John Daly (golfer)

Daly left college without completing his degree, and turned professional in summer 1987. His first pro victory came shortly afterwards, in the 1987 Missouri Open.[6] From 1987 to 1989, Daly played mainly in minor events around the U.S., and had some encouraging success in South Africa in early 1989, where he challenged in several Sunshine Tour events. He also played in several PGA Tour events with some success, including finishing T-14 at the 1989 Chattanooga Classic, and making his first cut in a major, finishing T-69 at the 1989 U.S. Open.

He earned full playing privileges on the Ben Hogan Tour (now the Korn Ferry Tour) for 1990, winning the qualifying tournament for the new circuit early that year.[6] He then won two Sunshine Tour events early in 1990, one in South Africa (where he edged David Feherty), and one in Swaziland (where established veteran champion John Bland placed second).[2] This was encouraging for Daly to win good-caliber events, defeat more experienced and well-established international professionals, and play before good-sized galleries which appreciated his performances.

He then won the 1990 Ben Hogan Utah Classic, and completed a fine year by finishing T-12 at the 1990 PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament, earning 1991 PGA Tour privileges on his fourth attempt.[13]

He joined the PGA Tour in 1991, showed increasingly strong play throughout the year, and then won the PGA Championship that August. This victory gained Daly a significant amount of media attention, due to the fact that Daly was the ninth and final alternate for the Championship. Just days before the tournament Nick Price dropped out, since his wife Sue was about to give birth. Daly, playing just his third major, was able to have Price's caddie Jeff (Squeaky) Medlin caddy for him. Daly had to drive through the night to arrive in time to claim his spot. A virtual unknown at the time, he achieved a first-round score of 69, even though he had not had time to play a practice round at the exceptionally difficult Crooked Stick Golf Club course near Indianapolis. He finished the tournament with scores of 69-67-69-71, giving him a three-stroke victory over veteran Bruce Lietzke, who was 15 years older. His feat generated enormous media coverage, propelling the hitherto virtually unknown Tour rookie to international fame.[6] Late in the season, Daly became the first PGA Tour rookie to be invited to compete in the Skins Game, a made-for-television event featuring four top players, and he performed well there.[6] Daly was subsequently named PGA Tour Rookie of the Year for 1991. He was also the first rookie to win a major title since Jerry Pate won the U.S. Open in 1976.[14][15]

His surprise victory and powerful swing provided the impetus for a cult-like fan base, composed of many people who had not been previously attracted to golf, and from that point onwards, Daly became one of the most popular players on Tour.[16] He added to his reputation as a power hitter in 1993 by becoming, apparently, the first (and still the only) player to reach the green of the famous 630-yard hole 17 at Baltusrol Golf Club's Lower Course in two strokes.[17]

Daly had a good season in 1992, with several top 10 finishes: including finishing 5th place at The International, T-2 at the Kemper Open, and T-8 at the Buick Southern Open and the Nissan Los Angeles Open. At the 1992 PGA Championship, Daly struggled as the defending champion. He finished the tournament with rounds of 76-72-79-77 and ended up finishing in 82nd place. However, he recovered to win the B.C. Open by six strokes late in the season, for his second PGA Tour title.[6]

Daly did not have a great season in 1993. He did however finish T-3 at the Masters Tournament and it became his only top-10 finish in a major championship outside his two wins. With no PGA Tour wins in 1993, Daly did manage to win the Alfred Dunhill Cup with Fred Couples and Payne Stewart. He had five top-25 finishes and one top-10 finish out of 15 cuts.

In 1994, Daly experienced one of his most turbulent years. He was suspended by the PGA Tour, due to behavior which included walking off the course mid-round during the 1993 late-season Kapalua International. The suspension also covered a mid-1993 incident at the Kemper Open, when he was upset after scoring a 77, threw his scorecard at the scoring tent, and was disqualified. He entered alcohol rehab for three weeks in late 1993[6] and then returned to the Tour and won the 1994 BellSouth Classic, claiming it was his first win sober. This was his third PGA Tour title.

