John Daly

Daly started to play golf at age 4 when his father gave him a set of cut-down clubs. Attended high school in Jefferson City, Missouri, and went on to win the 1983 and '84 Missouri and Arkansas State Amateurs and the 1987 Missouri Open. After he turned professional in 1987, Daly competed on the South African Tour and then played on the Ben Hogan Tour in 1990. He won the Ben Hogan Utah Classic and finished ninth in earnings on the Korn Ferry Tour, then got his PGA Tour card by finishing 14th at the 1990 Q-School. Daly had a most auspicious rookie year on the Tour, dazzling everyone with his length and winning the 1991 PGA Championship at Crooked Stick in Carmel, Ind., as the ninth alternate and without the benefit of a practice round. He won the 1992 B.C. Open, and then after some personal struggles, won the 1994 BellSouth Classic in Atlanta. He captured the 1995 Open Championship at St. Andrews, defeating Italy's Constantino Rocca in a four-hole playoff. Always a crowd-pleaser, Daly is one of the longest hitters golf has ever seen. Between 1991 and 2002, he led the Tour's driving-distance category for 11 of the 12 years. His career was reborn in 2004 when he won the Buick Invitational beating Chris Riley and Luke Donald in a playoff. That same year he finished runner-up to Vijay Singh at the Buick Open, moving into the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking (No. 57 to 36). He underwent surgery on his right heel on Sept. 30 to remove bone spurs. He finished the year 21st on the money list, winning over a million dollars for the first time in his career with $2,359,507. In 2005 lost playoffs first to Vijay Singh at the Shell Houston Open and then to Tiger Woods at the WGC-American Express Championship. Daly missed a 3-foot par putt to end the playoff after a Woods tap-in par. The $750,000 check pushed him past the $1-million mark ($1,707,387) for the second consecutive season and the second time in his 15-year PGA Tour career. After that year, they only had three top-tens on the PGA Tour; best finish was T-5th in the 2012 Reno-Tahoe Open.
2012 Notes: Competing on a sponsor's exemption, he collected his first top 10 of the season, a T-5th at the Reno-Tahoe Open, an event that used the modified Stableford scoring format. The T-5th was his first top 10 on the PGA Tour since a T-9th at the 2011 RBC Canadian Open and his best finish on the PGA Tour since he finished runner-up to Tiger Woods in a playoff at the 2005 World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship. He briefly held the lead after an eagle on the par-5 13th in the third round, but he followed with three consecutive bogeys and never regained a share of the lead. In mid-December, they finished T-15 at the rain-shortened Iskandar Johor Open in Malaysia, 10 strokes off Sergio Garcia's winning total. Did have a top 10 in his only Korn Ferry Tour start, T-6th at the News Sentinel Open.
2013 Notes: Made four of 12 cuts, finishing 235th in the FedExCup standings. In his 12th start of the season, at The Greenbrier Classic, he was forced to withdraw due to an elbow injury. A week later, he underwent season-ending elbow surgery in Fayetteville, Arkansas. He was able to play again in October; in his first start, he finished T-48 at the BMW Masters on the European Tour.
2014 Notes: Played in 20 events on the PGA, European, and Korn Ferry Tour; the best finish was T-32nd at the Sony Open in Hawaii. He finished 76th in his only Korn Ferry Tour start of the year at the South Georgia Classic.
2015 Notes: He had a T-10 in Puerto Rico, his first top 10 since the 2012 Barracuda Championship (T-5th). He suffered a collapsed lung on Aug. 29 on the 18th tee at a pro-am event at Deerfield CC in Canton, Miss. He was treated at Baptist Medical Center in Jackson, Miss., and was back on the golf course the next day. He had a lingering rib injury since 2007 that caused severe pain and affected his breathing. He also made six starts on the European Tour and made three cuts.
