{"id":84129,"date":"2025-05-08T08:27:11","date_gmt":"2025-05-08T08:27:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/84129\/"},"modified":"2025-05-08T08:27:11","modified_gmt":"2025-05-08T08:27:11","slug":"john-daly-skips-pga-championship-after-health-scare-this-year-waking-up-is-a-win-for-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/84129\/","title":{"rendered":"John Daly skips PGA Championship after health scare this year: ‘Waking up is a win for me’"},"content":{"rendered":"

By DANIEL MATTHEWS<\/a> <\/a> and REUTERS and ASSOCIATED PRESS <\/p>\n

Published: 21:13 EDT, 7 May 2025 | Updated: 22:44 EDT, 7 May 2025 <\/p>\n

John Daly has decided to miss next week’s PGA Championship<\/a> as he continues to recover from surgery, with the golf legend admitting: ‘Waking up is a win for me.’<\/p>\n

The 59-year-old remains one of golf’s most popular characters thanks to his eccentric fashion sense, his big hitting and his colorful life – both on and off the course.<\/p>\n

But the two-time major champion will not tee it up at Quail Hollow, with Daly opting instead to play in the\u00a0Regions Tradition – the first of five majors on the PGA Tour Champions,\u00a0which is for players 50 and older.<\/p>\n

Daly is still working his way back to his best after a health scare saw him hospitalized in January. He required an emergency operation on his left hand before returning to golf in March.<\/p>\n

It was the 16th surgery of a remarkable career for Daly, who has also battled bladder cancer. ‘I’m like Lazarus – I keep coming back from the dead,’ the 59-year-old said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘I didn’t think I’d been out here for three decades, I’ve only been dead eleven times… 16 surgeries in four years, I’ve lost count pretty much.’<\/p>\n

\"John <\/p>\n

John Daly has decided to skip the PGA Championship as he continues to recover from surgery\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The golf legend required emergency hand surgery after a health scare earlier this year\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The 59-year-old has struggled since making his comeback at the Hoag Classic in late March<\/p>\n

Back in 2020, following his cancer<\/a> diagnosis, Daly vowed to improve his infamous diet and lifestyle. ‘I\u2019m cutting way, way back on the Diet Coke and counting minutes before I can have a cigarette. I\u2019m trying to quit smoking,’ he said.<\/p>\n

But Daly has continued to have problems with his health. On his recent surgery, he explained:\u00a0‘The tendons were all wrapped around each other. [The doctor] doesn’t understand how I played last year. But he put it back, attached it to the forefinger or something.’<\/p>\n

He has struggled since making his comeback at the Hoag Classic in late March. His results for the 2025 season read: tied 56th, tied 75th, tied 50th and 77th.<\/p>\n

He finished at 27-over par last week at the Insperity Invitational, a tournament he won in 2017 and was runner-up in 2020.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Daly, 59, holds a lifetime exemption to the PGA Championship after winning the tournament in 1991 at Crooked Stick Golf Club. He also won the 1995 Open Championship.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘I can go there and miss the cut and get $6,000,’ Daly said of the PGA Championship, which last year paid $4,000 to players who missed the cut. ‘But I’m playing Birmingham. I love Regions. They’re a great sponsor.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘But why are they scheduling Regions the same week as the PGA Championship, where I can see Brooks (Koepka) and all the guys?’<\/p>\n

Daly entered last year’s PGA Championship at Valhalla but withdrew due to a thumb injury before the second round after shooting an 11-over 82 in the opening round.<\/p>\n

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\n John Daly skips PGA Championship after health scare this year: ‘Waking up is a win for me’<\/p>\n