Daugherty became a PBA member in 2001, and started bowling regularly on the
PBA Tour in the 2003–04 season. After three seasons of little success as a full-time Tour bowler, he returned to bowling mostly in
PBA Regional Tour events for the next six seasons.
The 100 game By way of his Regional Tour titles, Daugherty made the initial "Champions" field for the 2011 PBA Tournament of Champions. He fought his way into the "Elite" field and made the January 22 televised finals as the #2 seed, where he faced #3 seed
Mika Koivuniemi in the semifinal match. Daugherty wound up on the wrong end of PBA history that day, rolling seven
splits en route to a record-low 100 score. (The previous low score in a televised PBA Tour event was 129, shot by
Steve Jaros in 1992.) With Koivuniemi narrowly missing perfection and bowling a 299 in the same match, Daugherty also became part of the most lopsided match in PBA history (–199 pins). Despite the embarrassment, Daugherty ran around and high-fived the crowd after knocking down the two pins he needed to reach the 100 mark. He cashed $50,000 for his third-place finish, joking after the match, "I made 500 dollars a pin!"
Success in 2012 Daugherty returned to full-time touring status in the 2012–13 PBA season. He finally found success, winning his first national PBA Tour title on November 11, 2012, at the PBA
Bowlers Journal Scorpion Championship, which was part of that season's
World Series of Bowling in
Las Vegas. He defeated
Finland's
Osku Palermaa in the final match. In his post-match interview, Daugherty stated, "Now I'm not just the guy who bowled a 100 game. I'm the guy who bowled a 100 game and also has a PBA title."
2013–2020 highlights Daugherty finished third at the 2015 PBA Players Championship, his best finish in a major since 2011. He was also a member of the Bass Pro Shops Silver Lake Atom Splitters team, which won the 2015 PBA League Elias Cup team title. Daugherty made the TV finals for the 2016 PBA Tournament of Champions and the 2016
USBC Masters, but could not complete the quest for a title in either of these major events. He would win his second PBA Tour title on September 10, 2016, at the PBA Wolf Open in
Allen Park, Michigan. Daugherty was again a member of the Silver Lake Atom Splitters team, which won the PBA League title in
2018. While he didn't win a title in 2019, Daugherty made a career-high 13 match play rounds and cashed a then-career high $75,890 in PBA earnings. Four days later, Daugherty won his fourth PBA Tour title in the final event of the World Series. Hours after breaking the hearts of bowling fans by eliminating legends
Pete Weber and
Walter Ray Williams Jr. from match play, Daugherty topped
Kyle Troup in the final match, 266–254, to capture his second career PBA Scorpion Championship. Daugherty and partner BJ Moore also finished second in another World Series of Bowling event, the
Roth-
Holman PBA Doubles Championship. Over the five-event 2021 World Series of Bowling, Daugherty claimed $139,750 in earnings, easily topping what he had earned in any previous full season of his career. Based on points earned over the first nine events of the 2021 PBA season, Daugherty qualified as the #3 seed for the 2021
PBA Tour Playoffs. After topping Jason Sterner in the Round of 16, Tom was upset in the Round of 8 by #11 seed Sam Cooley. He would finish the 2021 season third in Tour points and third in earnings ($197,400). On July 10, 2021, Daugherty was awarded an
ESPY for Best Bowler.
PBA50 Tour After turning 50 in February 2025, Daugherty joined the PBA50 Tour, while continuing to participate on the standard tour. He won his first PBA50 Tour title on June 8, 2025, at the
USBC Senior Masters. As the top seed, he defeated PBA Hall of Famer
Parker Bohn III in the championship match, 233–185. Following the 2025 season, Daugherty was named PBA50 Rookie of the Year.
Other career highlights Daugherty won the inaugural PBA LBC Champions Clash on September 28, 2023, in
Portland, Maine. This was a special non-title event featuring 12 bowlers, a mix of male-female and amateur-professional, who were part of the PBA's League Bowler Certification (LBC) program and qualified during their division championships. It aired October 1 on
Fox Sports 1. Daugherty topped
PWBA star
Danielle McEwan with a strike in the tenth and final round. In the elimination event, Daugherty struck on 10 of 12 shots, including all of his last five shots and two in roll-off rounds. He won $60,000 and The Duke trophy, named after PBA Hall of Famer
Norm Duke.
PBA Tour titles Major championships are in
bold text. • 2012 PBA
Bowlers Journal Scorpion Championship (
Las Vegas,
Nevada) • 2016 PBA Wolf Open (
Allen Park, Michigan) •
2021 PBA Guaranteed Rate World Championship (
Tampa, Florida) • 2021 PBA Scorpion Championship (Tampa, Florida)
PBA50 Tour titles Major championships are in
bold text. •
2025 USBC Senior Masters (Las Vegas, Nevada)
Non-title wins • 2015 PBA League champion (w/Silver Lake Atom Splitters team) • 2018 PBA League champion (w/Silver Lake Atom Splitters team) • 2023 PBA LBC National Champions Clash ==International competition==