When John Daly won his first professional golfing tournament in 13 years on Sunday at the Insperity Invitational, he soaked in ever second of the sweet victory. After clinching the win, he was doused in champagne with the help of fiancee Anna Cladakis and other friends on the golf course.
Daly, who is known for his eccentric style choices and eccentric personality, hadn’t won a professional golf tournament since winning the Buick Invitational in 2004. Despite his lack of recent wins, the 1995 Open Championship winner was invited the PGA Tour Champions in 2016. Sunday’s win at the Insperity Invitational was his first win on the tour.
“It wasn’t pretty at the end. But I got it done and that’s all that matters,” Daly told the Associated Press, referring to his three-straight closing bogeys. In the end, he shot a 3-under 69 on Sunday, finishing at 14-under 202. He won $322,500, finishing ahead of Tommy Armour III and Kenny Perry at the tournament in The Woodlands, Texas.
Daly’s victory, which came while he was wearing American flag pants, earned the attention of President Donald Trump. He congratulated Daly on Twitter Monday morning. “Congratulations to @PGA_JohnDaly on his big win yesterday. John is a great guy who never gave up – and now a winner again,” Trump wrote.
“Now I can say I’m a champion on the Champions Tour, which is really cool,” Daly said. “Hopefully, I can keep this confidence going.”
“I look at these guys, a lot of these guys ‑‑ we’re all friends out here,” Daly told PGATour.com. “We’re big competitors, but we like to have a good time. I look at this Tour kind of an older European Tour. The guys do that in Europe as well. I’ve got a lot of great friends out here. We’ve played a lot of golf over the years together, and we love hanging out and playing golf.”
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WATCH: John Daly’s Champagne Bath After Winning His First Pro Tournament in 13 Years