John Daly and pedestrian aren’t normally words that appear in the same sentence. Yet it’s safe to say that golf folk hero has had a pedestrian season to date on the PGA Tour Champions.
In six starts prior to this week’s Regions Tradition, the first major on the senior circuit calendar, the 56-year-old had finished no better than 27th. When he posted an opening round 68 at Greystone Golf & Country Club in Birmingham, Ala., it was just the second time he had broken 70 in 2022, and after a second-round 72, Daly was in a tie for 16th place, seven off the lead of Steve Stricker.
As it turns out, however, Daly won’t have a chance to make good on the solid opening 36 holes. Following Friday’s round, he was disqualified for failing to sign his scorecard.
The PGA Tour Champions didn’t offer more details on what exactly happened. Starting off the 10th tee in his Friday round, Daly was four under on the day through 15 holes, but made a double bogey on the par-3 seventh. He then made another double bogey on his final hole, the par-4 ninth. The shot tracker on the PGA Tour Champions website reads that he four-putted his final hole.
This is the first time Daly has been disqualified from a PGA Tour Champions event after 102 career starts. In 541 career PGA Tour starts, he was DQ’d five times, the last at the 2003 Valero Texas Open.
A two-time major winner, including his memorable victory at the 1991 PGA Championship, Daly is listed in the field for next week’s PGA at Southern Hills.