Leave aside the current troubles of the sport's top player and instead look ahead to what should be a fantastic twelve months for golf fans. Here are ten reasons to be cheerful in 2010:

2. The Ryder Cup: 2009 didn't lack for excitement or drama, but Ryder Cup years always seem to have that extra dimension. Yes we over obsess on this biennial clash between Europe and the US but the intrigue of the qualification period provides a strong narrative for the season and the match itself never fails to deliver. The October date at Celtic Manor provides concern over autumnal conditions in the Usk Valley but this already feels as though it will be a very special match, especially with Europe so desperate to recapture the trophy. Judging by the 2009 year end rankings we will be watching the best players in the world, Europe and America each have 11 players in the world's top 30. The captains, Colin Montgomerie and Corey Pavin are such strong competitors they will be their own sources of interest throughout the year and once again golf will be able to transcend and attract general sports fans as well as die-hard golf enthusiasts. Bring it on.

3. The Return of Tiger part 1: Who knows when it will happen, but when it does it will be one of THE sports stories of 2010. Speculation is rife as to what "indefinite" means. Some say he will skip the entire year, but that seems unlikely. The odds are more likely on a return in time for the Masters. The carefully managed media side at Augusta would make the first major of the year an attractive idea for Woods (TMZ would struggle for accreditation), but he would surely want some competitive action before continuing his quest to overhaul Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 big ones. Could his season start at the Match Play as it did in 2009? What would be the message of returning at an event backed by one of the companies that dropped him from their sponsorship roster in the wake of the revelations about his private life? A trip to Uncle Arnie's place at Bay Hill is another option, but in reality how could we possibly know where Woods will tee up next when in all probability he has no idea? What is certain is that when he does come back golf will immediately jump towards the top of the sporting agenda.

Tiger Woods is taking an "indefinite" break from golf following revelations about his private life

4. The return of Tiger part 2: Quote of the year in 2009 came from Johnny Miller ahead of the final round at Bay Hill: "When you are paired in the final group with Tiger Woods you are the butter and he is the sun." Opposition has nearly always melted in Woods' presence if he has a sniff of a title. That's why YE Yang's US PGA victory was so special at Hazeltine, prompting "the end of an aura" type headlines. Well that message has been trotted out plenty since Tiger's troubles showed him to be as prone to human frailties as anyone else. So will the opposition continue to be as meek on a Sunday back nine as it has been throughout much of Woods' career? He needs five more majors to overhaul Nicklaus. As Peter Alliss recently said if Woods wins those the size of that achievement would dwarf anything he has already done in his glittering career. In any case when he does come back the competitive story will be strong enough to have us talking golf far more readily than the stuff that's been dominating the winter agenda so far.

5. Lee Westwood: Europe's number one doesn't believe much in mind gurus, the chaps who encourage clients to set their goals and keep them secret. We know the targets Westwood has in his sights and he is happy to tell us. Immediately after winning the Dubai World Championship he was discussing how he can use this success in his bid to win the Masters in April. For the Englishman it's simple. The one thing he hasn't won is majors and everything will be pointed at satisfying that aim. Emboldened by his recent wins in Portugal and in the desert, having finished the year as world number four and with the best caddie in the business, Billy Foster, on his bag 2010 is surely the year for the big breakthrough. He is now ready to seize the moment. He had the opportunity to do so at Turnberry and couldn't manage it. Expect him not to make the same mistakes again given the chance in 2010. Remember the groove factor too - Westwood is long but accurate from the tee a quality that should now have a higher premium.

6. Rory McIlroy: 20 years old and already a member of the world's top 10 and he looks at home there. His stats bear a striking resemblance to those of a 19-year-old Seve Ballesteros in 1976 - when the Spaniard won once en route to taking the Order of Merit crown - though the golfing world was a somewhat different place then. Only Westwood's brilliance denied McIlroy the Race to Dubai crown and the teenager will have learned plenty from the way the experienced Westwood bullied his way past him in Dubai. Mark O'Meara, Tiger Woods, Ernie Els and Ian Poulter were all among those who sang loudly McIlroy's praises in the course of 2009. From tee to green there are few better and only with the short stick is there much room for improvement. So long as he ensures he has the right voices around him on and off the course, 2010 could prove his lift-off year that should include a Ryder Cup debut.

