I suppose somebody somewhere considers this progress: John Daly, dumped earlier in the season by renowned golf coach/egomaniac Butch Harmon, has joined forces with Rick Smith, the guy Phil Mickelson canned to work with Harmon. It's all very incestuous, but Daly's from Arkansas so I'm guessing he's cool with it.

Anyway, Daly met with Smith last Sunday and the two are working together during the PGA Championship. And it looks like they'll have even more time this weekend to hone John's game, because Daly just finished slamming his RV's version of a trunk.

On the upside, Big John shot two rounds in the 70s (74 on Thursday, 75 today), and missed the cut by thismuch*. Long term, it sounds like the Smith-Daly marriage could go a little better than the Harmon-Daly fling:

Sunday, and the two of them are working together during the PGA Championship. "I don't have any business dealing with John's personal life, nor do I want to," said Smith, who recently added Chris DiMarco to his roster of students. "But if John wants help with his golf swing, I'm happy to do it.

He's got unbelievable ability, as everybody knows, and I really think he wants to play better. I like John as a person, because he has a big heart. And I like his ability, which involves more than just hitting the ball a mile. He's got great hands, a wonderful touch around the greens."

No idea what to expect from Daly for the rest of '08, but if he's able to make a few cuts, it'll be a good start.

* thismuch = one stroke

The John Daly saga has gone from sad, to funny and now back to just downright depressing.

Winner of the 1995 Open Championship, Daly might finally consider this rock bottom for his golfing career, as he posted a 19-over 89 today to finish in dead last at 29-over par.

Big John didn't make a birdie the entire week, and only carded six pars today as he struggled with a hand injury that has been bothering him all year.

Obviously out of the tournament, Daly's downfall came at the par-4 13th where he carded a quintuple-bogey 9. Mix that with three double-bogeys and you'll get near that 90 mark.

Never a man to enter anything quietly, Daly started his week calling out Butch Harmon. I'm pretty sure at this point, he'll be getting out of dodge and back to Arkansas as quick as those airplanes will fly.

Jason Sobel, doing an always great job over at ESPN, pointed out both Sergio Garcia's 89 at Carnoustie in 1999 and Ian Baker-Finch's 92 in the 1997 Open at Troon, but one was a young player struggling in the winds and the other was a great golfer that completely lost his game.

This morning, Bacon broke the news that John Daly and his beer gut are crazier than ever, and as he "prepares" for the Open Championship, he's advised Butch Harmon, his former swing coach (for all of four months), to stay the hell away.

In addition to these gems, Golf Channel's Rich Lerner also got a few choice nuggets from Daly and Harmon, the best of which are transcribed below.

Harmon: "He's a person who likes to blame other people for any of his shortcomings and I'm sorry he's like that ..."

This all stems from the PODS Championship earlier this year, when Daly had Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden on the bag for part of the first round. Big John claimed that his regular caddie was injured and he needed someone to carry his bag. Harmless enough, right. Uh, no.

Harmon dumped Daly afterward (and this didn't help, I imagine), and now, JD feels he needs to set the record straight: "

... But then the stories come out that I was drinking in the [Hooter's] tent [during the rain delay] drunk and stuff on Thursday, and it's a joke.

Two days later, after rounds of 78, 80, Daly returned to the Hooter's tent to do "charity work."

Yeah, I had a couple of beers, big deal. Signed about, you know, 1,000 autographs, it was a great day, and the next thing I know, it's more bad rumors come out."

Which led to this, and today, this.

This might come as a surprise to most, but John Daly is not happy, and the problem lies with alcohol and accusations.

Back in March, swing coach Butch Harmon dumped Daly because of boozing, which would be a surprise if that word meant something completely different.

"My whole goal for him was he's got to show me golf is the most important thing in his life," Harmon said back in March. "And the most important thing in his life is getting drunk."

Well, Big John is in the field at the British Open this week, and ain't too happy with 'ol Harmon.

"[Harmon] needs to stay as far away from me as possible," Daly said Wednesday.

Asked whether his "lifestyle issues" are making it more difficult for him to get sponsors' exemptions into tournaments, Daly took aim at his former coach.

"Most of that stuff started with Butch Harmon," Daly said. "His lies sort of destroyed me for awhile. He should be a real man and get his facts straight."

No idea how I missed this, but according to GolfDigest's Bob Verdi, there were rumors that John Daly had been suspended by the PGA Tour. I can't imagine what he'd have to do for commissioner Tim Finchem to take such drastic action -- I mean, this is the same guy who earlier this year had Jon Gruden serve as his caddie for a few holes, show up on the YouTubes playing topless golf, and got dropped by Butch Harmon after Harmon "discovered" Daly liked to have a beer or 18 every now and then.

Anyway, it's not true. At least according to Big John, who says he's been dealing with an injury to his right hand.

"I went back home to Arkansas to have it looked after," Daly said. "I had a cyst removed, and it's getting better. I wanted to play this week at the John Deere Classic, where they gave me a sponsors exemption, which I appreciate. But I had to withdraw. Meanwhile, I'm getting all sorts of calls about being suspended. It's not true. I've got enough things going on that are true, but that isn't one of them. I'm planning to go over to the British Open this Sunday, and then on to Russia. Where does all this stuff start?"

Wait, what? Who got Daly inside the ropes at Royal Birkdale? Seriously, did he win a qualifier I don't know about, or did his '95 victory come with a one-time lifetime exemption?

