I'm now back from South Africa and ready for the large family gathering we're having at home this year.

All that remains is to wish you, your family and friends,

A Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

I'm off to Sun City, one of my favourite places, at the weekend, for the Nedbank Golf Challenge. My family will be joining me.  We really have a great time there and I'm sure my kids will love it too. The hospitality is fantastic.

In the past, we've been on a safari party, which is thankfully set in an enclosure in the safari park, rather than us all being eyed up for lunch by the lions!  One year we had a beach party, which had to be held indoors because of bad weather! Can you believe it?

Then we part company as I set off for my two other scheduled South African events, the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek and the SAA Open, then it's home for Christmas.

Wish me luck!

A lot of people keep asking me about the European Tour's Order of Merit.  To be perfectly honest, I haven't been thinking about it too much.
Of course it would be nice to win it, but my focus has to be the Portuguese Masters and trying to win that.  After this week the only other counting event I have is the Volvo Masters and if at the end of it I've won the Order of Merit then great, but if not, I won't worry about it.

Then it's off to the operating theatre for my tonsils out.  They've served me well for 35 years, but now's the time to move on without them. The recovery period can be anything from four days to four weeks so hopefully I'll have plenty of time to prepare for the Million Dollar in Sun City.

I'm currently working on a few things with my swing... MORE »

Lee  withdrew from the Omega European Masters (4th-7th September) as he was suffering from tonsillitis and an ear infection, which had affected his balance, during the final round of the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles on Sunday and had to pull out of a company day the following Monday due to illness.  
He will not take part in further Tour events prior to the Ryder Cup , which takes place from the 19th to the 21st of September.

However, reports on Tuesday had suggested there was a possibility that Lee could possibly be unable to take part in the Ryder Cup having been laid low with a bout of tonsillitis. Lee spoke to Sky Sports to set the record straight and insisted there is no way he will miss the event.
"I'm fine thank you, recovering well," he said. "(The reports) are slightly wide of the mark, I think... MORE »

Coming back to Oakland Hills certainly stirs some good memories for me from four years ago although my recollection of the Sunday night of the Ryder Cup is a little bit hazy.

The golf course for this year's US PGA Championship is not quite the same as it was then, but it's just length they've added to it and hopefully it's going to suit me.

My last two tournaments in America have seen me finish third in the US Open and second at last week's WGC Bridgestone so I'm hoping to go one better this week. I'm playing all right at the moment and I hope to carry that form through.

Although during the Ryder Cup the fairways were a little bit more running and the greens were a bit quicker, I can only imagine that the greens are only going to get quicker as the week goes on. I think they... MORE »