7. Padraig Harrington: The man who shattered the glass ceiling that had frosted over European golf for far too long had a relatively quiet 2009. But from the moment he surrendered his Open title at Turnberry the Irishman appeared to have turned a significant corner, though uncharacteristically ruinous final round visits to the drink did for his chances at the WGC Bridgestone Invitational and US PGA. He was, though, a consistent performer in the second half of the year and while the economic downturn hit some of his investments hard, Harrington appears in the mood to challenge at the majors in 2010. He also has a point or two to prove at the Ryder Cup having failed to fire in the two previous matches. Another big year would mean plenty of visits to the interview room and so an enlightening year for those of us sitting listening.

8. Pebble Beach: The iconic home of the US Open, it is 10 years since America's national championship was last played on this special piece of California coastline and so anticipation could not be higher for the second major of the year. We'd be feeling the same about our own Open being played at St Andrews if the R&A could bring themselves to limit the number of times they use the Home of Golf, but that's another matter and this is supposed to be an upbeat piece. We remember Watson's chip in at the 17th to defy Nicklaus, Kite flying in the wind to deny Monty and Woods winning by fifteen shots a decade ago. Pebble never fails to deliver.

9. The extended Road Hole: Opinion is split on the putting back of the 17th tee on the Old Course at St Andrews by 35 yards. A collective groan often meets news of a course being extended to cope with the distances travelled by the modern day golf ball. But if this move makes the famous Road Hole once again the most feared par 4 in the game at this year's Open then it should be welcomed. We want a player with a two-shot lead not to feel comfortable until this hole has been completed. But here's also a chance to get rid of the rough down the right-hand side which was a blight on this majestic hole.

10. Chris Wood's headgear: Or rather the lack of it. How refreshing to see a top player rejecting the opportunity to use his head as an advertising hoarding and here's hoping he continues with this policy in 2010. Think of the greats of the past and how distinctive they were in the absence of standard issue hats or visors - Nicklaus, Seve and co. Those who chose to wear hats had their own style - Watson, Trevino and Hogan for example. Too many of the modern players look too similar and the peaks of those caps obscure too much of their personality. Wood has been the exception and long may it continue. He climbed 120 places in the rankings in 2009 and now into the top 75 the eilte leading 50 spots in the rankings is surely within touching distance. Hats off to Wood!

It is a shame it is a monotone, but you can't have everything, and this is Tim Finchem, the PGA Tour's Commissioner, we are talking about.

Predictably, the answers weren't exactly dynamite and most could have been anticipated ahead of his traditional year-end teleconference, one that surely attracted a record numbers of listeners.

Finchem managed to deliver a rare dose of good news to the beleaguered Tiger Woods, perhaps the first that's gone the way of the world number one since his family life imploded three weeks ago.

And who can blame Finchem from taking this view. As he acknowledged, the Tour and Tiger need each other. Furthermore, Finchem's smooth legalese found a skilful form of words to exonerate the man who remains his most important player.

PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem poses with Tiger Woods after his win in the Bridgestone Invitational

"The PGA Tour has never, to my knowledge in our history, taken a situation in someone's personal life and dealt with it from a disciplinary matter or considered it conduct unbecoming as it relates to our regulations," Finchem said.

"Our regulations relate to conduct unbecoming that's either in the public arena or law enforcement arena."

Many will support Finchem's view that this is a domestic situation that is no business of those who provide the means to Woods' day job.

Others will wonder how behaving in a way that has led the world's best player to be the subject of a barrage of lurid tabloid headlines is anything other than "unbecoming".

Pay your money and take your choice. More curious was the way Finchem dismissed any worries over Woods' apparent association with a doctor who admits to using human growth hormone and who is under investigation by the FBI.

