John Daly is skipping the PGA Championship at the Quail Hill Club in Charlotte, N.C., instead choosing to play in the PGA Tour Champions’ first major of the season.
Daly, 59, holds a lifetime exemption to the PGA Championship after winning the tournament in 1991 at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Ind. He took home $230,000 that day, the first of his five PGA Tour victories. He also won the 1995 Open Championship.
Daly entered the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky., last year. He withdrew due to a thumb injury before the second round after shooting an 11-over 82 in the opening round.
He is scheduled to open play May 15 at the Regions Traditions at Greystone Golf and Country Club in Birmingham, Ala., the first of five major championships on the Champions circuit, which is for players 50 and older.
The second major of the Champions season, the Senior PGA Championship, is set to begin the following week — May 22 — at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md.
Daly has one Champions win, that one coming at the 2017 Insperity Invitational.
–Field Level Media