Ernie Els Knows Golf and More

AUGUSTA, Georgia (AP) - The fans were checking out the hats, T-shirts, towels and golf flags covering the folding tables, but what they'd really come to see was still inside the oversized RV parked across the street from Augusta National.

"Where's John today?" one asked. "Recovering?"

Considering John is John Daly, the question wasn't unreasonable. Daly was one of the most entertaining golfers in the world, winning two major titles with his booming drives and go-for-broke style. He also was a hard-drinking, hard-living, train-wreck-waiting-to-happen kind of guy, and you never knew which one you were going to get.

"I always talk about the things in my life that have happened because it might help somebody," Daly said on Thursday. "We all make mistakes, hell, everybody knows that. But most people are too embarrassed or too scared to admit them. I'm not, it's part of life."

Only a few weeks from the end of his six-month suspension from the U.S. PGA Tour and slimmer than he's been in years after surgery to shrink his stomach, Daly is kicking off what could be called his comeback tour at the Masters. The money he makes from selling his merchandise — cash only, please — will help him stave off bankruptcy. The 42 pounds (19 kilograms) he's lost in the last eight weeks will help his prodigious game get back under control.

How did Daly nail this chick???

But it's the reaction from the fans that seems to matter most. It's been more than five years since he won a tournament, two since he was a factor with any consistency. He's fallen so far his No. 783 world ranking trails some guy from that golfing hotbed of Norway.

Yet fans are as gaga over Daly as they were back when he was golf's favorite sideshow, buying his hats, clothes and books, and lining up just for the chance to get a picture taken with him. Aside from Tiger and a few others, the guys playing across the street don't get that kind of love.

"I can't believe how much he's been embraced this week," said Anna Cladakis, Daly's girlfriend. "That, for me and for John, was important. It was the icing on the cake. After you've been practicing and losing weight and for everybody to come back and embrace him ... that really has helped John."