John Daly rips PGA over course conditions after injury and withdrawal from Senior PGA Championship

On3 imageby:Wade Peery05/26/23
john-daly-rips-pga-over-course-conditions-after-injury-and-withdrawal-from-senior-pga-championship
(Photo by Ryan Lochhead/PGA of America via Getty Images)

John Daly’s body has endured more than most humans would ever fathom. On Thursday afternoon in the 2023 Senior PGA Championship, his body could no longer tolerate the slanted tee boxes. Daly, 57 years old, decided to withdraw from the tournament, which is being played at PGA Frisco in Frisco, Texas.

He made sure to let the PGA Tour know about how difficult their tee boxes made it for him to compete.

Check out the picture he posted of his swollen knees. It’s not pretty.

“So hard to play tee boxes that are down grade. Golf course is great but I wish they would make their tee boxes level! We are not young anymore!! Some guys are ADA and we can not follow through on down hill tee boxes!! I’m sorry,” Daly tweeted.

“@PGA you are going the wrong way in golf but I love y’all. But you are making holes really really long.. St Andrew’s never had a downhill tee box. Quit while your NOT ahead…. Thank you.”

He’s got a very fair point here. It doesn’t make any sense for the PGA Tour to make professionals play on slanted tee boxes. If it was your local club course. Okay. That’s one thing. But the PGA Tour? Doesn’t make one iota of sense.

Daly is disabled due to osteoarthritis and has to use a golf cart to get around. He’s also had to get both of his knees replaced in the past few years. But, regardless, he doesn’t complain much. The PGA Tour should only hold events at the most pristine golf courses. Especially a major event, even if it’s for their senior tour.

John Daly career highlights

John Daly made a name for himself as one of the longest drivers on the PGA Tour. Undoubtedly his most famous win was his “zero to hero” win at the 1991 PGA Championship. Another highlight of his PGA Tour career was the 1995 playoff victory over Constantino Rocca in the British Open.

In addition to winning on American soil, Daly won pro events in South Africa, Swaziland, Scotland, Germany, South Korea, Turkey and Canada.

1991 PGA Championship

The 1991 PGA Championship was played at Crooked Stick in Carmel, Indiana. He had 23 starts and had missed 11 cuts leading up to the tournament, so it took a number of withdrawals for him to even get into the tournament. Daly played the course for the first time in his entire life and shot a 12-under 276. His lead was so big heading into the final round that all that it took was a 1-under 71 in the final round to hold of Bruce Lietzke and win the PGA Championship. The win was easily the most memorable moment of Daly’s professional career. And it was one of the greatest underdog stories in sports history.

His improbable victory during the 1991 PGA Championship is to this day, one of the greatest underdog stories in the history of sports. After the big win, Daly won $230,000 and quickly donated $30,000 of it to charity.