John Daly

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.

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 some exceptional performances and some controversial incidents), and his personal life.

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 Daly family, solidly middle-class, moved very frequently during Daly's formative years, living in small towns across the Southern states.

His father frequently worked night shifts, and often had to commute 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 years old.

John began playing golf the following year, at the Bay Ridge Boat and Golf Club there.

From his start in golf, Daly 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 grade ten year, and was a junior golf member at the Jefferson City Country Club.

He was a letterman there in football and golf.

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.

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, Daly won the 1983 Missouri State Amateur Championship and then followed up by winning the 1984 Arkansas State Amateur Championship.

Daly 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 in South Africa in early 1989.

For example, on the 1989-90 season on the Southern African Tour, Daly had much success.

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.

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.

He did so again in every year from 1999 to 2008, and he was the only player to do so until 2003.

Daly's last PGA Tour victory came in San Diego in 2004, earning him a two-year playing exemption.

After 2006, Daly's career began to falter and he had trouble making cuts and staying on the tour.

He was primarily earning PGA Tour event entries through past champion status and numerous sponsor invitations.

Since 2016, Daly has competed on the PGA Tour Champions circuit, winning the 2017 Insperity Invitational.