"The only thing we know is that there was a procedure reported. I haven't been directly involved in it, but our anti-doping people have looked at it and they've concluded that there's nothing about that procedure that would trigger any violation of our anti-doping policy," Finchem said.

The procedure concerned is the perfectly legal platelet-rich plasma therapy which means taking blood, subjecting it to a spinning technique and then re-injecting it into the affected part of the body. "There's no reason for me to be concerned because I have no information to trigger concern," Finchem added.

The first bit is understandable, the second less so - and here's why. There is no evidence of Woods misusing treatments and potentially dodgy substances, but there is a link between him and someone who is under investigation for such practice - and that surely prompts "concern".

This has set off another frenzy of rumour and speculation, and Woods finds himself at the centre of it. His marriage falls apart, he admits infidelity and all of a sudden it's open season. Before he knows it, he's being labelled a potential drug cheat. And all because that bothersome knee is giving him more jip (and that's the real story by the way).

Shouldn't there be sufficient concern to have this properly looked into? Shouldn't the Tour, the one that administers anti-doping, be making a thorough check on this situation so that Woods can be properly exonerated? He would have nothing to fear, after all.

This is Finchem's theory on why there is no need for any concern. "The reason for that is we spent a year reaching out to players, working with them on understanding the details of our anti-doping policy, the elements of that policy and we got back virtually 100% support for those policies, including Tiger.

"So they've taken it very seriously... I have no reason to have concern with respect to him and a doctor that's used HGH (human growth hormone) with whatever patients for whom it's not an illegal drug."

HGH can be used legally but breaches the Wada code on anti-doping. How would this response go down in other sports? Golf shouldn't view itself any differently if it has the need for an anti-doping programme.

There is a perception that Woods' celebrity status helped him with the Florida State Attorney in the aftermath of the crash that set off the chain of events that have left the golfer at this low ebb.

Such a view of preferential treatment doesn't do anyone any favours, especially with an image to rebuild, and Finchem's comments, which sweep the matter under the carpet, smack of him misguidedly "giving the kid a break", as Woods' manager Mark Steinberg might say.

To be fair to Finchem, he otherwise did a good job of trying to diffuse the crisis that surrounds Woods and the potential knock-on effects for golf. He was robust in his view that the game can still prosper in the indefinite absence of its biggest name.

Woods has been dropped by Accenture

Naturally, you wouldn't expect any other view, and it was also no surprise that he emphasised that Accenture, the highest profile company to ditch Woods, has recently extended its commitment to the WGC Matchplay until 2014.

As for the player himself, well, it's reported not even his celebrity friend Charles Barkley can contact him at the moment and he remains in hiding.

Guardian golf blogger Lawrence Donegan has brilliantly compiled the 27 things we have learned in this extraordinary time since the car crash on 27 November and No 27 sums up Woods' situation perfectly. "Fame, wealth, endless supplies of free golf clubs - you might think you have everything but, trust me, you don't."

Tim Finchem is still your mate, though.

But if you sat down and thought it through, thought about all that Tiger Woods's return to action would entail both publicly and privately, it was impossible to envisage him stepping back on to a tee in the foreseeable future.

This has been an astonishing fall from grace. From the height of his powers as one of the most dominant figures in all of sport to humiliation and contrition after a devastating fortnight of lurid claims and rumours about his private life.

And the world's top golfer has recognised that a return to the public eye cannot be considered at the moment. It has to be left on one side.

Tiger Woods's previously squeaky-clean image has been tarnished

When Tiger Woods walks into a room you are instantly struck. It's not the immaculate turn-out, the athletic, confident walk and the flash of a brilliant smile that does it. It's the eyes.

They never waver, if he talks to you the eyes never wander (how ironic) they fix on you as if you are the only person in the room. There's nothing shifty. I first noticed it in 1997 in a packed press conference at the Congressional home of the US Open, his first major since winning his first Masters.

For my first question to the sport's newest icon - something about his caddie as I recall - I was standing at the back of a crowded press conference and his stare never left me from the moment the question was asked.

That way of going about his business has never changed in the dozen years since.

