As underdog stories go, John Daly’s captivating triumph at the 1991 US PGA Championship takes some beating. The charismatic American has an autobiography, My Life in and out of the Rough, but he really deserves a biopic. His life is a great tale, and in many ways, the rollercoaster of his journey, at least as far as wider recognition is concerned, all begins at Crooked Stick in 1991.
Somehow, the name of the course that catapulted the California-born legend to fame is rather fitting. There was nothing crooked about his hitting for four glorious days in Carmel, Indiana, though, as the city north of Indianapolis witnessed one of the finest displays of fearless golf ever seen.
Ninth Alternate to Major Champion
The story of Daly’s maiden major begins well before the tournament itself. For those who believe in alternative parallel universes, in most of the other worlds that might have been, or actually have existed, Daly did not even make it to the first tee of the tournament that made him famous.
Leaving aside science fiction and science theory, let us instead look at it through the cold lens of mathematics. From a probabilistic perspective, there is no way Daly should have even made the field for the 1991 US PGA Championship.
Daly was born in 1966 and was 25 at the time of the year’s final major. He was the ninth alternate for the tournament, which means that he was a reserve and would only get to play if someone dropped out. More accurately, as the ninth alternate, he needed a lot of people to drop out.
Long Drive for Long John A Small Price to Pay
He didn’t actually need nine players to withdraw to get his chance in Indiana, because many of the reserves in front of him opted not to take up the spots that were offered to them. It has been reported that several of the alternates ahead of him in the queue declined the invitation to play because they either couldn’t get to the course in time or wouldn’t have been able to get there and have a practice round.
Daly was nicknamed Long John for his power hitting, but it might also have been granted for the long drive he undertook to make it to the course. English golfer Mark James decided to play in Europe to try to boost his Ryder Cup chances, fatigue caused US legend Lee Trevino to pull out, Paul Azinger decided his shoulder injury was still troubling him, and a couple of other players also opened up spots for alternates.
Even so, the day before the tournament, there were three players still ahead of Daly. Despite this, he decided to drive the 500 miles from his home in Memphis, just the sort of place one would expect him to live, to Crooked Stick. Apparently, the main motivation for taking the nine-hour journey was to meet up with his friend Fuzzy Zoeller for a drink or 12, with just the slimmest hope of getting a game.
However, while he was driving, Nick Price withdrew, deciding to be with his wife, who was close to giving birth to their child. With so little time to prepare, the three pros ahead of Daly turned down their shot – we wonder what they make of that decision now. And so it was that the ninth alternate arrived at his hotel very late on Wednesday night to a message that he had a place in the US PGA Championship at 1.58 pm the next day.
No Prep, No Caddie, No Hope, No Problem
Drinks with two-time major champion Zoeller would have to wait. But Daly still had to find a caddie, ideally one that knew the course, given he himself would have no time for a practice round and had never even seen it before.
Luckily for the ninth alternate, Nick Price’s caddie was still around and looking for a bag to carry. Jeff “Squeaky” Medlin had been at Crooked Stick since Monday and had thoroughly recced the course, taking the required yardages and measurements. Daly had his caddie.
Due to his late entry to the tournament, no bookies had even priced him up until the morning of the event. There is no precise information on what odds were offered on Daly winning, but with 11 missed cuts from his 23 starts that season and no time to prepare, we doubt there would have been anyone less fancied in the field. Consequently, a price of 1,000/1 or more seems a fair estimate, though perhaps not a fair bet, with his chances of success considerably lower.
First Round Blind
Daly had never played Crooked Stick, never been to the course and (in the days before the internet) had limited information on what to expect. However, aided by Squeaky, he somehow managed to shoot an opening round of 69.
His three-under score saw him just two shots off the pace, which was set by US golfer Kenny Knox and Welshman Ian Woosnam. Sandy Lyle was one of five players on four under par. Billy Andrade played alongside Daly and later said: “I just remember John asking [Squeaky], ‘where do I hit it here?’ on every hole”.
Takes the Lead at Halfway
In the first round of a major, it is far from uncommon to have some unexpected names near the top of the leaderboard. However, they typically drop away as class and experience see the cream rise to the top. However, top of the leaderboard after 36 holes was our hard-drinking, big-hitting, “grip-it-and-rip-it” hero.
Daly shot a second-round 67 to move clear at the top of the leaderboard. He was one clear of Bruce Lietzke, two ahead of Know and three clear of Nick Faldo, Woosnam and Craig Stadler.
Brilliant Weekend Sees Unlikely Victory
Excitement was growing about the big-hitting underdog and his carefree approach to the game. He was the longest hitter on tour but ranked 185th for accuracy. However, he was simply overpowering a course that had been intended to restrict the biggest hitters. They just hadn’t accounted for Daly.
The tournament leader was cutting corners, beasting the par fives and hitting short irons into greens where rivals were using long irons. Even so, many still expected him to fade away. However, as the third round progressed, it became clear that wasn’t going to happen. Daly was ramming home putts, rattling the back of the hole and barely missing from inside eight feet all week.
A score of 69 on Saturday moved him three clear of Knox and Stadler. He began his final round with a bogey but bounced straight back with a birdie on the second. Another on the fifth was followed by seven pars and then two birdies in three holes. A double bogey on 17 briefly gave the chasing pack hope, but he parred the 18th to win by three shots from Lietzke.
Wild Thing, to use another of Daly’s nicknames, had completed one of the most amazing and unlikely major victories in golf history. And had made it look like a practice round with buddies. He took home $230,000 plus the huge Wanamaker Trophy – not bad considering his earnings that year previously had been around $166,000. He would go on to win The Open Championship in 1995, but it is his against-the-odds maiden major for which he will be best remembered.