The Russian Open I get -- if there's one thing the former Soviet Union needs, it's more John Daly. Let's just hope he's healthy enough to play. Because it's never good to withdraw on a sponsor's exemption.

There are any number of wonderful things about this video of John Daly taking time out from his busy schedule of missing cuts to hit a golf ball off Kid Rock's beer during this week's Buick Open pro-am in Grand Blanc, Michigan.

Actually, I think it's pretty funny, although it's images like this (and this) that undoubtedly led Butch Harmon to abruptly end things after just four months. But, hey, if it means walking around with an overalls-clad Bob, and enjoying himself with the common folk, then perhaps it's all worth it. Can't begrudge the guy for that.

Afterward, Daly told the Associated Press: "I love it rowdy, so it's a perfect place for me." Until Thursday, when they start keeping score, anyhow.

By the way, I'm sorta disappointed Daly didn't take that fan up on the "SHOTGUN IT!" offer. Maybe he has changed.

It's easy to second-guess after the fact. When Phil Mickelson decided to leave his driver at home for the first two days of the U.S. Open -- all 7,600 yards of it -- I supported the decision. The media is forever lamenting Lefty's reckless style, and eagerly point to the 2006 U.S. Open as proof. So for the world's second-best player to take a conservative approach was, if nothing else, a refreshing change.

Unfortunately, the strategy blew up in his face. Which, of course, leads to third- and fourth-guessing. GolfWeek's James Achenbach takes the kids-gloves approach to Mickelson's master plan, which was nice of him, but the facts pretty much do all the talking.

Using his strong 3-wood (11.5 degree) off the tee during the first two rounds, Mickelson hit 6 of 14 fairways each day. For the final two rounds, with his driver back in the bag, he hit 6 and 7 fairways, respectively. His total, finding 25 of 56 fairways (44.64 percent) for the tournament, tied for last in the field.

As Dave Pelz, Philbert's short-game guru and the man behind the no-driver, five-wedge attack plan, pointed out, "The strategy is based on Phil hitting his ball in the fairway. If he doesn't, the strategy doesn't necessarily work."

John Daly, jokingly, no doubt, suggested that the premature end to Tiger Woods' 2008 season would give him a better chance to win now. Daly's myriad missteps have been painstakingly document over his career, and this year is no different. He's into Year 2 of trying to earn his PGA Tour card, has already been dumped by world-famous Butch Harmon, had Buccaneers head coach Jon Gruden on the bag for nine holes, and still loves the hell out of Hooters.

But he's not getting any closer to winning. Not even a little bit. This week, teed it up at the BMW International, a European Tour event. The good news: he shot an even-par round on Thursday. The bad news: that was six shots off the lead, and it was anything but a routine 72 strokes around the course:

Daly had two double bogeys, a bogey and two birdies in a span starting on the 13th hole. The double bogey on the 16th came when the American's ball rolled down a hill twice. He was forced to hit out of a trap, sending rocks shooting out of the water.

"Just got some bad breaks. What can you do?" Daly asked. "I am hitting better than I am scoring."

Worse news: Daly fired another even-par round on Friday missing the 1-under cut by one stroke. On the bright side, he still holds the tournament record for lowest score: 27-under in 2001. So there's that. And Hooters.

This is a pleasant surprise: after two rounds, Ernie Els is tied for ninth at the U.S. Open. If this was 2000-2004, it would hardly be news, but Els, the two-time U.S. Open champion, has recently fallen on hard times, even though he won at the Honda Classic earlier this year.

As I mentioned earlier this week, in the 16 rounds since Els won the Honda -- and prior to the Open -- he's fired one 71, three 72s, four 73s, five 74s, a 75, 76 and a 78.

And all Els does is go out and fire a 70-72 during the first two days at Torrey Pines. Maybe Butch Harmon, who recently replaced Els' longtime coach, David Leadbetter, had something to do with it, or perhaps it's because Els went back to above-the-neck coach and resident "wacko" (Tim Rosaforte's words, not mine) Jos Vanstiphout. Whatever, it's working:

"Mentally, I'm good. Mentally, I'm really up for it. I've got no problem getting myself motivated," said Els ...

How did it feel to be in the hunt at a major championship? First, a stare. Then, a terse, "It feels good," because the answer should have been obvious. Of course, he was happy, because since making his debut in the US Open 15 years ago and winning his first major the next summer, these are the tournaments for which he plays.

Els has three major victories but like every other golfer older than Woods, he's been unable to consistently challenge the world's best player. And while he might not win this week, two solid rounds could go a long way in helping Ernie rediscover his game.

It's Monday of U.S. Open week so why wouldn't it be a great time for your monthly John Daly update?

Everyone's favorite Miller Lite lover played Thursday and Friday at the Stanford St. Jude Classic Championship, barely missing the cut (by eight shots), but I promise it was more fun than it looks.

Daly's two rounds of 72-81 included the following -- four double bogeys, 12 bogeys, 14 pars, five birdies and an eagle.

Big John's 2008 has been one to forget (and he probably already has), making just three cuts in 11 tournaments, his last was nearly four months ago. Daly hasn't broken 70 since February 21, even being dropped by swing coach Butch Harmon in the meantime and is 225th on the FedEx Cup standings.

I figured it was no better time for a John Daly update than the Monday of U.S. Open week because of the big hitters domination of the event. Daly has never finished better than a tie for 27th at the USGA's signature event, and is home to one of the biggest golf blowups John ever encountered.