John Daly II following father's footsteps at Arkansas ahead of PNC Championship

John Daly II was on brand with his first response to a reporter this week who was interviewing him about his upcoming appearance with his long-bearded father at the PNC Challenge in Orlando on Dec. 18 and 19.

“Hobbies away from golf? Well, I would say the gym, but you know how the Dalys are with the gym,” JDII cracked.

Obviously the apple fell with proximity to the tree. John Daly II, 18, is in his first season on the golf team at his father’s alma mater, the University of Arkansas. The Razorbacks field one of the best teams in the nation, and as such the freshman has played in only one event. The lineup in Fayetteville usually isn’t cracked by underclassmen, and despite his obvious prodigious talent, JDII knew coming in it would take time.

“I’ve always wanted to be on the TOUR,” JDII said. “I’ve been around it for so long. And to get there the next step is making it from junior golf to college golf. Hopefully that goes well and I can reach the professional level.

“Right now I’m just learning what I can and experiencing playing tournaments with stronger fields. It’s tough just to get into tournaments at this level.”

The Dalys will be making their sixth consecutive appearance in the PNC Championship. “Big John,” 55, a two-time major champion and member of PGA TOUR Champions, and his son tied for second in 2018 and were fifth in 2019 before dropping to eighth last year.

“It’s definitely my favorite tournament of the year,” JDII said. “It’s fun to be with family around the holidays and meet everybody and have fun with them.

“We’d both get a kick out of winning. The first years I was a bit younger, but from 2018 to now we’ve been up there. We always hit it great. It’s just making more putts, more of those 7- to 10-footers.”

Big John loves the PNC. Any time he can spend with his son on the golf course is time well spent.

“I just love playing with my boy, and he’s been working so hard on his game,” the proud father said. “It’s a fun event and they set it up to where really every team has a chance to win.”

JDII said the best part of his game is his short game.

“It’s just because I practice it the most,” said Daly, who had an outstanding career as a junior golfer before signing with the Hogs. “Watching the TOUR it always comes down to how you can chip it and putt it during the week.”

He said his earliest memories of golf are of having chipping and putting contests with his dad, whom he noted is pretty good with his hands. Indeed it’s probably fair to say that “Long” John is underrated for his talent and imagination around the greens. It was easy to overlook earlier in his career because of his “Grip It and Rip It” philosophy off the tee.

JDII says he has gotten the better of his father in their most recent matches, which he says gets under his old man’s skin. He wasn’t sure if dad would admit his recent L’s.

“Yeah, he has beaten me recently and I do get pissed off about it, but not nearly as pissed off as he gets when I beat him,” the elder Daly joked.

“I wouldn’t say I’m as long as he was in college, but I’m trying to get there,” the son said. “I’m just average off the tee, nothing crazy. I can max one at like 310, but I don’t really ever try to hit it that hard. Coming to Arkansas, watching these guys who are a bit older than me, they hit these perfect, consistent drives down the middle. So distance really doesn’t matter that much.”

That’s not exactly on brand for a Daly. But if anything it shows a young man who is maturing, in golf and life.