‘Lazarus’ John Daly Skipping PGA Championship for Coinciding Senior Tour Major

The PGA Championship is the same week as the PGA Tour Champions' first major. And Daly is deciding to tee it up with his peers.

John Daly is skipping next week's PGA Championship, the event he won in 1991. / Andy Abeyta/The Desert Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

John Daly had a tough decision to make. 

Should the 59-year-old play next week’s PGA Championship on his lifetime exemption from winning in 1991? Or join his peers for the coinciding Regions Traditions, the first of five major championships on the over-50 PGA Tour Champions?

He chose the latter. 

“I can go (to the PGA Championship) and miss the cut and get $6,000,” Daly told the Associated Press. “But I’m playing Birmingham. I love Regions. They’re a great sponsor. But why are they scheduling Regions the same week as the PGA Championship, where I can see Brooks (Koepka) and all the guys?”

Daly asks a fair question. The reason is two weeks ago, NASCAR was in Alabama for Talledega and the week following the Regions Traditions is the Senior PGA Championship. Therefore, there weren’t many options to fit it on the schedule. 

Also, Daly is still finding his groove after left hand surgery and playing against the world’s best likely won’t end well for him. 

“I got my (butt) handed to me last year,” he said. “Even though I had success at Bethpage (2019), you lose 10 yards, you might as well lose 100.”

Daly added that he’ll skip next year’s PGA at Aronimink but will return in 2027 at PGA Frisco in his home state of Texas. 

Nevertheless, after all Daly has endured health-wise (16 surgeries and bladder cancer), teeing it up anywhere and against anyone is a success in itself. 

“I’m like Lazarus—I keep coming back from the dead,” he said. “Waking up is a win for me.”