A tale of two TOUR stars: Their different paths home

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John Daly and Tiger Woods were teammates at the 2005 Battle at the Bridges.

The two most asked questions of the new year in golf are these: What happened to John Daly? And when is Tiger coming back? If you are looking for answers here, I am sorry to disappoint.

Mostly I bring it up because the two biggest names in the sport over the last 18 years are absent from the PGA TOUR right now. Their reasons for not playing this month in the States are as different as their careers have been over the past decade.

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John Daly stormed onto the scene back in the early '90s. In a four-year period, he won two major championships and a couple of regular events for good measure. You know all that.

You may not realize that he has only one victory since Tiger's rookie year of 1996. From the '95 British Open to the '04 Buick Invitational, John made more headlines for his off-the-course antics than his on-course accomplishments.

Since then it has only declined -- hence, his recent announcement that the TOUR had suspended him for six months -- and yet we still believe that he can turn this runaway train around.

To turn a train around, though, one of two things has to happen. You either have to be at a switch station or find a really long way around. The TOUR waited for years for JD to find his own switch station, but now John must take the long way around. (And you didn't think you could take a train to Europe!)

How he will play overseas for the first few months of the year remains to be seen. So far, his start has been inauspicious in Australia. But this may just be the wake-up call that John needed. There has never been any question about his talent or his popularity. Maybe he will find his heart across the pond.

No one has ever questioned Tiger's heart, of course. But you don't walk golf courses with your heart -- last year's U.S. Open Championship not withstanding.

Rumors have been circulating that Tiger is making full swings at home in Florida, and that is certainly good news. Of course he is going to be ahead of schedule in his recovery; he is Tiger Woods after all.

The one thing we know about Tiger is that he isn't going to come back until he feels like he is ready to win again. Does that mean he will return in a few weeks at Torrey Pines where he is virtually undefeated? Probably not. The tournament is only a few weeks away, and all prior speculation has been that we won't see Tiger before the Masters.

By the way, do you know who the only person not named Tiger to win at Torrey Pines since 2002 is? If you don't, let's just say he's currently trying his luck in Europe.

It seems likely that both Tiger and John will return to the TOUR some time this spring. Tiger's return will be the biggest event in sports that week -- you can count on it. Once his schedule is announced, the media crush surrounding his return will be the stuff of legend.

John's return will garner its fair share of media attention as well, if only to hear what he might say.

Obviously, the game is better when Tiger plays. He understands his responsibility to the game and conducts himself accordingly.

When John Daly is doing what he is capable of, he, too, is good for the game in a different way. We relate to John in a way that we relate to few athletes.

Although their careers have taken paths as different as their physiques, there is more than enough room for both of them on the PGA TOUR. Let's hope that they both come back better than ever. Just don't expect too much advance notice.

John Maginnes is a freelance columnist for PGATOUR.COM. His opinion does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the PGA TOUR.