Background and career
John Patrick Daly (born April 28, 1966) is an American professional golfer on the PGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions. Daly is known primarily for his driving distance off the tee (earning him the nickname "Long John"), his non-country-club appearance and attitude, his exceptionally long backswing, the inconsistency of his play (with exceptional performances and controversial incidents), and his personal life. His two greatest on-course accomplishments are his "zero-to-hero" victory in the 1991 PGA Championship, and his playoff victory over Costantino Rocca in the 1995 Open Championship. In addition to his wins on U.S. soil, Daly has won accredited pro events in South Africa, Swaziland (Eswatini), Scotland, Germany, South Korea, Turkey, and Canada. According to official performance statistics kept since 1980, Daly in 1997 became the first PGA Tour player to average more than 300 yards per drive over a full season. He did so again in every year from 1999 to 2008, and he was the only player to do so until 2003. Daly also led the PGA Tour in driving distance 11 times from 1991 to 2002 with the exception of 1994 when Davis Love III took his spot that year. Daly's last PGA Tour victory came in San Diego in 2004, earning him a two-year playing exemption. Daly struggled to maintain regular PGA Tour status after 2006. He continued to enter PGA Tour events through his past champion status and sponsor exemptions. Since 2016, Daly has competed on the PGA Tour Champions circuit, winning the 2017 Insperity Invitational. Daly is the only man from either Europe or the United States to win two major golf championships but not be selected for the Ryder Cup since that event began in 1927. Daly has been successful in multiple businesses. He is endorsed by LoudMouth Golf Apparel and owns a golf course design company. In addition, Daly has written and recorded music, and has released two music albums. He appeared in the 2025 film Happy Gilmore 2 as a fictionalized version of himself.
Daly was born in Carmichael, California, on April 28, 1966. His father is Jim Daly, a construction worker for industrial plants; his mother is Lou Daly, a homemaker. The working-class family moved frequently during Daly's formative years, living in small towns across the Southern states. His father often worked night shifts and sometimes commuted significant distances between work and home. With his father, mother, older sister, and older brother Jamie, John moved from California to Dardanelle, Arkansas, when he was four. John began playing golf the following year at the Bay Ridge Boat and Golf Club there. From his start in golf, he admired Jack Nicklaus, the dominant professional player of the time. When John was ten, his family moved to Locust Grove, Orange County, Virginia. John played golf there at the Lake of the Woods Golf Course in Locust Grove, where he won the spring club championship at age 13, defeating all the male members; the club promptly changed its rules, barring juniors from future open club competition. The Dalys next moved to Zachary, Louisiana, where John completed ninth grade and half of the tenth grade. John then attended Helias High School in Jefferson City, Missouri, the state capital, from the middle of his sophomore year, and was a junior golf member at the Jefferson City Country Club. He was a letterman there in football and golf. With John handling both punting and place-kicking duties, Helias football compiled a 10–0 record in 1983. In golf, John was a 1983 Missouri state team HS champion with Helias; he also holds several Helias school kicking records in football. For his first significant golf success, he won the 1983 Missouri State Amateur Championship and followed up by winning the 1984 Arkansas State Amateur Championship. He completed his final three months of high school at Dardanelle High School in spring 1984. Back at the Bay Ridge club that summer, Daly became friends with Rick Ross, who was a golf teaching professional there, and Ross assisted him with his golf game for the next several years.
Daly attended the University of Arkansas, from 1984 to 1987, on a golf scholarship, and was a member of the golf team. His golf team coaches were Steve Loy and Bill Woodley. Daly had tempestuous relationships with both due to his drinking problems and infrequent class attendance. Daly qualified for the 1986 U.S. Open, one of the four majors of male professional golf, as an amateur, and missed the 36-hole cut with scores of 88 and 76.
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. From 1987 to 1989, Daly played mainly in minor events around the U.S., and had some encouraging success during the 1989–90 season on the Southern African Tour. He won the AECI Charity Classic with only Northern Irishman David Feherty behind him. Daly also won the Hollard Royal Swazi Sun Classic over South African veteran John Bland.
Daly earned full playing privileges on the Ben Hogan Tour for 1990, winning the qualifying tournament for the new circuit early that year. 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). 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. Daly 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.
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. Late in the season, Daly finished 3rd place at the 1991 Tour Championship. He then 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 finishing 2nd. 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. 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. 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. Under pressure from his zero-to-hero victory at the 1991 PGA Championship, Daly started the 1992 season with several top 10 finishes, including finishing 5th 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, 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. Daly's 1993 season was his least successful since joining the PGA Tour. He notably finished T-3 at the Masters Tournament and for his only top-10 finish in a major championship outside his two wins. Although he had no PGA Tour wins in 1993, Daly did win the Alfred Dunhill Cup with Fred Couples and Payne Stewart. He finished the season with 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 from late 1993 into early 1994 due to behavior which included walking off the course mid-round during the 1993 late-season Kapalua International, a mid-1993 incident at the Kemper Open that saw him disqualified for throwing his scorecard at the scoring tent after shooting 77, and an incident at the 1993 Southern Open where Daly walked off the course without telling his partners he was quitting. He entered alcohol rehab for three weeks in late 1993 before returning to the Tour to win the 1994 BellSouth Classic. This was his third PGA Tour title, which he claimed to be his first sober win. 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 at St Andrews. Daly had prior excellent results on this course at the Dunhill Cup, and although he was listed at very long odds by bookmakers, some perceptive golf watchers, including David Feherty, believed before the event that the Old Course suited Daly's game 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. 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. Daly is the only eligible two-time major winner never selected to play in the Ryder Cup.