In 1995, in the midst of a middling season, Daly unexpectedly won The Open Championship in a playoff with Italy's Costantino Rocca at the Old Course, St Andrews. Daly had had prior excellent results on this course at the Dunhill Cup, and although he was listed at very long odds by bookies, some perceptive golf watchers, including David Feherty, believed before the event that the Old Course in fact suited Daly's game very well. Daly was in contention from the start of the event, but trailed New Zealand's Michael Campbell heading into a very windy final round. Campbell fell back in the difficult conditions, and Daly played a superb final round. As Rocca, in the last group, approached the final hole, he was one shot behind Daly, who had already finished his round. Rocca's long drive was only yards from the green, but his second shot resulted in a fluffed chip where he did not follow through. Rocca then sank a 60-foot (18 metre) putt to make the birdie he needed to force a playoff with Daly. Daly easily defeated Rocca in the playoff, finishing the four holes of the playoff at one under par, while Rocca finished three over par after hitting into the "Road Hole Bunker" on the 17th hole, and taking three shots to get out.[6]

Daly is the only eligible two-time major winner never selected to play in the Ryder Cup.

After winning the 1995 Open Championship, Daly struggled with his golf game and drinking habits for the next nine years. In 1996, Daly finished T-19 at The Players Championship and had a top-10 finish at the Kemper Open. At the 1996 U.S. Open, Daly finished T-27 with a second round 69 which was his best finish in the tournament. In 1997 Daly withdrew from the U.S. Open after a first round 77 citing shakes from alcohol and exhaustion. It is reported that Daly was attending the Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. Daly also withdrew from the 1997 Players Championship.

In 1998, Daly recorded one of the highest scores on a single hole in PGA Tour golf history, shooting an 18 on the sixth hole at the Bay Hill Invitational. Daly finished the 1998 season with two top-10 finishes. He also withdrew from the Sprint International and the Disney Classic and was disqualified from the FedEx St. Jude Classic.

In 1999, Daly won the JCPenney Classic, which was neither a PGA or European Tour event. Despite this, Daly did not have a good season in 1999 where he withdrew from several tournaments and scored a high round of 82 at the Memorial Tournament. At the 1999 U.S. Open, Daly finished 68th place after leading the tournament in the first round. After some struggles during the tournament, Daly said he would never play in the U.S. Open again; he later apologized for this. In 2000, Daly had a bad season, withdrawing from the U.S. Open with 12-over par.

In 2001, Daly won the BMW International Open with a one-stroke lead over Pádraig Harrington, with a personal best score of 27 under par for four rounds. This was the first time Daly had won a European Tour event in six years. After Daly had a comeback to the European Tour, he also had his best PGA Tour season since 1995. His best result was finishing 4th place at the Bell Canadian Open.

In 2002, Daly was inducted into the Arkansas Golf Hall of Fame, and had two top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour. He made the cut at the 2002 Masters finishing T-32, the last time he would make the cut at the Masters. He also won the Champions Challenge that year, which was neither a PGA or European Tour event. In 2003, Daly had a decent season, finishing T-7 at the Shell Houston Open, and winning two other tournaments that were neither PGA Tour or European Tour events. In both 2002 and 2003, Daly was a member of the winning PGA Tour team in the Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge event, competing against teams from the Champions Tour and the LPGA Tour.

He was then added to the Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004 video game in 2003. He was in the series up until 2009.

Daly won the Buick Invitational in 2004, and he was also selected as PGA Tour Comeback Player of the Year for 2004. Daly won the tournament in a playoff against Luke Donald and Chris Riley. Daly started using Dunlop golf equipment before this tournament, and the Buick Invitational was his first victory in 189 PGA Tour events. Daly also increased his world golf ranking from 299th to a spot in the Top 50 during this time frame. He ranked 4th overall on the PGA tour for 2004.[18]

In 2005, Daly lost two playoffs in PGA Tour events to two of world golf's biggest stars. First, he was defeated by Vijay Singh's par on the first extra hole at the Houston Open. Then, he missed a two-foot putt on the second extra hole to lose to Tiger Woods at the WGC-American Express Championship in San Francisco.

