FanHouse Butch Harmon

John Daly spent the first half of the year in Europe, playing tournaments on that tour while he waited out his PGA Tour-sanctioned six-month suspension. He returned to the States at the St. Jude Classic two weeks ago, and relatively speaking, played well.

Nothing spectacular, but he made the cut. Given how last season unfolded -- it started with Butch Harmon dumping him a few months after they started working together, and it ended with a bucket of hot wings and an orange jumpsuit -- it was a welcome change.

But Golf Digest's John Strege makes an interesting point about the new-and-improved John Daly: despite the physical and mental changes, the results aren't much different from '08, perhaps the most forgettable year in a career littered with them.

Rumor spread a few years ago at a golf course outside Chicago, that John Daly, who was supposed to be there, had had a heart attack and died. The next day, he showed up at his practice round.

Afterward, as he stuffed his clubs into the trunk of the car, prepared to head off to Hooters for an autograph session, and stopped for a quick smoke, I talked with him in the parking lot.

John Daly is all about reinventing himself. Usually, it's preceded by an intervention or a stint in rehab, and often brought on by a beer and hot wings bender at the nearest Hooters. Well, Hooters, known for their high standards and exclusivity, no longer sponsors Daly.

Save the mustache and the mullet, the John Daly who won the 1991 PGA Championship at Crooked Stick looks a lot like the guy who finished second at last week's Italian Open. The new JD -- 40 pounds lighter and now taking fashion advice from Craig Sager -- finally seems committed to saving his golf career after years of interventions, rehab and falling off the wagon. It's a refreshing change, frankly.

PGA Commissioner Tim Finchem suspended Daly for the first six months of the 2009 season, presumably in response to his latest beer-and-wings-fueled mayhem. But instead of seeking solace at the nearest Hooters, Daly decided to rededicate himself to golf. Again. Last year, golf instructor to the stars Butch Harmon dumped Big John after four months, citing that the most important thing in Daly's life "was getting drunk."

Like Torrey Pines in 2008, this year's U.S. Open is being played at a unique destination: Bethpage. The course is unique for a number of reasons. First, if you have the patience to sleep in your car overnight, you and I could get on Bethpage Black for around $100 and play the same golf course that the pros will be teeing it up on in less than two months. Also, it might just be the toughest course in the country, boasting the famous sign outside that warns, "Warning: The Black course is an extremely difficult course which we recommend only for highly skilled golfers."

Now, as it turns out, if you're lucky enough to win the 2009 Golf Digest U.S. Open Challenge, a contest that's open to the public, you'll not only get a chance to play Bethpage, but you'll do it with Michael Jordan, Justin Timberlake and Ben Roethlisberger, who recently announced he'd participate this year.

It's like a game of Clue, only the players are a bunch of "friends" of a golf star that may or may not be returning to the course over the next few weeks. Like, "I'll take Tiger Woods, with a 4-iron, at Doral."

Now Tiger's caddie Steve Williams is the latest to chime in on when Mr. Woods will be gracing us with his golfing presence, telling a New Zealand television station that Woods is "a few weeks" from returning to the PGA Tour.

The 2008 U.S. Open seems like centuries ago but Butch Harmon still has some stuff to say about it. When interviewed by the The Bangkok Post this week, Tiger Woods' former coach said that Tiger better hope that the '08 victory at Torrey Pines doesn't end his career.

Well, something to that effect.

The story that won't die in the golf world seems to be making a loop back to Steve Williams, who spoke Monday at a charity dinner.

Tiger Woods' caddy said that he regrets saying "I hate the pr**k" in regards to Phil Mickelson a day after Woods made public that he was disappointed in the comments concerning the famous Lefty.

"I don't deny that him and I don't get along," Steve Williams told The Associated Press from his home in New Zealand. "I shouldn't have said it, but no harm was meant. I was just having some fun."

Williams' apology seems just what you'd expect from the caddy who is better known for his cold demeanor around the golf course. He said he wishes he hadn't said it, but he didn't take a step back from the fact that he doesn't like Mickelson, or his man boobs.

Steve wasn't the only one to talk about this mess. Long time coach of Tiger Woods and current coach of Mickelson, Butch Harmon, spoke about it all and seemed more upset than Phil.

I suppose somebody somewhere considers this progress: John Daly, dumped earlier in the season by renowned golf coach/egomaniac Butch Harmon, has joined forces with Rick Smith, the guy Phil Mickelson canned to work with Harmon. It's all very incestuous, but Daly's from Arkansas so I'm guessing he's cool with it.

Anyway, Daly met with Smith last Sunday and the two are working together during the PGA Championship. And it looks like they'll have even more time this weekend to hone John's game, because Daly just finished slamming his RV's version of a trunk.

On the upside, Big John shot two rounds in the 70s (74 on Thursday, 75 today), and missed the cut by thismuch*. Long term, it sounds like the Smith-Daly marriage could go a little better than the Harmon-Daly fling:

Sunday, and the two of them are working together during the PGA Championship. "I don't have any business dealing with John's personal life, nor do I want to," said Smith, who recently added Chris DiMarco to his roster of students. "But if John wants help with his golf swing, I'm happy to do it.

He's got unbelievable ability, as everybody knows, and I really think he wants to play better. I like John as a person, because he has a big heart. And I like his ability, which involves more than just hitting the ball a mile. He's got great hands, a wonderful touch around the greens."

No idea what to expect from Daly for the rest of '08, but if he's able to make a few cuts, it'll be a good start.

* thismuch = one stroke

The John Daly saga has gone from sad, to funny and now back to just downright depressing.

Winner of the 1995 Open Championship, Daly might finally consider this rock bottom for his golfing career, as he posted a 19-over 89 today to finish in dead last at 29-over par.

Big John didn't make a birdie the entire week, and only carded six pars today as he struggled with a hand injury that has been bothering him all year.

Obviously out of the tournament, Daly's downfall came at the par-4 13th where he carded a quintuple-bogey 9. Mix that with three double-bogeys and you'll get near that 90 mark.

Never a man to enter anything quietly, Daly started his week calling out Butch Harmon. I'm pretty sure at this point, he'll be getting out of dodge and back to Arkansas as quick as those airplanes will fly.

Jason Sobel, doing an always great job over at ESPN, pointed out both Sergio Garcia's 89 at Carnoustie in 1999 and Ian Baker-Finch's 92 in the 1997 Open at Troon, but one was a young player struggling in the winds and the other was a great golfer that completely lost his game.