John Daly Uncensored in Memphis

"Champions come from the heart."

That is what John Daly's mom use to tell him.

We all know there is nothing wrong with John Daly's heart.

We all know he is a champion golfer too.

Most importantly he is a champion to us in our lives.

Because we have all been there or know someone who has been.

We like, we need to see people get through tough times.

Today especially there is no shortage of people struggling to make it through tough times.

We need John Daly and we want John Daly to succeed.

A champion golfer that burst onto the world stage winning the 1991 PGA Championship at Crooked Stick GC at the age of 25.

He showed us the heart of a champion person as he set up a college scholarship fund for the two daughters of the late Thomas Weaver who was struck by lightning during a first-round storm delay.

Then after two more PGA TOUR victories he won his second Major championship- the British Open at the Old Course at St. Andrews.

Then the dark days came and he came back, all the way back to win the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines in 2005.

That was five years ago and we lost him a little bit again.

Who is John Daly today?

Does he have any regrets?

"Golf is my life. I mean, it's the only thing I've been able to do to provide for my family, for myself. I just want to be more serious about it. I want to prepare myself more. I don't think it's a last chance. I think I'm giving myself a chance to be the best player that I can be, and to me that's all that matters."

"I've wasted a lot of years. I enjoyed doing it, but I see these guys work and work and work, and that's what I need to do. I don't think I need to be a Vijay Singh or anything, but I need to work on some things that can make me better."

 
"When the majors come around, I would really work hard. When you have a 10-year exemption out here, you win another, you get another 10-year, and you think you're going to be out here for life. I took that for granted. I didn't take all the golf tournaments as serious as I should have."

A new John Daly showed up this week in Memphis, Tennessee to play in the St. Jude Classic.

After serving six month suspension from the PGA TOUR by taking care of some personal business and playing golf on the European Tour it appears John is focused more than ever before in his golfing career.

"I just put everything into perspective, spent time with my kids, lost the weight."

The new John Daly is 60 pounds lighter.

"It's not from working out, I promise you. No, I cheated. I had a thing called LAP-BAND surgery. It's a band that goes around where the food goes into your stomach and it tightens it. It restricts you from what you can eat. It's been a blessing for me."

The 43-year old golfer wants to lose 30 more pounds to get down to his real fighting weight of 190 pounds.

"Now my swing speed is a little faster. I can get through the ball a lot better, which creates hopefully more consistent shots."

Daly is maturing a bit these days. Maybe we all are getting a little older and putting things in our life and our world into a little more proper perspective.

Was his suspension warranted?

"All I can say is I'm so happy I prepared myself in a positive way during the suspension. I could have taken it to a negative extreme and blamed this and blamed that.

"But it was time, Hey, let's lose some weight. Chance to spend some more time with my children, go practice, work with Rick (smith his coach). I did everything in a positive way to be prepared to play on the European Tour and here. I think it was actually good for me."

"My goal is just to play golf and most importantly be prepared and not waste the time like I have in the past."

"I think losing the weight, preparing myself to play the way I know I can play. And if I don't play good, at least I know I gave myself the best opportunity, and that's all I can do. That's all any of us can do out here."

"It's like Vijay (Singh) is telling me, The practice could pay off six months down the road, it could pay off a week down the road, it could pay off a year down the road. But sooner or later, like what Goose told me yesterday, sooner or later it going to pay off.

"The good news is I can still salvage a great career. I've had a great career. I'm not going to down my career. It's been hell. There's no doubt about it.

"But when I was 16 and 17 years old, wanting to be on the TOUR, if I'd have told myself, if I knew I was going to win two majors, would I have taken that? I think at 17 years old you'd take just being able to play in a major good enough."

Not only does the general golfing public love John Daly but so too do his fellow competitors on the PGA TOUR.

"Robert Gamez and Lumpy were the first two people to call me when all the stuff went down, seeing if I was okay. Pat Perez called me. Petrovic has been really cool. It's great.

"The European guys are the same way. They were happy to see me back. It's great to hear the guys say, the European guys, say I'm great for their tour, and the guys here say I'm great for our TOUR."

Tim Herron echoed everyone's thoughts: "Good for him. I mean, at least he's thinking positive, in the right direction. You know, wish him the best on I guess positive thinking. You know, it's funny; people still love him, fans especially. People are still talking about John, which is good. So he's still good for the TOUR, good for the community."

As did Justin Leonard: "I think a lot of people probably see themselves in him, I guess. He's kind of a regular guy that made it playing golf, you know, a Southern guy. He made it playing golf. They probably see a lot of themselves in John."

"I'm looking forward to seeing him. He puts fans in the seats, and that's important. He brings people to this golf course and he'll bring viewers to watch on TV. I think it seems like from the outside looking in that he's pretty serious about his game. That's a good thing for all of us."

Is this a last chance opportunity for John Daly?

"I don't know what a last chance really is. Last chance to me is when you're six feet under. I love this game. I really do.

"I know deep down in my heart I may never be the No. 1 player in the world, but I know that I love golf and I love to compete. And the satisfaction of having that opportunity, knowing I'm prepared to play, I've never been able to see what my best potential is."

"Champions come from the heart."

We may not yet have seen the best golf from John Daly.

Andy Reistetter is a freelance golf writer. He follows the PGA TOUR volunteering for the tournaments and working part time for NBC Sports, CBS Sports, and The Golf Channel.

He resides in Jacksonville Beach, Florida near the PGA TOUR headquarters and home of The PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach. He enjoys pursuing his passion for the game of golf and everything associated with it.

He can be reached through his website www.MrHickoryGolf.net or by e-mailing him to [e-mail]