John Daly on His Welcome to the PGA Tour Moment, Golf vs. Football Training & Being All Madden

TL;DR

John Daly shares how winning the 1991 PGA Championship as the 9th alternate defined his career and reveals his unconventional approach to golf training.

Key Points

• 1.Daly's welcome-to-the-PGA moment was winning the 1991 PGA Championship as the ninth alternate. He got in because Nick Price's wife had a baby, had no practice round, shot a blur of four rounds with caddie Squeak, earned $162,000, and only realized the magnitude the following week in Colorado when 12,000 fans were waiting for him.
• 2.Daly's driving advice centers on 'low and slow' and finishing the backswing. He emphasizes consistency over power, comparing it to football players running the same patterns daily, and says anyone wanting to break 80 should focus on 100-yard shots and chipping rather than distance.
• 3.Golf training philosophy sharply contrasts with football's approach. Daly argues golfers should prioritize flexibility over weightlifting, warning that players are injuring themselves by over-training; he never used a weight room growing up and credits his natural flexibility for his massive backswing.
• 4.Daly was placed on the 1992 All-Madden kicker team after impressing John Madden. He kicked a 40–45 yard field goal barefoot at a Monday Night Football event in San Francisco with Frank Gifford holding, and Madden — who famously disliked kickers — personally told him 'I like you, son.'
• 5.Daly chose golf at age 16 because he was too flat-footed and slow for other sports. He considered baseball pitching but settled on golf, noting his flat feet actually gave him better balance and stability in his swing.
• 6.His son John Daly II is in his final college semester at Arkansas, ranked 4th–5th nationally. The younger Daly now hits it 50 yards past his father but still can't out-chip him; like most father-son dynamics, he listens to everyone except his dad for swing advice.
• 7.Daly's pre-round routine involves minimal preparation — a few cigarettes, Diet Cokes, and a glance at the putting green. After 12 surgeries and a bladder cancer battle, he can only hit 20 putts before needing a rest break, playing two to three pro-ams weekly to stay sharp instead of range sessions.