FanHouse Ty Votaw

It was reported earlier this month that the business of professional golf is slumping. Spending by North American companies on golf sponsorships is projected to drop 3.7 percent this year.

A study conducted by IEG, an arm of advertising giant WPP Pic, speculates U.S. and Canadian-based companies will spend $1.31 billion in 2009, down from $1.36 billion in 2008.

"Call it the 'big shrimp syndrome,'" IEG Sponsorship Reports senior editor William Chipps said in a statement released in conjunction with the study. "Many companies are reluctant to sign new deals over concerns about what might be perceived as excessive hospitality."

John Daly is a lot like Johnny Depp: born in the South, in his 40s, loves kicking it in Europe, and now, thanks to lap-band surgery, looks unreasonably thin (well, relative to the old JD, anyway). And while he has yet to bust out the pirate ensemble (although I suspect it'll soon be in the rotation), he enjoys dressing up in funny outfits.

Now, after serving a six-month suspension, Daly will be back on the PGA Tour. The former two-time major winner is still without his card, but he'll be in the field at the St. Jude Championship in three weeks on a sponsor's exemption. Just like old times. Save the fact that he's 40 pounds lighter and probably playing some of his best golf in recent years.