While John Daly still has 4 months remaining on his PGA Tour suspension, he is starting to get his game back on the European Tour.

Daly, who had tied for 31st at the Spanish Open last week, finished tied for 2nd at this weeks BMW Italian Open.  Daly shot at 31 on the back nine Sunday, with birdies on 11, 14, 16, and 17, in route to a 5-under 66.  It marked the 5th consecutive round in which Daly broke 70.

Daly has lost about 50 pounds and perhaps has matured since undergoing gastric band surgery in February.  When he finished second to Tiger Woods in the 2005 WGC-American Express Championship in San Fransisco, Daly drove to Las Vegas and lost $1 million gambling in just 30 minutes.

The 36th annual Players Championship kicks off this week at TPC Sawgrass.  The top ten players in the world are all scheduled to be at this weeks tournament.

The TPC Sawgrass is typically referred to as the unofficial 5th major.  As such, it has a bit more at stake compared to other tournaments.  The winner gets 600 FedEx Cup points.  Only 5 events on tour offer that many points to the champion.  The other 4 are the Masters, the US Open, the British Open and the PGA Championship.

Despite the points that are on the line, 3 of Europe’s biggest stars have decided to skip the event.  Ryder Cup stars Lee Westwood  and Miguel Angel Jiminez are taking some time off and Alvaro Quiros has opted to play in the Italian Open instead.

That’s right, fresh off a 6 month PGA Tour suspension, John Daly is ready to get back to playing golf.  Daly will be coming back as a changed golfer.  He’s stomach has shrunk (thanks to surgery) and his gambling, drinking and divorce have left him near bankruptcy.  Daly says he’s looking forward to “hitting the European Tour” this week.

Daly’s first action will be the Spanish Open.  This will be Daly’s first tournament since being thrown in jail to sober up almost 6 months ago.  After this, he is scheduled at the Italian Open in Turin, the Irish Open in Baltray and the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.

I don’t know about you, but I’m excited to have this guy back in my life: