It has been a while since John Daly was anything but a Technicolour sideshow in golf.
But as his 50th birthday approaches on April 28, and with it his Champions Tour debut, is a career revival in store?
Daly’s last victory of any note came in 2004, at the Buick Invitational, and he has had only seven top-10s in the past eight years.
The 11-time leader in the USPGA Tour’s driving-distance category has remained above average in length on the regular tour, which bodes well for him as he graduates to the shorter layouts on the senior circuit.
Daly (shown) is among the storylines to watch in 2016, as he and fellow two-time major winner José Maria Olazábal headline the Champions Tour’s incoming class that also includes Billy Mayfair, Jerry Kelly and Bob Estes.
Change is coming to the tour in another form, as well. The Champions Tour will inaugurate a three-tournament, season-ending playoff in October and November to determine the Charles Schwab Cup champion. The new PowerShares QQQ Championship at Sherwood Country Club outside Los Angeles will be the first playoff event, followed by the new Dominion Charity Classic in Richmond, and the Charles Schwab Cup Championship in Scottsdale.
A third new tournament, the American Family Insurance Championship in Madison, comes in June.
Wisconsin native Steve Stricker will host the event but won’t be eligible to play just yet; he doesn’t turn 50 until in February 2017.
