John Daly II on the DP World Tour: a start that says more than his name

Seeing John Daly II on a start list inevitably brings his father to mind first. The name, the PNC Championship and years of images of father and son together have made sure of that. When the 23-year-old American appeared on the DP World Tour for the first time in August, the most interesting question was therefore not whether he resembled John Daly. It was whether his own game would hold up once he stood among the professionals on his own.

The first answer was convincing enough. Daly II made the cut at the Nexo Championship in Scotland and finished tied 30th. A week later, he missed the cut at the Omega European Masters by one shot. Two starts are too few for sweeping conclusions, but they are enough to dismiss one misconception: this is not just a famous surname playing on an invitation.

Four rounds on the Scottish links

The DP World Tour announced Daly II as one of the invitations for the Nexo Championship at Trump International Golf Links near Aberdeen. It was his tour debut, less than ten weeks after he had turned professional.

The conditions did not offer a gentle introduction. On a windy links course, he opened with a level-par 72. Three birdies were partly cancelled out by a bogey and a double bogey. The tour summed up his first day as a round in which he held his own, just outside the top 20.

A second-round 77 left him right on the line, but he made the cut. His best golf followed. Rounds of 70 and 69 over the weekend took him to 288, level par and tied 30th. He earned a little over €20,000.

The result was not spectacular, and that was precisely why it mattered. Daly II did not need a run of unlikely putts or a Sunday charge to make an impression. He survived a difficult Friday and played his final 36 holes in five under par. For a young professional competing on an invitation, that is a far more useful calling card than one low round followed by a missed cut.

From the Scottish coast to Crans-Montana

His performance immediately earned him a second opportunity in Europe. The organisers of the Omega European Masters invited him to Crans-sur-Sierre, eight years after John Daly had played there himself.

The change in setting could hardly have been greater. Daly II went from heavy sea air, dunes and wind to a short mountain course at altitude, where distances play differently and low scores are required. He opened with a 69 and stayed close to the cut line. A 73 on Friday took him to two over par, one shot outside the weekend.

The result was less impressive than the one in Scotland, but it was no cause for concern. Across his first six rounds on the DP World Tour, Daly II broke par three times and shot level par once. More importantly, he showed that he could adapt quickly to two very different sets of European conditions.

A career that began long before Europe

The attention around Daly II naturally started much earlier. He won the 2021 PNC Championship with his father, with Tiger and Charlie Woods finishing second. That family event introduced him to a wide audience, but his own record was built mainly at the University of Arkansas, where his father also played.

Daly II spent five seasons with the Razorbacks, including a redshirt year. He won two college tournaments and completed his career with a 71.97 scoring average, the sixth best in programme history. His biggest amateur victory came in 2025. At The Blessings, he won the Southern Amateur by five shots. A month later, he reached the quarter-finals of the US Amateur at Olympic Club.

He had already shown himself against professionals as well. As an amateur, he finished tied 37th at the PGA Tour's Puerto Rico Open in March. He even began the final round in eighth place before slipping back with a 74. He turned professional in June. At his first start as a professional, the OccuNet Classic on the Korn Ferry Tour, he followed an opening 74 with a 64. He made the cut and finished tied 55th.

The pattern is striking: his best moments often follow a difficult start to a round or week. It happened in Amarillo after that 74, and again in Scotland after his 77 on Friday. For a player at the beginning of his career, that says at least as much as an isolated low score.

Not his father's game

The comparison with John Daly will never disappear. The name and the history are too significant. His father won the 1991 PGA Championship and The Open in 1995, and became one of the most recognisable players of his generation through his length off the tee and uncompromising style.

Daly II describes himself differently. Before his first Korn Ferry Tour start, he told the PGA Tour that his father plays more aggressively. He called his own approach safer and even a little boring. That sounds almost like the opposite of the family reputation, but it fits what he showed in Europe. His first success did not come from attacking recklessly. It came from staying patient enough after a difficult round to fight back over the weekend.

At the US Amateur, he put it even more simply. Asked how his game compared with his father's, he replied that John has two majors and he does not. He was only trying to become the best version of himself.

No tour card yet, but an encouraging start

It is important not to overstate Daly II's status. He is not a DP World Tour member and both of his starts came through invitations. A tied 30th place brings experience, prize money and attention, but it does not provide a permanent place on the tour.

Those weeks nevertheless broadened his possibilities. Daly II showed that his game works beyond American college golf and family events alongside his father. He made the cut in his first DP World Tour start on a demanding links course and missed by only one shot in his second.

That is not a breakthrough yet. It is a credible beginning. John Daly II's next step is not to prove that he carries a famous name. Everyone already knows that. He needs to show that he can earn enough starts to keep his own name on leaderboards.

Photo: Andrew Wevers, via Golf Digest. Cropped for editorial use.