May 1, 2008 -- First off, I think we all knew John Daly, owner of two major championships and one VIP Players Club card from every casino in North America, would eventually lose his shirt. The bigger question was whether or not there'd be cameras rolling when it happened. The answer is a big, fat "Yes!" as evidence by this video of golf's new Golden Bare (click here).

WARNING! This clip is NSFVFS -- Not Safe For Viewing on a Full Stomach!

And you thought the Miley Cyrus photos were disturbing. Tough to say which image is more haunting in this video: the visage of Daly's sprawling décolletage or how the interviewer couldn't keep his hands off of him. I've been touched less by a deep tissue masseuse.

However visually startling, Daly's partial peep show perfectly illustrates how he's chosen to live his life as a public figure, which is to say the man lets it all hang out. And hang, in this case, it most certainly does. Daly's career appears to have hit the skids. He has limited exempt status on Tour, though he could get nearly any sponsor's invitation he wants. And he's recovering from a couple of physical ailments that he believes significantly impacted his poor play of the last couple of years. But he's been down before, and each time he's found a way to come back better (and usually bigger) than ever. Maybe we should heed his words in the video: Don't underestimate the fat man.

While Daly continues to make headlines for every reason besides what he does in competition, I'm not sure the LPGA could make the front page these days even if they played shirts and skins. What's more troubling is that this relative obscurity is happening at a time when things could scarcely be better on the course.

The LPGA has had exactly one single-name, transcendent player in its nearly 60-year history. Annika. Kathy Whitworth or Mickey Wright may have something to say about who should be regarded as the best women's golfer of all time. And Nancy Lopez with her ubiquitous, megawatt smile was a media darling 30 years ago. But no player has combined both skill level and Q rating like Annika. Even the most casual sports fans could give you the last name if you spotted them the first.

On Sunday, the One-Named Wonder, after a winless 2007, won her 71st career tournament and second of the season in a playoff over Paula Creamer, who at 21 is on pace to become -- perhaps more so than any woman who's ever played the game -- the total package: calendar girl looks, full embrace (as opposed to mere tolerance) of the media/entertainment spotlight, and a killer instinct. She's won five times in three-plus seasons in addition to helping lead the U.S. (even as a teenager) to Solheim Cup routs both times she's suited up for the Red, White, and Blue. And she's done it all in full make-up and short, pink skirts.

Now Sunday was a busy sports day, to be sure, what with the NBA and NHL playoffs afoot and the NFL draft concluding. And the Annika-Paula playoff wasn't completely ignored on the various sports networks. But it didn't seem to generate a buzz befitting of such a duel of dual personalities, the Icon and the Starlet.

And then there's Lorena Ochoa, only the most dominant golfer -- not the best, but the most dominant -- in the world. She's won five of the six tournaments she's played this year and this week in Tulsa can tie an LPGA record by winning her fifth straight start. She's 22 for 23 in rounds under par with a scoring average at 67.8. Statistically, no one's longer off the tee, hits more greens, or makes more birdies than Ochoa. If only she could putt. She's tied for fourth in that department.

In her spare time, Ochoa's a national hero in her native Mexico, using her foundation to, among other things, operate a school for children from low-income families and serving as an inspiration for young and old alike. She's similar to Tiger Woods, only really famous.

But that's in Mexico. And no matter how many casas are tuned in south of the border, it doesn't drive the television ratings north here in the States. Which is why the PGA Tour, largely because of the domestic TV numbers Woods produces by himself, can ask and receive billions from the networks in rights fees over the course of a multi-year contract while the LPGA -- without that one singular sensation to put fannies in front of the sets -- still has to pay the likes of CBS and ESPN to put the ladies on their air. (It's called a time buy. The LPGA or the tournament sponsor buys the time on a network and sells commercial spots, then prays the event doesn't run past its time slot and leave fans who wanted to see the end of the tournament stuck watching guys in kilts trying to pick up an El Camino or an encore presentation of the 1993 World Series of Poker.)

It's also the reason, for example, that the men are competing for $6.4 million this week at the Wachovia Championship while the ladies' purse in Tulsa is $1.8 mil. PGA Tour prize money has skyrocketed since Woods' arrival thanks to the TV rights fees windfall. Consider that the last Houston Open played before Tiger Woods turned pro was this same weekend in 1996. Mark Brooks cashed a first place check of $270,000, the same amount the LPGA winner in Tulsa will pocket Sunday. Money is far from the only motivating factor for the sports television viewer, but it's tough to convince a guy on his couch that one tournament is equal in prestige and excitement to another when the purse is three-and-a-half times less.

There are no easy answers for boosting interest in the LPGA, but I can't help but wonder if the league would be better off putting all of its eggs into the basket of one major broadcast partner, such as ABC/ESPN, to make it easy for fans to find the product. Believe it or not, people used to occasionally watch the Champions Tour. But that outfit effectively entered the witness protection program when it signed that ill-fated deal with CNBC in 2001 to show its events tape-delayed. Fans at first didn't know where or when to find it, then lost interest all together. That tour hasn't been the same since. The NHL is about as popular as Rosie O'Donnell at an NRA convention these days, in no small measure because its playoff games are on a cable network (Versus) most people don't get. It might be money well spent by the LPGA to invest in a partnership with a well-known network to grow and audience and, thus, the league.

For now, the show goes on a day late and a few more dollars short for the world's best women golfers. The LPGA has ponied up the cash to put only rounds two through four on ESPN2 for two hours a day. With a convalescing Woods absent from the Wachovia in Charlotte, the golf world ought to be running on Tulsa time this week as Ochoa chases history. We'll see who gets more air and ink. Here's guessing it'll be the boys.

Of course, if you're just looking to be titillated, don't underestimate the fat man.