PGA Tour
He joined the PGA Tour in 1991, showed increasingly strong play throughout the year, and then won the PGA Championship that August. This victory gained Daly a significant amount of media attention, due to the fact that Daly was the ninth and final alternate for the Championship. Just days before the tournament Nick Price dropped out, since his wife Sue was about to give birth. Daly, playing just his third major, was able to have Price's caddie Jeff (Squeaky) Medlin caddy for him. Daly had to drive through the night to arrive in time to claim his spot. A virtual unknown at the time, he achieved a first-round score of 69, even though he had not had time to play a practice round at the exceptionally difficult Crooked Stick Golf Club course near Indianapolis. He finished the tournament with scores of 69-67-69-71, giving him a three-stroke victory over veteran Bruce Lietzke, who was 15 years older. His feat generated enormous media coverage, propelling the hitherto virtually unknown Tour rookie to international fame.
Late in the season, Daly finished 3rd place at the 1991 Tour Championship. He then became the first PGA Tour rookie to be invited to compete in the Skins Game, a made-for-television event featuring four top players, and he performed well there finishing 2nd.
Daly was subsequently named PGA Tour Rookie of the Year for 1991. He was also the first rookie to win a major title since Jerry Pate won the U.S. Open in 1976.
His surprise victory and powerful swing provided the impetus for a cult-like fan base, composed of many people who had not been previously attracted to golf, and from that point onwards, Daly became one of the most popular players on Tour. He added to his reputation as a power hitter in 1993 by becoming, apparently, the first (and still the only) player to reach the green of the famous 630-yard hole 17 at Baltusrol Golf Club's Lower Course in two strokes.
Under pressure from his zero-to-hero victory at the 1991 PGA Championship, Daly started the 1992 season with several top 10 finishes, including finishing 5th at The International, T-2 at the Kemper Open, and T-8 at the Buick Southern Open and the Nissan Los Angeles Open. At the 1992 PGA Championship, Daly struggled as the defending champion. He finished the tournament with rounds of 76-72-79-77 and, finishing in 82nd place. However, he recovered to win the B.C. Open by six strokes late in the season for his second PGA Tour title.
Daly's 1993 season was his least successful since joining the PGA Tour. He notably finished T-3 at the Masters Tournament and for his only top-10 finish in a major championship outside his two wins. Although he had no PGA Tour wins in 1993, Daly did win the Alfred Dunhill Cup with Fred Couples and Payne Stewart. He finished the season with five top-25 finishes and one top-10 finish out of 15 cuts.
In 1994, Daly experienced one of his most turbulent years. He was suspended by the PGA Tour from late 1993 into early 1994 due to behavior which included walking off the course mid-round during the 1993 late-season Kapalua International, a mid-1993 incident at the Kemper Open that saw him disqualified for throwing his scorecard at the scoring tent after shooting 77, and an incident at the 1993 Southern Open where Daly walked off the course without telling his partners he was quitting. He entered alcohol rehab for three weeks in late 1993 before returning to the Tour to win the 1994 BellSouth Classic. This was his third PGA Tour title, which he claimed to be his first sober win.
In 1995, in the midst of a middling season, Daly unexpectedly won The Open Championship in a playoff with Italy's Costantino Rocca at the Old Course at St Andrews. Daly had prior excellent results on this course at the Dunhill Cup, and although he was listed at very long odds by bookmakers, some perceptive golf watchers, including David Feherty, believed before the event that the Old Course suited Daly's game well. Daly was in contention from the start of the event, but trailed New Zealand's Michael Campbell heading into a very windy final round. Campbell fell back in the difficult conditions, and Daly played a superb final round. As Rocca, in the last group, approached the final hole, he was one shot behind Daly, who had already finished his round. Rocca's long drive was only yards from the green, but his second shot resulted in a fluffed chip. Rocca then sank a 60-foot (18 metre) putt to make the birdie he needed to force a playoff with Daly. Daly easily defeated Rocca in the playoff, finishing the four holes of the playoff at one under par, while Rocca finished three over par after hitting into the "Road Hole Bunker" on the 17th hole, and taking three shots to get out.
Daly is the only eligible two-time major winner never selected to play in the Ryder Cup.
