John Daly’s struggles continued as the two-time major winner finished dead last at the Insperity Invitational, ending the week 27-over-par at The Woodlands Country Club
Joshua Lees Senior Golf Writer
16:37, 06 May 2025Updated 19:20, 06 May 2025
John Daly’s struggles were on full display at the Champions Tour’s Insperity Invitational(Image: Getty Images)
John Daly had a tournament to forget at the Champions Tour’s Insperity Invitational, finishing in last place with a score of 27-over-par.
Returning to the $3 million event as its 2017 champion, Daly’s week was less than stellar. His struggle began with a 79 on the first day and worsened over the weekend, where he couldn’t manage to break 80. The former Open winner suffered through his final round with five bogeys, a double bogey, and a quadruple bogey eight on the par-four seventh, shooting an 83 followed by an 81.
Daly has been battling injury woes, evidenced as far back as January when he shocked fans with a hospital bed photo on social media. He captioned it with news of undergoing emergency hand surgery – the same issue world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler faced during Christmas.
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Daly assured followers then, “Emergency hand surgery… thankful went great and Doc McClimans for taking care of me. Be back playing in no time!”
Like Scheffler, Daly had to sit out the early part of the 2025 season before he could stage a comeback in March. The two-time major winner revealed his plans to re-enter the fray at the Hoag Classic, even though he confessed his hand hadn’t fully healed.
“It’s good to be back. It’s been a little brutal, but the hand’s about 80 percent. So figured I’d come here. I love playing in the Hoag Classic. Every year, the guys are so great. So we’ll see what happens.”
Since that announcement, Daly has competed four times, yet his performance last week was particularly challenging.
Daly finished last with a score of 27-over-par(Image: Getty Images)
Ending up 27-over after three rounds, Daly was 11 shots adrift of the next player up, Corey Pavin, and an astonishing 38 shots behind the champion Stewart Cink, who clinched the title following a playoff with Retief Goosen.
Reflecting on his return at the Hoag Classic in March, Daly opened up about the ordeal with his hand. “[The doctor] doesn’t understand how I played last year,” he said.
“But he put it back, attached it to the forefinger or something. 16 surgeries in four years, I’ve lost count pretty much.”
