The legendary golfer revealed the sad news to PGATour.com on Wednesday ... adding that a few of his close family and friends in the area lost their houses in the storm as well.

"You live in Florida," he said, "you have to understand that's going to happen, but not like this. I didn't think it would be this bad."

Fortunately, Daly says he and his loved ones were not injured by the hurricane's carnage. In fact, he said he had hardly been at the place over the last couple years while he spent most of his free hours at his residence in Arkansas.

Still, he said the situation's miserable ... and his heart goes out to all those affected.

"It's devastating," he said. "It's the worst I've ever seen."

Around 180 people reportedly lost their lives due to the impact of the hurricane ... and millions more have been left without power.

Hundreds of people are still reportedly unaccounted for.