How’d John Daly make 19? Epic blow-up hole adds to career list

Everything worth doing, the saying goes, is worth overdoing.

That may not be universally accepted as life philosophy, of course. But when it comes to John Daly, moderation has never really been his thing. And so you could look at the 19 he recorded on Friday at the Sanford International and consider it an embarrassment — or you could consider it a nod to history, the latest chapter in one of golf’s most recognizable over-doers.

Daly’s 19 came on the 12th hole at Minnehaha Country Club in Sioux Falls, S.D. It was originally and understandably recorded as a 17 before a revision to 19, a score that apparently included seven penalty drops and a Tin Cup-like insistence on hitting the same shot into the water again, and again, and again. The final tally, our internet sources tell us, is a “quattuordecuple bogey,” 14 over par on one hole, taking him from 4 over to 18 over, where he’d finish the round.

How’d he make 19? We unfortunately don’t have a replay of the drama but we do have the PGA Tour app, which shows Daly found the rough with his tee shot. Here’s what happened next:

Shot 2: From primary rough
Shot 3: Penalty
Shot 4: From primary rough
Shot 5: Penalty
Shot 6: From primary rough
Shot 7: Penalty
Shot 8: From primary rough
Shot 9: Penalty
Shot 10: From primary rough
Shot 11: Penalty
Shot 12: From primary rough
Shot 13: Penalty
Shot 14: From primary rough
Shot 15: Penalty
Shot 16: From primary rough
Shot 17: From primary rough
Shot 18: From intermediate rough
Shot 19: From green, in the hole

In other words, it was a heck of an up-and-down.

We can, of course, make some guesses. No. 12 at Minnehaha is known to members as the “Cliff Hole” because of its dramatic tee-box views. The par-5 doglegs drops to the fairway and then doglegs left; a body of water runs up the left side and then cuts across the hole, creating a forced carry to the green. It feels like a safe bet that that’s where the drama unfolded.

It was the highest recorded score in PGA Tour Champions history. It was also the highest in Daly’s recorded career — but not by much. Per our research, Daly had already recorded scores of 10 or more at least 15 times across PGA Tour events and majors, including three 11s, two 12s, a 13, a 14 and an 18.

A few notable counting moments from Daly’s colorful career:

13 at John Deere

An SB Nation article from 2011 describes a tee shot wide right on No. 4 at TPC Deere Run follow by “a couple whacks at the ball, advancing it just a few feet each time.” Multiple unplayable lies followed, he finally found a spot where he could advance the ball, he hit it in the bunker, hit it out and two-putted. Lucky 13.

11 at the U.S. Open

Daly hit a moving ball as part of a septuple-bogey 11 on Pinehurst’s par-4 8th and declared it his last U.S. Open. His take at the time:

“The U.S. Open is not John Daly’s style of golf. I’m not going to Pebble Beach (where the U.S. Open will be held) next year and watch the USGA ruin that golf course, too,” he said. “It’s not worth it. This is my last U.S. Open — ever. I’ve had it with the USGA and the way they run their tournaments. The USGA loves to embarrass guys who play in their tournaments.”

In reality, Daly returned at the following year’s U.S. Open, where…

14 at the U.S. Open

Remember when Tiger Woods won the 2000 U.S. Open by 15 shots? There was also a memorable 14 that week — from Daly, who hit his tee shot at the iconic 18th O.B. right, hit two more tee shots into the Pacific Ocean on the left and ultimately found the ocean on an approach shot, too, en route to nonuple bogey.

18 at Bay Hill

You know No. 6 at Bay Hill; it’s the par-5 that runs around the lake and it’s where Bryson DeChambeau sent driver over nearly the entire dogleg, sending the crowd into a frenzy. But back in 1998 the big-bombing Daly tried driving the green. He came up short, dropped slightly closer, tried with 3-wood, came up short, and then … kept trying.

“At that point there was no way I could stop,” he said.