Daly did not win another professional tournament until December 2014, when he won the Beko Classic. The tournament, played at Gloria Golf Club in Belek, Antalya, Turkey, is sanctioned by the PGA of Europe.[19]

Daly's last top finish on an elite tour came at the 2009 Italian Open. There he finished in a distant tie for second to Daniel Vancsik of Argentina. It punctuated how unusual Daly's history of results had been. He recorded almost as many top finishes internationally as he did at PGA Tour events in the United States. He won two events on the South African Tour early in his career: the AECI Charity Classic and the Hollard Royal Swazi Sun Classic in 1990, an event where he had finished runner-up in 1989.[20] Later in his career, in addition to famously winning the 1995 Open Championship in Scotland, he performed very well in regular European Tour events. He won the 2001 BMW International Open and finished runner-up at the 1994 Irish Open, 2001 German Masters, 2005 BMW International Open, and the aforementioned 2009 Italian Open. His four runner-up finishes in Europe match the amount of runner-up finishes he had at American events on the PGA Tour.[21] He also won the 2003 Korea Open, the most prestigious event on the Korean Tour.

Daly entered the 2007 PGA Tour season without full exempt status for the first time since his 1991 PGA Championship victory, which carried a 10-year PGA Tour exemption. Another such exemption was earned with his 1995 Open Championship win. When Daly won the 2004 Buick Invitational, he earned a two-year exemption, which expired at the end of 2006. Daly finished 193rd on the 2006 PGA Tour Official Money List,[22] thereby losing his full exempt status for 2007.

Although Daly had $10,116,306 in career earnings as of June 2, 2014, he is not among the top 50 on the PGA Tour's All-Time Career Money List,[23] and so he must now depend heavily on sponsor invitations (PGA Tour Exemption Category 11[24]). Some 2007 PGA Tour events extended such invitations. Outside of sponsor invitations, Daly can also play in many 2007 regular events via Exemption Category 32,[24] "Past Champions, Team Tournament Winners and Veteran Members Beyond 150 on Money List".

As far as individual tournaments are concerned, Daly is exempt for life in the PGA Championship and AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, and up to age 60 in the Open Championship. In order to play in the Masters, U.S. Open, a World Golf Championship or a FedEx Cup Playoff Event, Daly would have to satisfy the particular invitational requirements of such events. Daly has not played at the Masters since 2006, and he has not made the cut there since 2002.[25]

To upgrade his non-exempt status, Daly could have re-entered the PGA Tour qualifying process, but chose not to do this, relying upon sponsor exemptions to gain entry to PGA Tour events.

Fans and golf columnists point to the 2005 WGC-American Express Championship as the event where John Daly's post-2006 exempt status would be determined. Tied with Tiger Woods at the end of regulation play, Daly missed a short par putt on the 2nd extra playoff hole, giving Woods the victory. Had Daly instead made the par, and then had gone on to win, he would have earned a three-year PGA Tour exemption through 2008.[26] Daly also made it to another playoff in the 2005 Shell Houston Open, but lost on the first extra hole to Vijay Singh.[19]

Daly was invited to play in the Honda Classic on March 1, 2007 on a sponsor's exemption, but had to withdraw after two holes. He pulled a muscle near his shoulder blade when he tried to stop his backswing after a fan snapped a picture.[27] In December 2008, he was suspended for six months by the PGA Tour.[28]

After his 2008 suspension, Daly was forced to compete on the European Tour. After undergoing lap-band surgery to lose 40 pounds,[29] he began playing much better golf, even managing to finish 2nd[30] at the Italian Open. On May 26, 2009, Daly announced that he would return to the PGA Tour,[31] via sponsor's exemption, for the St. Jude Classic. On July 17, Daly told The Dan Patrick Show that he had lost 80 pounds thanks to the surgery, dropping him to 205 lbs.

