The last time I hit balls was in Hong Kong and for more reason than that the weather here has been horrific since I returned.

Missing out by just one spot in the Race To Dubai was hard to take, but I sat down with my manager Chubby Chandler and I listened to his advice.

‘Take six weeks off, don’t touch a club, get back in the gym and be ready to hit the road running when you return in the New Year,’ was his opinion.  I accepted it.

 Since then I’ve missed just one day in the gym, been working extremely hard and with Phil Kenyon’s help I’ve been sharpening my putting.    Hopefully everything will fall into place because I’m playing five in a row when I return – twice in South Africa and then to the Middle East for successive events in Abu Dhabi, Qatar and then Dubai.

It’s been unusual for me to be at home throughout December, but I’ve enjoyed the change.  Normally I’ve been travelling, but it’s been good to be part of the build up to Christmas, spending time with the family and generally re-charging the batteries.

Apart from looking forward to my mother’s birthday party at the weekend, I’ll be concentrating on making sure that 2010 is much better than 2009 proved.

Despite being bitterly disappointed to miss out on Dubai, I was delighted for my good friends ISM colleagues Lee Westwood and Rory McIlroy, who finished the Road To Dubai in first and second places in the money list.

Believe me, the golf that Lee played all week and particularly in the last round when he didn’t miss a fairway or green, had been coming all year.   I know how it feels to perform like that under so much pressure and winning the money list was a deserved honour.

Rory will have been disappointed to having been overtaken after entering the last event in poll position, but he should not be at all hard on himself.   He has made an enormous amount of progress through the year and the way he’s conducted himself shows just why he is destined to become a global superstar.

Finally I’d like to thank everybody who has been so supportive during the year and to all the people who have logged on to catch up with my world.  You can be sure that I will be doing everything possible to give you something more positive to read about during the next 12 months.

Speak to you soon, but in the meantime have a great time over the holidays.