John Daly Shoots 72 in PGA Tour Return

Any other year and we'd be talking about guys using the this week's tournament to prepare for next week's U.S. Open. Instead, the story line is Phil Mickelson's return to the course three weeks after learning that his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. He gutted out a 68 on Thursday in possibly his best round of the year.

The next biggest story -- a distant second to the Mickelson family news -- was the return of John Daly to the PGA Tour after a six-month suspension for various Hooters-related issues. Daly used the time away to reinvent himself; he's 40 pounds lighter, nattily dressed, and, for the first time in a long time, admits that he's taking golf seriously.

Well, his first round on American soil since last October's Justin Timberlake Open looked a lot like the ones we were subjected to in recent years: a lot of big drives, sloppy mid- to short-iron shots, and some suspect putting.

But unlike the pre-tummy-tucked JD, the svelte-ish version seemed less distracted by the occasional poor shot. Plus, as Nick Faldo pointed out on the Golf Channel telecast, Daly hasn't played a lot since his forced vacation. He appeared in five European Tour events, missed two cuts, and his best finish was a T-2 at the Italian Open.

Daly parred his first eight holes, birdied No. 9, and promptly bogeyed 10, 11, 12 before parring out to end the day at 2-over. He's currently T-100, eight shots behind first-round leader Brian Gay.

By Big John standards, it was a pretty uneventful afternoon. No Jon Gruden sightings, or awkward fan interactions. Just a quiet 72 and a sweet green ensemble that made him look like the lemon lime Kool-Aid Man. Hey, it's a start.