Now who can he look in the eye? This is his problem and it is why the rebuilding of his personal life is of such importance to his public side.

American commentators are calling this the first right move in a fortnight of public relations disasters. Perhaps it is the turning of a corner, but it is too early to say.

Events have been out of Woods' control. He has been forced from the "this situation is all my fault" of his first statement to the "those transgressions" confession to now the confirmation of "infidelity".

How humiliating for someone who until just over a fortnight ago was among the most visibly assured human beings on the planet. Now the sponsors who pay him millions seem to have stopped showing his image in association with their products on television.

He is the butt of internet jokes clogging inboxes across the globe, the subject of continued tabloid scrutiny. However much we might want the world to leave him and his family alone it won't happen until this thing has taken its full course.

As Woods tries to repair his marriage his strategists are seeking to mend his image. He has always operated with a close coterie of advisors and if any of those were party to his infidelity, it is almost impossible to envisage them remaining and his marriage surviving.

The two scenarios would seem mutually exclusive. But for Woods to lose some or all of that close-knit group would be a massive blow because they have been at the heart of his domination of the golfing world and commercial spin-offs.

For golf his downfall is also damaging. The PGA Tour was quick to express support for Woods' decision to take time out, but will be concerned at the prospect of trying to renew sponsor contracts next year with so much uncertainty surrounding the future of their biggest calling card.

The Open survived just fine when he missed Birkdale with his busted knee but how will his potential absence affect the 150th anniversary Championship at St Andrews, the venue where he's twice won the Claret Jug?

Yes the fans will still turn up, we may indeed get a more exciting Championship if he is not there given that his wins in 2000 and 2005 were utterly dominant. But it is right now that deals are being done on the credit-crunched corporate side and the Woods affair has done nothing for the price of packages.

The US Open at Pebble Beach will be similarly affected.

All of which, I suspect, is of little concern to Woods and his family at the moment. The American columnist Rick Reilly brilliantly summed up the last fortnight when he said the golfer was the first person to hit a hydrant and set himself on fire.

Now Woods has to douse those flames and by taking an indefinite break from the sport he has dominated for more than a decade he may at last have the hoses pointing in the right direction.

No-one knows when he will return to golf, least of all the player himself. Let's hope he can solve his family problems to sufficient extent to enable him to compete again in the not too distant future.

When this story first broke, when the Cadillac hit the tree and the initial rumours of serious injury were discounted most observers thought it would be business as usual soon enough.

Now we're at a stage where he can never go back to what we regarded as business as usual. When he does return he will be a different personality who is likely to have different priorities.

Fans might forgive but no one can forget the events of the last two weeks and with that he will have to come to terms.

I prefer to remember him for the way he bestrode the fairways at Hoylake and beat the field into submission with his brilliant golf just weeks after the death of his father in 2006.

That was the super-human Woods bouncing back from the biggest tragedy of his life to that point. The comeback from this, when and if it happens, will require the ordinary human side of the man to come to the fore if it is to be at all successful.

But let's leave Tiger Woods for now and consider some of the other significant developments that have occurred in the 10 days in which golf, or at least its best player, has been such a dominant topic of conversation.

From a European point of view, perhaps the most significant news has been the announcement of the 2010 tournament schedule, coming as it did in the wake of revelations on the size of Dubai's gigantic debts.

The stricken Emirate is at the heart of the European Tour's strategy and it was clear to anyone who attended last month's Dubai World Championship that they had done extremely well to keep alive the season ending tournament.

O'Grady continues to stand by those comments. He says he's been given assurances that the $15m will be there for the DWC and Race to Dubai bonus cash for the top 15 on the money list.

So as it stands at the moment, the 2010 season will be the second running of the Race to Dubai with six new tournaments in a 47 event schedule.

Britain's Lee Westwood ended the 2009 season in style

But for English golf fans the coming year is bleak with just one tournament, the PGA Championship in May on Wentworth's revamped West Course (it is getting mixed reviews from those who've seen the changes there by the way - they've gone down well with some, but I'm hearing other players are less than keen).

