John Daly II celebrates PGA Tour debut in style: ‘Going to the beach’

While Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy are duking it out for $4 million at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, another PGA Tour event is going down this week. And that tournament features a major storyline of its own: John Daly II’s PGA Tour debut.

The 22-year-old son of golf legend John Daly played the first Tour round of his career on Thursday at the 2026 Puerto Rico Open.

Daly got off to a great start on Day 1. But unlike many of his pro golf peers, who often work out and hit balls after playing on Tour, Daly the younger had a very different plan for his post-round routine, as he shared Thursday evening.

John Daly II shines in Tour debut at Puerto Rico Open… then shares unique post-round routine

While he’s still an amateur and starring as a senior on the University of Arkansas golf team, Daly is no stranger to golf fans.

He regularly tees it up alongside his dad at the PNC Championship. The Daly men even won the 2021 PNC, topping runners-up Tiger and Charlie Woods.

And while his current amateur ranking is 54th, Daly has shown flashes of greatness outside of the PNC. At the 2025 U.S. Amateur at the Olympic Club, Daly reached the quarterfinals.

But this week at the Puerto Rico Open, he’s competing with Tour pros in an official event for the first time. Considering all of that, Thursday’s opening round couldn’t have gone much better.

Daly shot a two-under 70 in Round 1 at Grand Reserve Golf Club. The soon-to-be pro sounded like a veteran when discussing his play in a brief on-camera interview following his round.

“It was good. Got off to a good start, made a nice birdie on 1. Solid up-and-down on 2, made about a 20-footer for par, which is nice, settled me in,” Daly said. “And then just hit some good shots. Feel like I left a few out there, but I made it up with just a couple good saves and nice chip-in on 16.”

Daly even sounded a little like his famous dad when talking about his playing partner Neal Shipley.

“It was fun. I love Neal, it was awesome. First time meeting him yesterday. He’s a good dude and I enjoyed playing with him a lot,” Daly said.

Another similarity between Daly II and Daly I? Neither are afraid to do things their own way. Daly II proved that with his closing remarks Thursday evening.

When asked what he planned to work on after his round to keep his positive momentum going, Daly II admitted that instead of practicing or lifting, he was going to take advantage of one of Puerto Rico’s greatest resources: the beach.

“I would say I’d go hit balls, but I’m a little tired, so I’m just probably going to go to the beach and probably do absolutely nothing for the rest of the day,” Daly II said with a laugh.