Florida- Professional golfer John Daly has filed a lawsuit against the Times-Union, claiming he was defamed by a column that appeared in March.

The column, written by Mike Freeman during The Players Championship, discusses Daly’s past in a piece about fans continuing to root for Daly and Jacksonville native David Duval. Daly is suing over statements that he’s “accused of smacking women around” and that he has “Thug Life qualifications” and “a rap sheet that would make R. Jay Soward look like a Backstreet Boy.”

Soward is a former first-round pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars who was suspended for repeated violations of the National Football League’s substance abuse policy.

The newspaper ran a “Note to readers” on July 15 on the front page of the Sports section, clarifying parts of the column. The suit was filed less than two weeks later.

“It’s regrettable that Mr. Daly has taken this step,” Times-Union editor Patrick Yack said Friday. “Mike Freeman is a fine journalist. We stand by his work and his column. The matter is now before the court.”

The Times-Union and jacksonville.com were named in the suit, as were their owners, Morris Publishing Group. Freeman is also being sued personally. Daly is seeking unspecified damages in the 23-page suit filed this week in Circuit Court.

The Times-Union note to readers explained Daly was charged in a domestic disturbance involving his then-wife in 1992, pleaded to harassment and was placed on probation. The note also clarified that references to Daly’s substance abuse referred to his alcohol abuse and that a reference to basketball player Shawn Kemp was not meant to suggest Daly’s children were illegitimate.

The lawsuit said the note “did not constitute a full and fair correction, apology or retraction” and that Daly has sustained substantial damages because of Freeman’s column.

Daly’s attorneys demanded a retraction and apology in a July 5 letter attached to the lawsuit and threatened to sue if that was not done.

Three of the counts are in regards to Freeman’s column when it appeared in print and three more are for the same version posted on jacksonville.com. The column was still available on the Web site Friday afternoon, with the July 15 note attached.

Two other counts allege intentional infliction of emotional distress and that Daly was portrayed in a false light.

The last of nine counts in the suit said the Times-Union was negligent when it hired Freeman, who began working for the paper in April 2004. Before Freeman came to the Times-Union, he admitted that he falsely said on a job application to another paper that he graduated from the University of Delaware.

The lawsuit claims the Times-Union knew Freeman “had a propensity to make false statements” and should have never hired him.