It hasn't been a good couple of days for golfer John Daly.  First, uber-swing coach Butch Harmon gave up on him, saying "the most important thing in [Daly's] life is getting drunk."  Now, he's been booted out of the Arnold Palmer Invitational for missing its pro-am.

Woody Allen once said that "90% of life is just showing up."  When an apparent alcohol problem won't even allow you to do that, you're in 100% need of treatment.  It's far too easy to make fun of Daly's foibles, but beneath his Barney Gumbel facade lies a tragedy just waiting to happen.

Daly has become a walking punchline, but to poke fun at his struggles is to enable them. 

Because sponsors have tolerated his behavior and given him countless exemptions to tournaments he clearly doesn't belong in, he's been able to consistenly putt away from rock bottom.  The money won't dry up so long as he can drive long, and that can keep an alcoholic in the rough for a long time.

Addiction specialists will tell you it's futile to force an addict into rehab--they have to choose clean living for themselves to have any chance of maintaining it.  Butch Harmon can't force John Daly to sober up.  Heck, even Arnold Palmer can't.  Here's hoping Daly himself can.