However, after shooting a then personal-high 88 at the Buick Open in late July 2009, he claimed to be losing confidence in his game, and his swing coach blamed the surgery for making him lose muscle along with weight, taking power away from his swing. However, Daly blamed the effects of his poor eyesight on his putting for his high golf score.[32]

On March 14, 2014, during the second round of the Valspar Championship, Daly shot a career worst 90 which included an 8-over-par 12 on the 16th hole.[33] His frequent failure to make cuts and high rounds have revived debates on players who frequently receive sponsor exemptions.[34]

Daly shot a score of 68 for the first round of the 2012 PGA Championship which was played at Kiawah Island, South Carolina.[35] Daly finished 18th place in that tournament, which was the first time Daly had finished in the top 20 in a major championship since the Open in 2005. Daly continues to play more abroad vs. United States due to his limited status on the PGA Tour. In the late fall of 2014 Daly started to show some promise finishing T-29 at the Sanderson Farms Championship, and then quietly finishing T-10 at the Puerto Rico Open, his first top-10 finish in three years. Soon after, Daly finished T-25 at the Turkish Airlines Open, a European Tour event with a strong field. Daly won the Beko Classic on December 6, 2014, an event sanctioned by the PGAs of Europe, finishing at −15. It was Daly's first win in over 10 years.[25] At the end of 2015, Daly tried to get back his European Tour card in Shanghai. He finished T-46 at the BMW Masters and T-50 at the Turkish Airlines Open.

Having turned 50 on April 28, 2016, Daly became eligible to play on the PGA Tour Champions. His debut was at the Insperity Invitational in May, where he finished tied for 17th.[36] On May 7, 2017, Daly won the Insperity Invitational on the PGA Tour Champions after shooting a 14-under par for the tournament. It was his first win of a PGA Tour-affiliated event since 2004, and it happened exactly one year after he made his PGA Tour Champions debut.[37] Daly continues to compete semi-regularly on the Champions Tour.

Daly has a flowing self-taught golf swing which was built for raw power and distance. Daly takes his golf club back much farther past parallel on his back swing by extreme coiling of his arms and shoulders which creates very fast club head speed on his down swing. However, Daly's golf swing has contributed to his inconsistent performance during golf tournaments since almost perfect timing is required for proper execution of such a powerful golf swing.[38]

Daly has had several incidents during golf tournaments which have contributed to his "Wild Thing" image including the following:[39]

• During the 1998 PGA Tour's Bay Hill Invitational, Daly used a three-wood to hit six golf balls into the water during the final round. Daly finally got his seventh attempt over the water which was a distance of approximately 270 yards. Daly shot an 18 on the par-five sixth hole and finished the round with a score of 85.[40]
• In the 2000 U.S. Open, he shot a 14 on the par-five 18th hole and withdrew after an opening-round 83. Daly hit three golf balls into the Pacific Ocean and hit another into a backyard next to the fairway.[41]
• In 2002, after making a triple-bogey seven on his last hole at the Coolum course in Australia, Daly threw his putter and ball into a pond and later failed to sign for a 78 on his scorecard, disqualifying himself from the tournament. Daly was later fined by the Australian Tour and was ordered to write a letter of apology to a tour official he verbally abused.[42]
• During the 2008 Australian Open, he broke a spectator's camera at Royal Sydney's ninth hole. He was given a suspended fine by Golf Australia.[43]
• Daly walked off during his first round at the 2011 Australian Open after hitting all of his golf balls into the water. Daly's problems started on the 10th hole when he received an automatic two-stroke penalty for hitting the wrong ball in the bunker. On the 11th hole, he hit seven golf balls in the water before leaving the tournament.[44][45]
• In the second round of the 2015 PGA Championship at the Whistling Straits Golf Course in Haven, Wisconsin, Daly, who was at the time 1-over par right at the cut line, hit three consecutive tee shot attempts into the water of Lake Michigan at the par-3 7th hole. He used a 4-iron on the first unsuccessful try, then switched to a 6-iron on the next two failed tries. After his fourth attempt (his 7th shot), which found the green, Daly was so livid about his shot selection that he threw his 6-iron into Lake Michigan. Daly ended up scoring a septuple-bogey 10, dropping to +8. He finished the round with an 82 and missed the cut.[46]

