PGA Tour great John Daly is the third former tournament winner to withdraw from the PGA Championship 2023.
This year’s edition of the PGA Championship kicks off on Thursday with Round 1 action. However, well before the tournament started, two former winners withdrew from the popular event. Both 2010 and 2016 PGA Championship winners, Martin Kaymer and Jason Dufner, have dropped out of the tournament being held at the Oak Hill Country Club in Pittsford, New York.
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Well, those two champions were joined by a third on the withdrawal list days before the event. On Monday morning, the PGA Championship Twitter account announced that 1991 champion John Daly will not compete this week and has been replaced by German player Stephan Jaeger.
Despite being 57 and well over a decade removed from his prime, John Daly has been a regular at the PGA Championship and has competed in eight of the last nine events. Unfortunately, he has not done well and has failed to make the cut in all of those appearances. His best finish in that time was being tied for 18th place in 2012.
PGA Championship 2023: May 18-21 at Oak Hill East Course in Pittsford, New York
At the end of 2022, Daly revealed that he planned to have a full knee replacement surgery after competing with his son John Daly II at the PNC Championship in December. He has dealt with several other health-related issues in recent years after having knee replacement surgery previously and also being diagnosed with bladder cancer two years ago.
Despite the serious surgery in December, the ’91 PGA Championship winner was actually back in action in March and was on the green last week at the Regions Tradition on the PGA Tour Champions.
John Daly has won 19 tournaments during his career, including the PGA Championship in 1991 and The Open Championship four years later 1995.