UnderdogMindset

9th alternate to winning the PGA Championship

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John Daly (PGA Championship)
ESPN 30 for 30: Hit it Hard
Posted: Mar 21, 2023
Golf Worst Odds

John Daly was not even slated to play in the 1991 PGA championship; he was the ninth and last alternate, a rookie golfer who had to drive 10 hours the day before to get there and had not practiced on the course. Nevertheless, the hard-hitting Daly put on a show, shooting 3-under on the first day, two back from the leader on Thursday. The next day, he shot 5-under, taking the lead by one shot. He would never relinquish that advantage and ultimately win by three on Sunday.

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Quotes

This is like a miracle, It just doesn't happen that often.

John Daly
References

  • Belting mammoth tee shots, John Daly won the PGA with an awesome display of power golf

    You don't have to believe what happened at Crooked Stick last week. You can accept as fiction the news that an unknown Arkansas pro named John Daly bludgeoned a golf course into submission on his way to a three-shot victory in the 1991 PGA Championship.

  • Blond bomber John Daly shocked the golf world at Crooked Stick 30 years ago

    He was a 25-year-old blond guy, an unknown rookie golfer from the University of Arkansas. He was a last-minute, late-night drive-in for the next morning's PGA Championship at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel.

  • Thirty years later, John Daly reflects on an improbable PGA victory

    John Daly will always be remembered for being one of the great Cinderella stories in the history of golf. In addition, it’s doubtful we will ever see a two-time major champion who fits the description “a man of the people” more emphatically than J.D.

  • John Daly's 1991 PGA Championship at Crooked Stick stuns the world

    How in the world does a rookie that barely made it to the PGA Championship go on to win the weekend? John Daly answered that question at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Indiana, in 1991. Daly had 23 starts and had missed 11 cuts leading up to the championship, so it took a series of withdrawals for him to even get into the tournament.

  • From no-hoper to PGA champion

    It was the withdrawal of Nick Price, staying at home to be with his wife ahead of the birth of their child, that finally allowed the ninth alternate for the 1991 US PGA Championship into the field at Crooked Stick. That man was John Daly.