John Daly: From ninth alternate to PGA Champion

CARMEL, Ind. (KNWA/KFTA) — Golf has seen many improbable players become major champions over the years, including Arkansas Sports Hall of Famer John Daly.

In the 1991 PGA Championship at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Indiana, Daly went from the ninth alternate to champion of the tournament.

Earlier in the year, Daly joined the PGA Tour four years after turning professional and was the ninth and final alternate for the PGA Championship.

With little chance of playing in the tournament, Daly told Golf Digest in 2021 he was in Memphis before the tournament when got a phone call.

“Then Nick Price called to tell me his wife, Sue, was ready to have their baby and that he was withdrawing and that I might get to play at Crooked Stick. Nick offered to have his caddie, Squeaky—that’s Jeff Medlin, who passed away in 1997—caddie for me. I was like, ‘Oh, man, yeah.’ We drove 10 hours to Indiana on Wednesday and got in at 1 a.m. on Thursday. The light on my hotel phone was blinking, and I got the news. I had made it into the field,” Daly said.

Daly joined the field of 151 because of the birth of Zimbabwean golfer Nick Price’s baby and the other eight alternates were unable to play .

After the first round, Daly was tied for eighth at three under par. The next day, he skyrocketed to first after shooting a 67, a five-under-par day.

Daly would lead the pack for the rest of the tournament and claim his first of two career major wins, winning by three strokes.

“I can honestly say my life changed in four days… it was a miracle,” Daly told ESPN in 2021.

With the win came the Wanamaker Trophy and a $230,000 prize. After winning Daly donated $30,000 to the family of one of the tournament’s attendees who was struck by lightning and killed while at the Crooked Stick Golf Club.

“On Saturday, I read the news about the guy dying. I learned he had been on the course watching me and was struck by lightning as he got back to his car to leave. He was 39,” Daly said to Golf Digest . “It was such a sad thing to read about, especially that he had two young daughters. I guess it stayed with me because I did make that $30,000 gift.”

After the 1991 PGA Championship win, Daly has competed in 28 editions of the tournament, failing to make the cut in 20 of them.

Daly competed in the 2024 PGA Championship but withdrew before the second round due to a thumb injury.

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