All this at a time when England can boast no fewer than four players in the world's top 18 - only the US has a greater representation in the upper echelons of the game.

But despite this potentially golden era sponsors could not be found for the European Open, played for the last two years at the London Club in Kent. The event had been propped up by Dubai money, but not any longer.

The British Masters also fails to feature on the 2010 calendar, having not been played since 2008, and a much vaunted replacement tournament to be staged in Northern Ireland failed to materialise.

Another worrying development for the Tour is the news that America's PGA Tour has found a date to stage an event in Malaysia. Tim Finchem seems to flexing his muscles in Asia, a key part of the world for O'Grady's rival organisation.

It's good to see Valderrama back on the schedule for the Andalucia Masters while an autumn date has still to be finalised for the World Matchplay just down the road on the Costa del Sol at Finca Cortesin.

That tournament might have to run to five days and have a Wednesday start to allow leeway for weather delays. There was none when this year's event won by Ross Fisher was thankfully blessed with glorious weather.

Fisher is England's fourth man in the world's top 18 and, speaking of the rankings, are you somewhat uneasy that world ranking points were on offer at Woods' tournament in California last week?

While it is great news for Graeme McDowell that he leapt from 55th to 38th in the world, effectively securing his place in the Masters and WGCs for next year, it seems a rather excessive reward for finishing second in an 18-man event, especially as he was a last minute call up for the absent you-know-who.

And speaking of absentees another disappointing one is Catriona Matthew from the list of nominees for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award. What more does a British female golfer have to do for due recognition?

Don't blame the Beeb, but the parochial sports editors who clearly failed to recognise the significance of beating the world's best to win the Women's British Open so soon after giving birth to her second child.

Interestingly, elsewhere on this site you can see who nominated whom and only Scottish publications found room to put forward the name of Matthew.

Still I'm told Sunday's event will be a great night for golf and many top players will be in attendance in Sheffield including the newly crowned European Tour Golfer of the Year Lee Westwood, who thoroughly deserves that accolade after his stunning end to the season.

It's unlikely we will see Woods collecting the Overseas Award, I guess. His situation seems to worsen by the day, and who knows when we will see him play again.

Torrey Pines at the end of January still seems to be the most likely option, but will he really want to make his return to action at such a high profile venue so close to Hollywood and its rat-pack reporters?

The suggestion that his campaign might begin at the start of the PGA Tour season at the SBS Championship at Kapalua has gathered some momentum. There are rumours that he'd agreed to play in Hawaii in exchange from the Tour for a more favourable date for last week's Chevron Challenge.

But they are only rumours. As are so many of the stories surrounding the stricken superstar at the moment.

It could well be that the scale of the crisis that's engulfed him and his family might keep Woods away from golf for much longer than had been first anticipated.

The world's top golfer has issued a plea for privacy and is dismayed at realising "the full extent of what tabloid scrutiny really means."

If you thought his Cadillac took a pounding in his accident in the early hours of Friday morning, that's nothing to the battering his image has subsequently taken.

This is the lowest point of what has been to date the most extraordinarily glittering of careers. The heights he has reached make the fall so much the greater and that's what so whets the appetite of the tabloids. The bigger they are the harder the headlines.

And there is no doubt those headlines are what has prompted the issuing of the statement, no longer could he and his advisors hide behind a "no comment" sign.

Striving to be a better person has to be a more attractive trait than trying to be a better driver (off the tee I mean) doesn't it? Because that's been the predominant aspect of Woods' image up to this point - his overwhelming desire to become a greater golfer.

It's clear from the tone of his statement that he still believes that all he should ever be required to discuss in public is his golf. The rest is none of our business.

But as he and his family must be feeling most painfully at the moment it doesn't work that way when you're a public figure and especially when you are sport's first billionaire.

By pulling out of his tournament, the Chevron Challenge in California, Woods has given himself breathing space to take care of the family issues that currently surround him.

Expect him to return to golf probably in the last week of January at Torrey Pines although February's Dubai Desert Classic might make for an attractively lower-key comeback.