In March 2008, Daly's swing coach Butch Harmon quit, saying that "the most important thing in (Daly's) life is getting drunk." Daly responded by saying, "I think his lies kind of destroyed my life for a little bit."[65]

On October 26, 2008, Daly was taken into protective custody by Winston-Salem police after being found drunk outside a Hooters restaurant. Daly was not arrested or charged with a violation. However, the police released his mug shot to the media which resulted in negative publicity.[66] Shortly after this incident, Daly committed to stop drinking alcohol, which resulted in a progressive resurgence of his game and a positive change in his personal life; this was confirmed by Daly himself at the Open on July 15, 2010.[67]

In an interview on the Dan Patrick Show on August 6, 2014, Daly said that much of his past struggle with alcohol was due to growing up with an alcoholic and abusive father.[68]

In July 1994, Daly claimed that many PGA golfers were cocaine users, and said that if drug testing was done properly on tour, he would be "one of the cleanest guys out there".[69] This statement brought an uproar among the pro golf community.[11]

In early 2009 he had lap-band surgery which limits the amount of food that he can consume.[70] As of December 8, 2009, Daly had shed well over 100 pounds and was "a slim, trim 185".[71]

In July 2019, Daly had a near-death experience after being bitten by a brown recluse spider while he was vacationing in England. He had developed sepsis and required an emergency surgery.[72]

In September 2020, Daly announced he had recently battled with bladder cancer. He underwent surgery to remove the cancer, however doctors said there was an 85 percent chance of relapse. To reduce the chance of recurrence, Daly plans to improve his previously unhealthy lifestyle which involved smoking and drinking large amounts of Diet Coke.[73]

In 2006, Daly revealed in the last chapter of his autobiography that he has had great difficulty with a gambling problem.[4] He claims to have lost between US$50 and $60 million over a 15-year period.[74] This includes losing $1.5 million in October 2005, after winning half that amount at the WGC-American Express tournament, most of it lost on a $5,000 Las Vegas slot machine at Wynn Casino.[75]

Daly married Dale Crafton in 1987. They divorced in 1990.[76]

In summer 1992, he married his second wife Bettye Fulford. They had a daughter, Shynah Hale. In December 1992, Daly was charged with third-degree assault for throwing Bettye into a wall at their home near Denver. The actual circumstances of the incident remained unclear so far as public releases were concerned, since Bettye did not wish to pursue the matter.[11] Daly has said in his autobiography that he did not, nor has he ever, hit or hurt a woman.[4]

After Daly's divorce with Fulford was finalized in 1995, he married Paulette Dean that same year. A daughter Sierra Lynn who was born on June 1, 1995. However, they divorced in 1999.

On July 29, 2001, he married Sherrie Miller. Their son John Patrick Daly II was born July 23, 2003. On June 8, 2007, Daly and Sherrie got into a fight at a restaurant in Memphis, Tennessee, site of that week's tour stop, the Stanford St. Jude Championship. Daly claims that later that night his wife attacked him with a steak knife. He showed up for his second round on Friday afternoon with cuts and scrapes across his face. Authorities were contacted by him and came to his house, but his wife had already fled the scene and taken their son with her.[77]

Sherrie (at some point) pleaded guilty to federal drug charges and was sentenced to a five-month prison term. On December 17, 2010, in Memphis, Circuit Court Judge Donna Fields awarded custody of the couple's seven-year-old son, "Little John" to Daly, and jailed Sherrie for interfering with Daly's court-ordered visitation rights and other failures to abide by the court's orders in their ongoing divorce proceeding, saying "She is not following this court's orders. That is criminal contempt."[78]

In 2005, Daly sued the Florida Times-Union for libel after a columnist claimed Daly "failed the scoundrel sniff test." A judge threw out the case in 2009, saying that Daly had failed to prove the basis of the libel claim: namely, that the statements were untrue. Daly was also ordered by a judge to pay the newspaper over $300,000 in legal fees.[79]

Daly is a Republican and vocal Donald Trump supporter.[80][81]

John Daly became the first of two real people to make an appearance in the Everybody's Golf series, appearing in the third installment, Hot Shots Golf 3;[82] the other is Shigeki Maruyama who appeared in Everybody's Golf 5.

