john-dalyJohn Daly shot an 88 in the opening round of the Buick Open. Pretty sad number, eh? Perhaps he’s distracted. It was just announced that he’s shooting a new reality show with the Golf Channel. Or perhaps, as one of our commenters wondered via e-mail, he tanked the round to help get a little buzz for his new show.

Makes sense if you’re into conspiracies. (Welcome to TBL) It’s the same reason Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian released their sex tapes, right? Any publicity is good publicity. Especially in reality television.

And Daly will need the pub. The chubby ladies’ man dropped 80 pounds and stopped drinking. A sober and skinny John Daly is not the John Daly that the casual golf fan cares about. Daly is now concentrating on golf. What fun is that? I don’t want to see John Daly practicing his chipping. I want to see the John Daly that gets bombed in a Hooters. I want to see John Daly flashing the camera with a newly-made female friend doing the same. (NSFW)

Of course, I suppose its good for Daly to get clean. Not for our amusement, but for his own well-being. Who knows, maybe he’ll start to golf well again.