John Daly’s career has featured a litany of surprises, but none more audacious than the first: his win at the 1991 PGA Championship. Forget that Daly, a rookie, had missed 11 cuts in 23 starts preceding that week at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Ind. The real shocker was his getting into the tournament at all, the result of a domino chain of withdrawals that ranged from excusable to extraordinary and that introduced Ken Anderson, the PGA’s czar of the alternates list, to a new kid on the Tour block: 9th alternate John Daly.
Read more:John Daly.com
You don’t have to believe what happened at Crooked Stick last week. You can accept as fiction the news that an unknown Arkansas pro named John Daly bludgeoned a golf course into submission on his way to a three-shot victory in the 1991 PGA Championship. You can roll your eyes when you hear eyewitnesses swear that the 25-year-old Tour rookie is golf’s next superstar, and never mind that he never won a tournament in three years at the University of Arkansas or that his 300-plus-yard drives rarely found the fairways until last week.
Read more: Golf.com
That Price would withdraw was in itself fortunate, but to see the list of the eight other players who opted out of their places suggests that fate was also playing a hand. Two players withdrew through injury, while Mark James stayed at home to try and qualify for Europe’s Ryder Cup team and Lee Trevino stayed away due to exhaustion. Brad Faxon, meanwhile, was already qualified for the event – meaning his spot for winning the preceding Buick Open could also go elsewhere.
Price’s family issues, however, were the last to arise. But, unbelievably, his spot was the hardest to fill. Sixth alternate Bill Sander turned down the place due to tiredness, while Mark Lye refused to play without having had a practice round at the 7,289-yard layout first. Brad Bryant then also declined the invitation at the last minute, as he had some personal family issues to attend to in Texas.
That left Daly – who was happy to play despite having to drive halfway across the country the night before, to play on a course he’d never seen before. The only saving grace was that he had a bit of time to recuperate.
Read more: ESPN