European Tour Insider: Daly comeback chugging along

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John Daly continues his play on the European Tour this week in Italy.

The "Wild Thing" is not so wild these days.

John Daly's "comeback" continues at the BMW Italian Open at the Royal Park I Roveri in Turin this week and he arrives with a new attitude.

OK, so maybe the new pants are wild, but despite appearances, he's not playing the court jester.

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The two-time major champion's lap-band surgery means he can't drink like he did before. Beer is too fizzy, and Diet Coke is out. He can't binge on food either, and he kind of regrets that he can't enjoy bread, because it won't digest properly.

He does, genuinely, look much healthier, having now lost at least 55 pounds, and he acknowledges that he couldn't have coped with last week's hills at the Open de Espaņa, if he hadn't lost the weight.

Daly appears to have a work ethic once more, and while it's a "work in progress" and he won't say there's confidence yet about his game, it's clear that he feels he's on the right track to rebuild his career.

"It's just nice to get four rounds in," Daly said. "I feel better about things, and I hope to continually get better."

The Italian crowd should be as pleased to see him as the Spanish, and he's paired with home favorite and former champion Francesco Molinari.

BJORN AGAIN

It's a different story with former Ryder Cup star Thomas Bjorn, but there are similarities. His third-place finish in Catalunya was his best result since Korea in 2008.

He's been troubled repeatedly by injury, and troubled, too, by his swing.

"It's with a lot of heart and a lot of soul, and I take a lot of good things (from the result)," Bjorn said. "I wouldn't say I'm back. I have certainly been a lot higher up the list than I am at the moment, but it's certainly what I needed -- to believe I can play the golf and do the right things on the right days"

ARE YOU SITTING UNCOMFORTABLY?

Reflecting on his victory at the Open de Espaņa, Thomas Levet says he would love to do more commentary work -- even though it meant more work for the physical therapists.

The Frenchman had a back problem brought on, he says, by sitting down too long on commentary duty at the Masters. It certainly didn't show as he recorded a fifth European Tour victory.

So he would like to be back behind the microphone, though there's no rush.

"It's very different, and it's hard work, too," Levet said. "I'm thinking about it for the future. I'm doing commentary for French TV, but let's hope they see me play, and I'll do the talking with my clubs, too."

SWEDISH HERO

The heroics of Thomas Levet winning in Spain were overshadowed by some genuine heroism.

The colorful Swede, Jarmo Sandelin, rescued an elderly woman from a fire in his apartment block in the days prior to the event.

He got back to his home in Stockholm to smell smoke. He immediately shouted to his wife to call the fire service and get out of the building, then ran up and down stairs to locate the source. He broke down the door to a neighbor's flat and carried the lady to safety, but he couldn't rescue her husband.

Sandelin was in tears when he said, "It's only afterwards you realize that I could have been in a box. I acted on pure instinct."

His playing partners for the first two rounds in Spain were unaware of what had happened. Sandelin simply wanted to concentrate on his golf.

"On the course, I am completely occupied," he said.

AFRICAN ADVENTURE

Charl Schwartzel had an adventure after taking a lot of time off after his appearance at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship.

"I drove through Africa," he said. "I went through Mozambique, Malawi, up through Tanzania into the Serengeti. Came back through Zambia, into Botswana, then Namibia. It took me six weeks, thirteen thousand kilometers. It was fantastic, and I drove all the way."

Did he want to get back to work? Not exactly.

"It was odd," Schwartzel said. "I took a lot of convincing!"

ITALIAN JOB

Schwartzel finished fifth in Spain and is regarded as one of the favorites this week in Turin. Darren Clarke is one to watch, too, as he looks to get back toward the world's elite; undoubtedly he'd prefer to be playing at TPC Sawgrass in THE PLAYERS Championship.

Soren Hansen shot a course record in Catalunya before slipping back and is another to watch this week, while, inevitably, the form of Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie will be under the spotlight once again.

EYES WEST

Glances will be cast to THE PLAYERS Championship. On the back of last week's performances at the Quail Hollow Championship, Ian Poulter, who tied for fifth, and Martin Kaymer (T11) will be among the Europeans worth noting.

Open de Andalucia champion Soren Kjeldsen played again in Spain last week, having had a break after the Masters, and he has flown Stateside to Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. The Dane's looking to build on the tie for seventh that he enjoyed at the World Golf Championships-CA Championship earlier this year.

ALBATROSS THAT WASN'T

A quirky note to finish with ...

Early on day one of the Open de Espaņa, Damien McGrane was credited with that rare, rare bird -- an albatross!

Yes, it could be possible at the par-5 12th, but it's unlikely.

As the players in the three-ball left the green, they said to the scorer: "Two fives and a four". Lost in translation, the scorer tapped into his handheld device: "2, 5, 4".