Only a few days ago, John Daly had dropped out of the 2025 PGA Championship. That surprised the fans as they were expecting Long John to have another go at the major this year. However, he had instead chosen to join the field for the major event of the PGA Tour Champions. Daly was on the field at Greystone Golf & Country Club for the 2025 Regions Tradition, an important event in the Senior Tour calendar.

At first, it seemed like a move of preference. Playing a field of 50-and-over gave the Wild Thing a better shot at winning the title. Maybe the narrow fairways of Quail Hollow were too challenging for him. After all, the 59-year-old was also struggling to perform at the Seniors Tour. So, going up against the best golfers in the world would have been a little too overwhelming for him. Now, without giving any clarification, Daly has withdrawn from the 2025 Regions Tradition.

This comes as a huge surprise to the fans. Especially those who were at the Greystone Founders Course. Turns out, John Daly was on the course a day before leading up to the tournament. In fact, he was also being a showman that he is by entertaining the fans with some music. A video of the entire episode was shared by the official Instagram account of the Regions Tradition. So, for him to withdraw from the tournament would have been shocking for everyone who came back for the first round.

It was not that Daly had not teed off at the Champions Tour major. He ended up playing seven holes in Hoover, Alabama. Starting off strong, he made two consecutive birdies before scoring a double bogey on the third hole. The breaking point would have been another double bogey at the 7th, which saw him go 2 over par. Whether it was related to fitness concerns or just living up to the statement he made regarding the Quail Hollow event as well, “I can go (to the PGA Championship) and miss the cut and get $6,000,” John Daly decided to skip the remaining tournament.

This is not even the first time he has done that recently. The eccentric golfer has done the same in a few other tournaments over the past few months as well.

John Daly’s continued struggles with fitness

John Daly has been suffering from fitness issues for the past few months. The 1991 PGA Championship had previously advised Tiger Woods against joining the Champions Tour back in March 2025. His reason? “My back gets all bad,” something that Woods has also had a lot of trouble with over the past few years. That could be one of the reasons he decided to withdraw from the Champions Tour major as well.

Out of the nine PGA Tour Champions events before the Regions Memorial, John Daly has only played in four of them. Back in January 2025, Long John had undergone hand surgery and was recovering for the next couple of months. That meant that he couldn’t appear in the tournaments played in the first quarter of 2025. Daly only returned to action towards the end of March as he played in the 2025 Hoag Classic. By then, he had already skipped four Champions Tour events.

The 59-year-old did play three consecutive events in the next couple of weeks, including The Galleri Classic and the James Hardie Pro Football Hall of Fame Invitational, before deciding to skip the Mitsubishi Electric Classic in late April. Just before the Regions Tradition, John Daly had also played in the Insperity Invitational. Maybe the hectic schedule finally got to him, and he had to quit the Alabama field a few hours ago to avoid any other fitness concerns.