HE was once known as the Wild Thing, but Open winner John Daly has warned his enthralled Welsh public, “I’m the Mild Thing now”.

The 1995 Open winner at St Andrews is making his very first visit to Wales at the age of 45 and in an Argus exclusive revealed he is already a big fan of the Principality.

However, the big drinking, hell raising figure of the past is long gone, according to the Florida native.

“I’ve gone from being the Wild Thing to the Mild Thing, I have definitely mellowed with age and I am happy where I am in life,” he told the Argus.

Daly hurt his back on duty at Wentworth last week but the two-time major winner is vowing to wow his new friends and fans, admitting the Welsh galleries are his kind of people.

“My back in not good but I will play through the pain, it’s not great but I am excited to be here,” he said.

“I would have loved to have been here for the Ryder Cup, it would’ve been nice.

“It’s lovely to play in the UK, wonderful, the fans are absolutely great here, they’ve followed me through the ups and downs of my career.

“The Welsh fans have been great, very warm and sincere and I hope I can play well for them. I really love the golf fans in the UK.”

Daley is a far more contented man than the one who spent much of the last two decades in the divorce courts or rehab, and having started his own clothing company – Loudmouth Golf Clothing – he needed to say no more about his extraordinary wardrobe choices.

With happiness off the course, Daly is hoping to enjoy a renaissance inside the ropes, particularly with encouragement coming from the Welsh public whose accents he’s found fascinating this week.

“I am over here with my partner Anna and son John Jr and John Jr absolutely loves the Welsh accent, I don’t know the language but you guys have so many different accents in the UK,” he explained.

“I am hoping maybe someone will teach him some of the Welsh language “I have custody of my son, my two daughters in the States and that responsibility is the most important thing in my life, I feel happy and content, now I just need success inside the ropes.

“I did a lot of bad things in the 90s but I think I played my part in helping golf to grow. I think I attracted people to golf who didn’t have a lot of money, blue collar golf if you like.

“You can see around the world that golf is growing in popularity. The standard around the world is so strong now, it makes me feel good.”