When Carson Daly isn’t bantering with his “Today” co-hosts on NBC, hosting “The Voice,” or juggling dad duties at home in New York, there’s a very good chance you’ll find him on a golf course.
That’s why the golf fanatic says he can think of no better Father’s Day gift in 2026 than attending the U.S. Open with his family. Daly shares four kids with his wife Siri Pinter — son Jackson, 17, and daughters Etta, 13, London, 11, and Goldie, 6.
Carson Daly’s Stepdad Encouraged His Pursuits as a Junior Golfer When He Used to Play With Tiger Woods
While attending the third round of the U.S. Open held at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, New York, Daly told NBC Sports, “Watching with my kids is so special” and noted that some of his favorite memories with his stepdad revolved around golf.
Daly’s dad, James “J.D.” Daly, died of bladder cancer when he was just five, per Today.com. When Daly’s mom remarried, he became very close with his stepfather, Richard Caruso, whom he and his sister Quinn called “Pops.”
“Golf was the thing that bonded us, our time together on the golf course,” he recalled, wearing a ballcap with “POPS” embroidered across the front. “I’ve been lucky enough to get that with Jackson and my girls, and so, yeah, this is like the ideal weekend for us dads.”
Daly’s experience enjoying golf with his “Pops” wasn’t just limited to watching tournaments, but also when Daly was a teen athlete, “playing very serious junior golf in Southern California,” NBC Sports’ Kira K. Dixon said during their interview. She noted that he even played alongside golf great Tiger Woods.
“Yeah, not many young kids, when we were teenagers, were dumb enough not to go to the beach and surf,” Daly quipped. “We were playing golf! Tiger’s a couple years younger than me, but we played in a bunch of events. And really, I think for Tiger and I — we’ve been friends for years. Our fathers — how special it was to play the game of golf with our dads, and our dads’ influences in our lives — was always kind of the common denominator between the two of us.”
“I think he did okay,” Daly joked of Woods’ golf career, “and I get to live vicariously through him. But it was a great place to grow up and play some golf.”
Carson Daly Says Attending the U.S. Open is All He Needs for Father’s Day
Though he grew up in Southern California, Daly has settled down with his family in Manhattan — just an hour away from Long Island, which he told NBC Sports is a “richly dense population of championship golf in America,” with many top-notch courses.
Spending the weekend at the U.S. Open with Jackson, he said, was all the gift he needed for Father’s Day, and that most dads would be content with just watching the event.
“Don’t worry about getting us the barbecue stuff or the golf balls,” he smiled while talking to NBC Sports. “We’re going to have this great championship on television (to) watch and enjoy with our families. And especially here. I mean, this is, arguably, where it should be maybe every year. What a spot.”
On Father’s Day 2018, a year after Caruso passed, Daly wrote on Instagram, “I miss them both deeply, but I’m so thankful that God blessed me with 2 incredible fathers. If I’m half the dad to my kids that they were to me, I’d take it.”
