John Daly Jr. qualifies for U.S. Amateur at Hazeltine

John Daly Jr. is headed to Hazeltine.

Daly Jr. has qualified to compete in next month’s U.S. Amateur at Hazeltine, where his dad has competed in two PGA Championships. It comes just weeks after his Korn Ferry Tour debut in Oklahoma, continuing to gain experience as he eyes an eventual run at a professional career.

Daly Jr. carded 2-under 68 at Dallas’ Brook Hollow Golf Club and survived a 5-for-4 playoff to qualify for the U.S. Amateur at the famed Minnesota venue, which will host the U.S. Amateur for the second time (Richie Ramsay won the 2006 edition). The club has also hosted two U.S. Opens, two PGA Championships, two U.S. Women’s Opens and the 2016 Ryder Cup, among other marquee events.

Daly Jr. shook off a double bogey at the par-4 seventh Monday, his 16th hole of the day, with a closing birdie to earn his spot in the 5-for-4 playoff, where he took advantage. The younger Daly made his Korn Ferry Tour debut at last month’s Compliance Solutions Championship, and he missed the cut with rounds of 76-72 but relished the experience. He’ll have another chance on a big stage at the U.S. Amateur, set for Aug. 12-18. The event features 36 holes of stroke play (contested across Hazeltine National Golf Club and nearby Chaska Town Course) to determine the 64 players who qualify for the match-play bracket.

As a redshirt sophomore at Arkansas in 2023-24, Daly Jr. carded a 71.78 scoring average, including top-20 finishes at the season’s first six events. He also finished 12th at last month’s Florida Amateur.

He aspires to a career as a professional golfer, following in the footsteps of his dad, a longtime fan favorite on the PGA TOUR and now PGA TOUR Champions. Daly Jr. has learned plenty from his dad – “what to do and what not to do,” he quipped last month, and the elder Daly took to Instagram Monday evening to congratulate his son on the feat.

“I just like playing golf,” Daly Jr. said at the Compliance Solutions Championship. “I grew up around it, basically born into it. Played a lot of sports growing up, but I think golf was the one that I was always going to play.”

Next month, he’ll play it at the U.S. Amateur.