How Many Majors Did John Daly Win?
John Daly won two major championships: the 1991 PGA Championship and the 1995 Open Championship. Both came in dramatic fashion—one as a ninth alternate who drove ten hours overnight to the course, the other as a long-driving power display at the home of golf. No other major victory appears on his résumé.
What Counts as a Major in Men’s Golf
The standard definition of a major championship in professional men’s golf includes four events: the Masters, the PGA Championship, the U.S. Open, and the Open Championship (often called the British Open). Daly never won the Masters or the U.S. Open, so his total is two. No other tournament—including the Players Championship, World Golf Championships, or the FedEx Cup—qualifies as a major, even though those events carry their own prestige and strong fields. If you are comparing Daly’s career to other players based on major titles, keep the list to those four.
The Two Major Victories in Detail
1991 PGA Championship – The Improbable Alternate Story
Daly arrived at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Indiana, as the ninth alternate for the 1991 PGA Championship. After eight players withdrew, he got the call on Tuesday afternoon, drove ten hours from his home in Arkansas, and arrived without a practice round, a regular caddie, or any expectation of contending. He borrowed a local caddie (Jeff “Squeaky” Medlen) and teed off Thursday cold.
His power off the tee immediately stood out. With a persimmon driver and a balata ball, Daly averaged over 300 yards per drive—well above the field average of roughly 260 yards at the time. He overpowered the par-5s and attacked pins that other players could not reach. He shot rounds of 69-67-69-71 to finish at 12-under par, three shots clear of Bruce Lietzke. His final-round 69 included a crucial birdie on the par-5 17th, where he hit a 5-iron from 210 yards to 15 feet and two-putted. Daly became the first player to win a major as a last-minute alternate, and the victory remains one of golf’s greatest underdog stories.
1995 Open Championship – Dominance at St. Andrews
Four years later at the Old Course, Daly entered the final round with a two-shot lead. He closed with an even-par 71 to win by four strokes over Costantino Rocca. His driving was the story again: he routinely hit drives of 275 to 320 yards into a stiff wind, often outdriving playing partners by 40 yards or more. He used a metal driver and a 48-inch shaft—unusual length at the time—which allowed him to attack the Old Course’s wide fairways.
Daly led after the first, second, and third rounds. He shot 67-71-73-71 to finish at 6-under par. The most telling sequence came on the back nine Sunday: after Rocca briefly cut the lead to one, Daly stuffed a 9-iron on the Road Hole (17th) to 12 feet and made birdie, then drove the 18th green with a towering 3-wood and two-putted from 40 feet. He became the first American since Tony Lema (1964) to win the Claret Jug at St. Andrews.
John Daly’s Full Major Championship Record
Beyond his two wins, Daly posted only a handful of top-10 finishes in majors. His best results outside the victories are a tie for fifth at the 1993 Masters and a solo third at the 1993 PGA Championship. He never seriously contended in a major after 1995.
| Major | Best Finish | Year(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Masters | T‑5 | 1993 |
| U.S. Open | T‑12 | 2005 |
| The Open Championship | <strong>Win</strong> | 1995 |
| PGA Championship | <strong>Win</strong> | 1991; T‑3 in 1993 |
In total, Daly made the cut in 20 of his 56 major starts (35.7%). That put him well below the career cut rate of most multiple major winners. For comparison, Ben Crenshaw made 41 of 56 cuts (73.2%) and won two majors. Daly’s inconsistency in majors underscores the volatility of his career.
Total PGA Tour Wins and Other Significant Titles
Daly’s two majors are the crown jewels of his five PGA Tour victories. The other three came at the 1992 B.C. Open, the 1994 BellSouth Classic, and the 2004 Buick Invitational. He also won the 1990 Missouri Open as a professional, the 1994 European Tour’s Dubai Desert Classic, the 2001 BMW Asian Open, and several unofficial events. His career PGA Tour earnings exceed $10.2 million, and he earned roughly $4 million more on the European and Champions Tours combined.
By comparison, many one-major winners have eight to twelve PGA Tour wins. Crenshaw had 19 tour wins. Daly’s five tour wins place him behind dozens of players who have only one major. That gap shows that his major wins were peaks in an otherwise inconsistent career.
Practical Takeaway for Fans
When you evaluate John Daly’s place in golf history, the two major wins are the defining number. They put him in a small group of players who have won both the PGA Championship and the Open Championship. But those two wins do not reflect consistent dominance: Daly missed the cut in 36 of his 56 major starts, and his career includes long stretches of missed cuts, withdrawals, and off-course struggles. If you are comparing him to other two-major winners, look at the full record. Daly’s two majors came in a four-year window; after 1995 he never finished inside the top 15 in a major again.
What the Two Majors Mean for Daly’s Legacy
Two majors place Daly among more than 170 men who have won at least two of golf’s biggest events. The way he won—as a last-minute alternate and as a power player at the game’s most historic course—made him a fan favorite and a permanent part of golf lore. His raw distance changed how the game was played, and his everyman appeal transcended the sport. For most players, two majors would define a great career; for Daly, they defined an unforgettable, if mercurial, one.
His 1991 PGA Championship altered the game: within a year, equipment manufacturers began designing drivers with larger heads and longer shafts to help average golfers hit it farther. His 1995 Open Championship showed that power could win on a links course traditionally thought to favor precision. Both victories remain two of the most celebrated underdog triumphs in golf history. They are proof that raw talent, when combined with the right moment, can overcome long odds—even if the consistency never followed.
Michael Reeves is a PGA Professional with over 20 years of experience in competitive golf and instruction. A former Division I collegiate player at the University of Texas, he competed on the mini-tours before transitioning to full-time coaching and golf journalism. He has been a certified PGA teaching professional since 2005 and has worked with players at every level, from absolute beginners to collegiate champions.
His writing has appeared in Golf Digest, Golf Magazine, and The Left Rough. At GolfHubz, Michael leads the editorial team, overseeing fact-checking and ensuring every answer meets the same standard he demands on the lesson tee: clear, evidence-based, and immediately useful.
When he’s not writing or teaching, Michael plays to a +1.4 handicap at his home club in Austin, Texas. He has attended over 40 major championships as a journalist and fan, and has played more than 200 courses across 15 countries.
You can reach Michael at [email protected] or follow his occasional swing analysis posts on the site.