Tiger a success

PrintComment (35)FacebookDiggYahoo BuzzI took a few days off last week, including visiting my golf-course design project at The Cliffs at High Carolina, to get ready for The Presidents Cup in San Francisco. It was a long stretch starting from the Buick Open through THE TOUR Championship. That was a lot of golf for me. The only reason I didn't play a lot earlier in the year was because I knew the FedExCup playoff series would be demanding, and I didn't want to put too much stress on my knee.

Overall, I'm absolutely thrilled about my PGA Tour season, which culminated by my winning the FedExCup for the second time. This has been one of my most consistent years on the PGA Tour. I won six times, finished second three times, placed in the top 10 in 14 of 17 starts, contended in three of four majors and had my third-lowest scoring average at 68.05. I don't think anyone could have foreseen that. Unfortunately, I just didn't get it done in the majors.

Starting out the year, I really didn't know what to expect. It was a slow process after my knee surgery, but the only anxiety I felt was how long it would take for me to feel explosive in my left leg. It was a heavy leg for a while. I was also uncertain about how I would recover, round-to-round.

The difference between how I started the year and now with my knee is night and day. Not even close. It's stable, explosive. It feels normal. I can do pretty much anything I want, and there is no pain. I'd have to say my best round of the year so far was the 62 I shot in the third round of the BMW Championship. I still have a lot golf left to play. I'm going to China, Australia and then I'll host the Chevron World Challenge in Southern California in December.

We finalized our field for the Chevron World Challenge last week, and it's our best ever. Two factors account for that: We changed our date to Dec. 2-6, and we are now awarding Official World Golf Ranking points. Both were instrumental in getting the players we wanted.

I'm very excited about returning to Northern California this week for The Presidents Cup at Harding Park, which is just up the road from where I went to college at Stanford. The Bay Area has always supported golf, whether it was the U.S. Open at Olympic Club, the USGA Junior Championship at Lake Merced or the WGC-American Express Championship at Harding, where I was fortunate enough to win in 2005. San Francisco is a great sports town.

As a junior golfer, I remember playing Harding when it was a clover field. When I came back and played it after the 2002 redesign, I couldn't believe it was the same course! I know they are rerouting it this week for The Presidents Cup, and I'm kind of curious to see what it looks like.

Most of all, I'm really looking forward to hanging out with the U.S. team. I was unable to play in the Ryder Cup last year because of my knee surgery and missed being with the guys.

The Presidents Cup is definitely more congenial, but we'll get after it starting Thursday. I think the reason it's friendlier is that 23 of the 24 players competing this week are full-time members of the PGA Tour. We see each other week after week. The only guy who isn't a regular member is Ryo Ishikawa.

I'm not sure who our captain, Fred Couples, will pair me with, but I know it will fun because I have so many good friends on the team.

At THE TOUR Championship, I gave Sean O'Hair a putting lesson on Wednesday before the first round. Usually, I don't offer advice unless someone asks for it, but he's a good friend, and that's what friends do. I just noticed something in his stroke and thought I could help. Mark O'Meara and I have done that for each other for years. Same with John Cook and Notah Begay III. Of course, I didn't know Sean would shoot 66 in the first round, and I had to go chew him out.

That's all for now. Looking forward to a great week in San Francisco and will check back with you next month.