John Daly had just started his round in the 2026 Insperity Open, had just completed his third hole, and was sitting at 2-over par. Unfortunately, that is when he decided to pack his kit and call it quits at The Woodlands Country Club. The reasons for it could be plenty.

Maybe he could have sustained an injury, but nothing was clarified on camera, or maybe he was already sick. Or it could have been an old injury flaring up again. Last year, in January, he had to undergo an emergency hand surgery in Tampa. It was his 16th surgery in four years. His recovery was brutal, but he returned to competition by March 2025. Daly’s withdrawal from the Insperity Invitational stings a bit more as he had his lone PGA Tour Champions win here in 2017.

The Insperity Invitational was his fifth start of the season. He missed the cut at the Senior PGA Championship and finished 71st at the Regions Tradition. His best finish this season is a T-21 at the Hoag Classic.

It’s not odd for the major winner to withdraw from Champions Tour events early as well. Last year, while playing the Regions Tradition, Daly called it quits after just seven holes. However, his reasoning back then might have been far different from what it might be today, but his score remained the same in both situations. After scoring two birdies followed by two double bogeys, he sat at 2 over par in seven holes. That may have caused him to quit.

Many of John Daly’s withdrawals have come out of anger, some out of frustration from poor performances, and on rare occasions, there have been no explanations. Below are few of his infamous exits.

John Daly’s history of withdrawals

In the 1998 FedEx St. Jude Classic, Daly famously withdrew from the event but didn’t sign off on his scorecard. Hence, he instead faced a disqualification. Then, during the 2008 Australian PGA Championship, Long John faced another disqualification after he threw his putter and ball into the water for disqualification.

He had also directed verbal abuse towards a tournament official. Lastly, during the 2015 Senior PGA Championship, a poor start and a dispute over a golf cart led to his withdrawal from the major. At the 2011 Australian Open, he lost his cool for hitting the wrong ball. So he lashed out by hitting many golf balls into the water before walking out.

So if Daly doesn’t end up giving a reason why he quit the $3 million PGA Tour Champions event, the 2026 Insperity Open, then it shouldn’t come as a surprise.