The one and only John Daly

Love him or hide the kids -- he's back. The one and only John Daly has made his presence known at this year's British Open as only he would dare do. And personally, I think it's great stuff.

Daly showed up to play a practice round wearing SpongeBob Square Pants. And puffing on cigs, of course. The ramblin-gamblin man that has seen so many highs and lows over the last couple decades is about to tee it up at the oldest golf tournament on earth one more time.

Some would likely wonder -- how in the hell did Daly qualify to play in the Open? After all, he hasn't been remotely competitive in pro golf for quite some time. The dude's missed more cuts than your average big city autopsy "surgeon" on an extended vacation.

But there's a catch. JD has a life-long pass to participate in the Open. That's because he won it back in 1995 at St. Andrews, which is arguably the oldest golf course on the planet, dating all the way back to the 1400s, or approximately the same time when the fore-fathers of Republicans and Democrats initially began to argue like third graders. Or Larry King interviewed his first guest.

Nevertheless, St. Andrews might be considered as being just a tad stodgier and old fashioned than the good folks that run Augusta National -- home of the Masters. Let's just say neither of these fine historic venues have in the past, or likely will soon, be throwing wild parties celebrating a golfer that shows up in SpongeBob pants.

But this tournament isn't at St. Andrews. It's in Liverpool. Home of the Beatles. Back in the day, though adored by the younger crowd, they were considered heathens as well by the curmudgeonly folks. All that long hair and suggestive love music? Surely they would turn a whole generation into sex-craving degenerate maniacs. We all know how that worked out.

So are the folks in Liverpool running this Open a bunch of long-haired, hippie-type pinkos, offering free pot to all that attend, including the players themselves? Likely not, though that sort of tournament would be highly entertaining if so to the average TV viewer. It would be even more interesting to see which sponsors signed on to advertise their wares. Though I don't partake myself, how hilarious would it be to hear golf commentary from a crew of normally straight-laced guys that were stoned? Pip, pip, and bowls of cheerios. Jolly good fun indeed.

Anyway, here's hoping John Daly makes the cut to play into the weekend. Sure, a lot of attention will be on Tiger Woods. His groupies want him to win. They NEED him to win, much as teenagers craved the next songs written by Lennon and McCartney back in the 60s.

But Lebron James has changed teams twice since Woods last won a major. It's been that long and more. And like the Beatles experienced roughly their decade of outrageous success, so did Tiger. No matter how much people wished otherwise, the original Fab Four never got back together again, and it's highly likely Eldrick Tont Woods will ever return to dominate the world-wide pro golf circuit either.

Here's hoping Woods fares well in the British Open. But I think he needs to change with the times. Even if he's in contention on the weekend, he should take a lesson from John Daly. Forget his traditional red shirt and black pants on Sunday. That's getting REALLY old and quite boring. Though a SpongeBob outfit might be pushing his envelope a bit, he needs to try something new. How about switching it? Red pants and black shirt?

But mostly yours truly is rooting for Daly. How cool would it be to see him in contention on the back nine on Sunday, smoking cigs, perhaps taking a wee nip here and there, and garbed as.... who knows? Barney the Dinosaur, Fred Flintstone, Queen Elizabeth, Foghorn Leghorn or Yosemite Sam? Who cares? The man provides a whole lot more entertainment value than all the others combined. While the "field", including Woods, is so concerned about being politically correct and, OMG, careful not to say or do anything that might offend any sensitivities amongst the modern-day omni-whiners -- Daly doesn't give a damn. Like him or not -- he just does his own thing.

No, he probably won't seriously contend for the Claret Jug. But I like his style....