, and finish the year at the Target World Challenge hosted by Tiger Woods from Dec. 14-17.

Daly and his wife met at a golf tournament in 2001 and married seven weeks later. They have one son, John Patrick, who was born a week before Mrs. Daly was indicted on federal charges along with her parents.

Daly has two other children from previous marriages, while Mrs. Daly has a son from a previous marriage.

Mrs. Daly pleaded guilty in November 2004 to a charge of conspiracy to structure a transaction to evade the reporting requirement. She began serving a five-month sentence Jan. 25, the day before Daly teed off in the Buick Invitational.

Daly’s autobiography — “My Life In & Out of the Rough” — was released in May. He went into lurid detail about his gambling and drinking addictions, and he devoted one chapter to his three ex-wives that was titled, “All My Exes Wear Rolexes.”

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He even mentioned a fiancee — “Almost Ex No. 4” — who later sued him over comments Daly made in another book written by Sports Illustrated columnist Rick Reilly.

Daly rose to fame by winning the ’91 PGA Championship at Crooked Strick as the ninth alternate. His last victory was the 2004 Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines, and the last time he was in serious contention was last year in San Francisco, losing a playoff to Woods at the American Express Championship.

But he picked the wrong time to have a bad year.

The FedExCup competition starts in 2007 on the PGA Tour, and he no longer has full status. Daly said the Nissan Open at Riviera already has offered him a spot in the field, and he has written letters to several other tournaments.

“It’s just going to make me play harder,” Daly said.

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