Golf Channel announces new John Daly reality show at 2009 Buick Open

Are the storm clouds lifting or continuing to gather for John Daly? The Golf Channel hopes you want to know

During the 2009 Buick Open, the Golf Channel announced that it will be airing a new reality show featuring John Daly, and it immediately begs the question, "Will it be boring or pathetic?" Daly himself insists that it will offer a glimpse of his new-and-improved boring life. Boring would be a wonderful turnaround in the life of John Daly, whose antics up until this point have often been painful, even pitiful to watch.

Once the underdog who went from "zero to hero" with his win at  the PGA Championship in his rookie year on the PGA Tour, Daly's career has been a public spectacle of booze, gambling, wives and debauchery. Until, he swears, now. Daly has decided to put all of his talent to good use for the tail end of his career, anyway, and has started by going head to head with his biggest demon, alcohol.

"I haven't had a drink in a while," Daly told the Associated Press in an interview at this week's Buick Open.  Sobriety would be a welcome turn for the man found passed-out in front of a Hooters last fall and who was subsequently given a six-month suspension from the PGA Tour.

At the start of his suspension, Daly weighed 286 pounds, and it showed (especially in this video of him hitting golf balls shirtless). One of the first steps he took towards getting serious about his life and gamewas to have lap-band surgery. Since the surgery, Daly has lost 81 pounds and is looking solid over the ball again.

Daly also claims that he is taking the game more seriously, working harder at then he has in the past. In an interview with the Golf Channel, Daly said, "I'mactually enjoying working on my game now. I never did that before."

Daly's early wins may have fed the fuel for his downfall, as he came to rely upon talent alone. Now, at the tail end of his career, he seems committed to making the most of what he has left. "I’m more serious about what I’m doing now," Daly told the Golf Channel, "I’ve learned that talent can’t do it all. I wasted a lot of years not taking things serious(sic)."

It would be a welcome sight to see a sober, hard-working Daly maximizing his talent and sinking putts when he needs to. He has purportedly surrounded himself with a new team of people, including a girlfriend who fully supports him and his new direction, pushing on him bettering himself (and not her own wardrobe).

For his part, Daly sounds like many addicts who get the monkey off their back and are able to focus simply on enjoying life. "I'm still having fun, but I'm more serious," he said. "I'm finally the guy so many people have wanted me to be for so many years." With any luck, the Golf Channel show will be an inside look at a dramatic comeback on the PGA Tour by one of golf's most talented, and fallen, golfers.