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	Aug 11, 1991	PGA Championship	−12 (69-67-69-71=276)	3 strokes	Bruce Lietzke
2	Sep 27, 1992	B.C. Open	−18 (67-66-67-66=266)	6 strokes	Joel Edwards, Ken Green, Jay Haas, Nolan Henke
3	May 8, 1994	BellSouth Classic	−14 (69-64-69-72=274)	1 stroke	Nolan Henke, Brian Henninger
4	Jul 23, 1995	The Open Championship	−6 (67-71-73-71=282)	Playoff	Costantino Rocca
5	Feb 15, 2004	Buick Invitational	−10 (69-66-68-75=278)	Playoff	Luke Donald, Chris Riley

PGA Tour playoff record (2–2)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	1995	The Open Championship	Costantino Rocca	Won four-hole aggregate playoff; Daly: −1 (4-3-4-4=15), Rocca: +3 (5-4-7-3=19)
2	2004	Buick Invitational	Luke Donald, Chris Riley	Won with birdie on first extra hole
3	2005	Shell Houston Open	Vijay Singh	Lost to par on first extra hole
4	2005	WGC-American Express Championship	Tiger Woods	Lost to par on second extra hole

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner-up
1	Aug 11, 1991	PGA Championship	−12 (69-67-69-71=276)	3 strokes	Bruce Lietzke
2	Jul 23, 1995	The Open Championship	−6 (67-71-73-71=282)	Playoff	Costantino Rocca
3	Sep 2, 2001	BMW International Open	−27 (63-64-68-66=261)	1 stroke	Pádraig Harrington

European Tour playoff record (1–1)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent	Result
1	1995	The Open Championship	Costantino Rocca	Won four-hole aggregate playoff; Daly: −1 (4-3-4-4=15), Rocca: +3 (5-4-7-3=19)
2	2005	WGC-American Express Championship	Tiger Woods	Lost to par on second extra hole

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner-up
1	Oct 12, 2003	Kolon Korean Open1	−6 (73-69-72-68=282)	2 strokes	Thaworn Wiratchant

¹Co-sanctioned by the Korean Tour

• 1990 AECI Charity Classic, Hollard Royal Swazi Sun Classic

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner-up
1	Sep 16, 1990	Ben Hogan Utah Classic	−13 (65-69-69=203)	1 stroke	R. W. Eaks

Ben Hogan Tour playoff record (0–1)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponents	Result
1	1990	Ben Hogan Gateway Open	Bruce Fleisher, Ted Tryba	Tryba won with eagle on first extra hole

• 1987 Missouri State Open[86]
• 1999 JCPenney Classic (with Laura Davies)
• 2002 Champions Challenge (with Pat Perez)
• 2003 Callaway Golf Pebble Beach Invitational
• 2006 Telus World Skins Game
• 2007 Telus World Skins Game
• 2014 Beko Classic, Turkey (sanctioned by PGA of Europe)

Year	Championship	54 holes	Winning score	Margin	Runner-up
1991	PGA Championship	3 shot lead	−12 (69-67-69-71=276)	3 strokes	Bruce Lietzke
1995	The Open Championship	4 shot deficit	−6 (67-71-73-71=282)	Playoff1	Costantino Rocca

¹Defeated Rocca in four-hole playoff; Daly (4-3-4-4=15), Rocca (5-4-7-3=19).

CUT = missed the half way cut
WD = withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place.
NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic

• Most consecutive cuts made – 7 (1992 Open Championship – 1994 Masters)
• Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (three times)