John Daly, 58, shares gruesome photo of his swollen knee after withdrawing from The Open as 'disappointed' past champion claims he 'tried my heart out' to continue

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John Daly shared a gruesome photo of his swollen knee after withdrawing from the Open Championship at Royal Troon on Friday. 

After carding an 11-over-par 82 on Thursday, the 1995 St Andrews champion pulled out of the tournament citing a knee injury. 

On Friday, the 58-year-old shared a snaps of his injury on X while expressing disappointment over his premature exit from the competition. The images show a bump bulging out the side of Daly's right knee as he iced his bandaged leg. 

'Disappointed on missing out @TheOpen b/c of a knee injury. watching from afar isn't the same, but know I tried my heart out to get thru it,' Daly captioned. 

'Was at physio this morning and made the decision to ice & rest it! Thk u to all my fans and @RandA for a week @RoyalTroonGC #IliotbialBandSyndrome.' 

John Daly shared gruesome pictures of his knee injury after pulling out of The Open on Friday

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The 1991 PGA Championship victor was due to begin his second round at 1:37pm local time Aaron Rai and amateur Santiago de la Fuente.  

Besides Daly, Ernie Els also withdrew with a back injury. Meanwhile, Romain Langasque called it a tournament after seven holes in round one. 

The American has struggled with his knees in the past and regularly takes a cart during the PGA Championship and PGA Tour Champions events. Daly has also had surgery on both knees, including a left knee replacement in December 2022. 

'For me, I've had probably more surgeries probably than Tiger,' Daly said in 2022. 'They just keep adding up over the last five years. But I get this metal put in this knee, hell, I got more metal than the Bionic Man does.'

Daly recorded a 11-over-par 82 on Thursday and was set to start his second round at 1:37pm

Given his injury history, the 58-year-old occasionally uses a cart during PGA Tour events 

Daly's withdrawal comes as he has two Opens left before his exemption expires with his final appearance in golf's oldest major set to be at Royal Birkdale in 2026. 

Daly has not made the cut in The Open since Royal Lytham and St Annes in 2012, where he finished T18th. 

The veteran has played in 11 events on the PGA Tour Champions this year and had one top-25 finish. Although he won the PNC Championship with son John Daly II in 2021, his last solo win came in May 2017 at the Insperity Invitational.