t's nice to be home for the holidays after two weeks on the road. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get a W, but I played well in stretches and feel encouraged about my game.

The first stop on my trip was Japan, where I played in a nine-hole, made-for-television pro-am with Ryo Ishikawa. Actually, I played three holes against Ryo; three holes against junior golfers in which we played three different formats; and three more holes against Ryo.

I've gotten to know Ryo pretty well. I played with him the first two rounds at the British Open last year at Turnberry and at The Presidents Cup in San Francisco. He's just a great kid. He just won again recently, which I think was his ninth professional win. When I was his age, I was still playing college golf.

Then I went to Shanghai, China, to play in the WGC-HSBC Champions. I had two good bookend rounds but didn't quite get it done in the middle rounds. I basically eased into a top 10, tying for sixth.

From there, I went to Thailand to play in the World Salutes King Bhumibol skins tournament at Amata Spring Country Club in Chonburi against Thongchai Jaidee, Camilo Villegas and Paul Casey. I only won one skin, but the fans were just so nice. They were so happy to be out there watching us play golf.

I finished up the trip in Melbourne, Australia, at the JBWere Masters, where I finished fourth. I finally got it going on Sunday, when I played the last six holes 6-under par and shot 65. I can't wait until I can do that for an entire tournament.

It just takes time to build. You just have to go piece by piece. Before, I couldn't even do it on the driving range and now I can. Now, after working with Sean Foley, I can do it on the golf course sporadically, then it becomes more consistent. Eventually, it becomes a full 18 holes and beyond that, a full tournament.

I could just never gauge those greens in Australia because they were so much slower than anyone had envisioned a sandbelt course being. Everyone was surprised -- it wasn't just me. I love sandbelt courses, and they have probably the best bunkering on the entire planet.

I did want to make a couple comments about the Ryder Cup. Losing aside, it was a great experience. I had a good week with Steve Stricker again. Even though we lost one match pretty lopsided, we did well in the other matches. He and I together are 6-1, which is not too bad.

We had a great time in the team room. Phil Mickelson and I were partners in Ping-Pong most of the time against anybody that wanted to take us on. We didn't go undefeated, but we won every series. Matt Kuchar is an unbelievable player, and Zach Johnson is pretty darn good.

I have to say the people of Wales were extremely nice and very accommodating. The fans were incredible. They were partisan, obviously, but they were so respectful of both sides and great crowds to play in front of.

I recently hosted the Stanford men's golf team for a barbecue at my house. They were in town to play in the Isleworth Invitational, and it's become an annual event. It's great to have the guys around and let them basically ask questions. It's a lot of fun from both sides.

I close out the year Dec. 2-5 at the Chevron World Challenge at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, Calif. I've had good success there, winning four times, and it's always fun to play in front of the Southern California fans. The golf course is always in spectacular shape and on top of that, the world ranking points just add to the field, which is by far our strongest ever.

As for my golf game going forward, the drive is still the same: to win golf tournaments. I had a pretty good run at No. 1 -- 281 consecutive weeks -- but you only stay there if you win.

It's good to see the next generation of players stepping up, because it's great for the game. My generation was Ernie Els, Phil, Retief Goosen and Vijay Singh. Those are the guys I went head-to-head with. But regardless of age, my goal is to beat whoever is in the field.

Obviously, this has been a very difficult year for me and my family, on and off the golf course. I got through the year, and I'm in a much better place than I was a year ago and my life has balance. It was a lot more difficult than people could possibly imagine.

That's all for now. I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving and a wonderful holiday season.