2016 Notes: In his much-anticipated PGA Tour Champions debut at the Insperity Invitational, he posted rounds of 70-73-71--214 (2-under) to finish T-17th. He was T-15th in his next start, the Regions Tradition. He had a T-11th at Dick's Sporting Goods Open, his best finish in 15 events. He was 71st on the money list and Schwab ranking.
2017 Notes: Played in 18 PGA Tour Champions events, with 3 top-ten finishes; he ranked 22nd on the money list. On his return to the Insperity Invitational, the site of his first Champions Tour start, he shot rounds of 68-65-69 to win his first Champions Tour event. He finished the final round with 3 bogeys, but it was enough for a one-shot victory over Tommy Armour III and Kenny Perry. I also finished T-3rd at Dick's Sporting Goods Open and T-4th at the Charles Schwab Cup. With earnings of $806,922, it was the fourth-best year in his professional career. At the end of the year had problems while playing the PowerShares QQQ Championship; he collapsed on the 9th tee in the second round. Arthritis and bone spurs on his knees were giving him problems, and he wasn't able to put any weight on his right knee and was forced to withdraw from the tournament
2018 Notes: Played in 15 PGA Tour Champions events with three top-ten finishes. Best finish T-5th at the Bass Pro Shops Legends with partner Micael Allen. Best finish in an individual start, T-7th at the American Family Insurance Championship. At the Masters, Daly drives his bus, too; he was a victim of an accident while the bus was parked in an Augusta parking lot. A car lost control while making a U-turn and plowed into Daly's RV. Daly was able to jump out of the car's path, but not before the knee giving him problems was reinjured. Since then, he had to withdraw from the Insperity Invitational, Regions Tradition, FedEx St. Jude Classic, U.S. Senior Open, Constellation Senior Players, the British Open, Dick's Sporting Good, Ally Challenge, and Sanford International.
2019 Notes: Played in 18 PGA Tour Champions Tour events with three top-ten finishes. Shot a final round of 66 to finish T-5th at the American Family Insurance Championship, 2 shots back of the Kelly/Stricker/Goosen playoff. I was T-7th at the Bass Pro Shops Legends with partner Joe Durant. Was T-8th at the Rapiscan Systems. He finished 69th at the Barracuda Championship and missed the cut at the PGA Championship and Barbasol Championship.
2020/21 Notes: On the PGA Tour in 2020, missed the cut at the Military Tribute at the Greenbrier and Safeway. He played in 29 Champions Tour events in 2020/21 with three top-ten finishes. It was 58th on the money list with $461,688 in earnings and was 58th in the Schwab Cup Rankings. He was T-9th at the 2020 Cologuard Classic. Had his first runner-up finish on the PGA Tour Champions with his second-place finish at the 2021 Insperity Invitational. He had a share of the lead going into his final hole in the final round but put his 2nd shot into the lake in front of the green and made a double bogey. He finished two shots back of the winner Mike Weir. T-10th at the Regions Tradition. Daly was diagnosed with bladder cancer in September 2020. In May of 2021, Daly said that his cancer was detected early, "which is great. I've had two rounds of chemo, and the last test shows cancer at the moment is benign. I go back for testing in October, and if it's benign at that point, I go back for testing once a year for five years." Played in four PGA Tour events in 2021 and missed four cuts, including the PGA Championship. At the end of the year, Daly, with his son John II won the PNC Championship.
2022 Notes: Played in 18 PGA Tour Champions events with one top-ten finish. He was 69th in the Schwab Rankings and 68th on the money list with $204,313. His first start of the year at the season-opening Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai, he finished 27th. In the PGA Championship at Southern Hills, he got off to a great start playing his first 13 holes in 2 under but made a bogey on four of his last five holes to shoot 72. He added a 76 in the second round and missed the cut. Was T-8th at the American Family Insurance Championship. They also missed the cut at the British Open. He finished the year T-2nd at the PNC Championship with his son John.
2023 Notes: Played in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans with David Duval and missed the cut. Best Champions Tour finish T-38th at the Galleri Classic.