John Daly tries his luck in Europe

American John Daly, planning to gamble and drink in moderation, is back in Europe to rediscover the form which made him the toast of world golf four years ago.

Without a major backer and "having to work for my money now", Daly will tee off in the Belgian Open on Thursday.

The burly American lost his chief sponsor, the Calloway Golf Company, last month. The sponsor said Daly had declined to undergo further treatment for alcohol and gambling problems.

Reformed alcoholic Daly, former U.S. PGA and British Open champion, has said in the past that he has lost $9 million in gambling.

But he hopes his plan to gamble and drink in moderation will help change his fortunes on both sides of the Atlantic.

"The good news is that I don't have millions of dollars to gamble right now," Daly said on Wednesday. "It's not like I'm going to get markers and try to make a living out of it.

"It's just nice to go and play the $100 slots or the $25 slots for an hour and then go to bed, get up and practise. Best to go and do it in a moderate way.

"No doubt it's rekindled my enthusiasm to be a winner again at golf. Not being able to drink, too, took away my energy to play and practise hard, so I made a decision -- drink a little.

"Otherwise it was never gamble and stay sober and never play golf again. I didn't want to go that route because golf is my life and it's what puts food on the table for my children.

"I went to Mr C (Callaway) and told him I drank and gambled a little bit and he said we could work it out but the process he wanted, I didn't.

"If I can't make decisions for myself at 33 then I need to find something else to do. I just feel free now."

Last weekend, in the Las Vegas Invitational, Daly picked up his first U.S. Tour cheque since the U.S. Open in June -- $11,000 which lifted him only to 161st in the American rankings.

Daly has slipped to 190th in the world rankings, although he never commanded better than top 50 in the world, even when winning the 1991 U.S. PGA championship and 1995 British Open.

The player dubbed 'Wild Thing' knows he has to buckle down now "to provide for my family" and he hopes for better things from this visit to Europe.

In July, paid $150,000 by the course owner to play in the Irish Open on his only other visit to Europe this year, Daly finished second-from-last, 28 strokes behind Spanish winner Sergio Garcia. That earned him a mere $2,000 prize money.

Daly has needed appearance money, too. He will receive a large fee for playing this week in Belgium, having earned only $176,565 on the U.S. Tour this year.

Bouts of erratic play -- he ran up an 11 in the U.S. Open to the dismay of Callaway -- will have to end, Daly conceded on Wednesday before tackling the Royal Zoute course and players of the stamp of defending champion Lee Westwood.

"My last three tournaments I didn't play too good but I smiled about it," Daly said.

"Now I don't have to fight all these battles, all these demons inside, and I hope things will go well for my first trip to this course."

Daly's main battle this week, with a first prize of $150,000 at stake, could be with Westwood, who hopes to gain some ground on absent European rankings leader Colin Montgomerie and second-placed Garcia. The Briton is third in the Order of Merit, $600,000 behind Montgomerie.

Last year's European number two Darren Clarke and Germany's Bernhard Langer are also in the field.

Langer, 52nd in the world rankings, wants a good result to get back in the top 50 and earn a place in the final world championship in Valderrama, Spain, in three weeks.