John Daly Back Sporting New Look - But is it Still the Same Old Daly?

John Daly is back on the golf course this week, playing the Spanish Open on the European Tour. He has a new body, a new haircut, and a new swing coach; he claims to have a new attitude; and he definitely has a new - and not necessarily improved - fashion sense.

But will it all add up to a new and improved John Daly? Based on his results over the past few years - on the course and off - it won't take much for the "new" Daly to qualify as an "improved" Daly.

Daly is still serving a 6-month suspension from the PGA Tour. That suspension, according to Daly and his agent, should run out some time in June. So Daly is getting in a few tournaments in Europe, hoping to show good enough results to convince PGA Tour tournament directors to extend him sponsor exemptions over the remainder of 2009.

In some regards, Daly spent his suspension doing typical Daly stuff - showing up at The Masters, for example, to hawk merchandise to fans in the parking lot. In other ways, Daly has clearly taken steps - some major - to right his life and his golf game.

For example, during his time off Daly underwent surgery to constrict his stomach in an effort to lose weight. And so far, it has worked. Daly claims to be around 220 pounds now, which, if true, means he's lost about 60 pounds. Whether 220 is the accurate number or not, it's clear from photos that Daly has lost a significant amount of weight.

That's great. It's also great that Daly is working with an instructor again, hooking up with Rick Smith. Smith is best known for being Phil Mickelson's coach throughout most of Mickelson's career (until 2006, when Mickelson switched to Butch Harmon - Harmon, of course, being the last big-time instructor Daly worked with, only to be very publicly dumped by Harmon).

But it also appears to be the case that Daly is still having difficulty owning up to and taking responsibility for some of his past behavior. Last October, Daly spent a night in jail after stumbling drunk out of a Hooters. But today, Daly told a reporter from Reuters that it was "a case of mistaken identity," implying he only took the rap to help out friends who presumably were really the drunk ones. Given the offense in question, that claim doesn't even really make sense.

So Daly has taken some major steps in the right direction, but clearly has more steps to take to resurrect his career and get his life in order. At 43 years old, this is probably his last chance to make another mark on the PGA Tour - or to make a positive mark, anyway. You don't win two majors by accident. The talent is there. Or at least, it was there.

Here's hoping Daly's alleged new attitude and new approach are genuine and sustainable.

Update: Daly's Round 1 outfit

See also:

• Gallery: John Daly and Loudmouth Pants
• John Daly bio
• John Daly pictures