Woods fascinates. He is the all-American hero, who could do no wrong - a winner, a champion without blemish and an aura to fit.

He regards himself as an athlete, he has brought athleticism to golf - indeed he has revolutionised the sport to the extent that the game is now regarded suitable for Olympic inclusion.

That's just one way in which golf has benefited from the extraordinary Woods era. Add in the inflation in prize money since he arrived on the scene and what he has done for television viewing figures and it is easy to see why golf should rally around him.

This is a time when he needs his mates. There are plenty on the Tour who like to regard themselves as friends of Tiger, but how many does he consider trusted confidantes?

His big pal has always been Mark O'Meara, but he's rarely at the same events these days - the same applies to college buddies like Notah Begay and neighbours like John Cook.

Woods likes to surround himself with his own team of managers and advisors when he's on the road. Given the choice between condo and a hotel he'll take the self-catered option every time.

It helps him set himself apart, but it also further isolates him from the rank and file. This fits the image he has always tried to put forward of the special one. It creates a virtuous circle; greatness because of great results leads to great results because of greatness.

But now that circle has been somewhat dented. Woods needs his friends and I suspect he will be pleasantly surprised when he returns to action and finds that sports fans are a pretty forgiving bunch - actually strike that - most of them are probably not that judgemental.

So they'll still be enraptured by his majesty on the golf course, "you are still the maaaannnn!!" they will cry and he will remain the favourite to win at every tournament he plays.

In the wake of his 2006 Open win at Hoylake Woods spoke of how touched he was by the way the British crowds reacted to his emotion at winning his first major since the death of his father earlier that year.

He was genuinely moved but in recent times it strikes me that he has been taking adulation from the galleries rather for granted. I wonder if that might change after these events and whether in the long run he will become a more human, and more popular, figure?

Think about the next three majors: Augusta, Pebble Beach and St Andrews are the venues and all have been brought to their knees by the great Tiger Woods. Even with all this going on it's hard to imagine a second successive year without a major victory in 2010.

Obviously, though, right now his priorities are elsewhere.

And what is that like for the superstar at the centre of it all?

When he was asked Woods gave perhaps his most telling answer of the week he spent at this month's WGC Champions tournament in Shanghai. Just five words summed up his feelings. "I have never liked it," he said.

Hardly revelatory because we know Woods loathes sharing his life with anyone other than those nearest and dearest. His yacht is named "Privacy" in case we were in any doubt.

This is sport's first self-made billionaire. Within his substantial sphere he has presidential influence and is treated as royalty.

The world's top golfer has his own tried and trusted methods to deal with the attention he generates and it all comes down to controlling the situation.

It means making little or no eye contact with anyone other than his caddie and playing partners when he is on the course. This is perhaps best illustrated as he walks to the range ahead of a round.

Woods looks to the sky during October's Presidents Cup

At Hazeltine ahead of the third round of this year's USPGA in August, I well remember his march to the practice area. Fans were screaming support, demanding autographs or just a wave of acknowledgment. Woods stared straight ahead as he strode hands in pockets, seemingly oblivious to the commotion.

This went on for fully 100 yards. One was left to conclude that this was a man in a bubble of fierce concentration ahead of a massively important round. Nothing could disturb him and as a bi-product he was building further his aura of invincibility.

Then something very interesting happened. Woods arrived at his allotted spot on the range and the mask disintegrated into a huge smile. There was his mate Freddie Couples. A high five, a shared joke, a laugh and a giggle and a jibe followed to the big-hitting Alvaro Quiros who was the opposite side of Woods slot.

Was he really in a bubble of concentration as he made his way to the range? Probably, but the objective was merely to deflect the hysteria that was being directed Woods' way and to do nothing that might encourage it further.

Control is the key to all that Woods does. Control of the golf ball on the course, control of the circus he generates off it. Who knows what happens when he is behind the walls of his exclusive gated community in Orlando's Isleworth Estate because that is how he needs it to be.

Anything pertaining to his private life tends to be carefully managed through his website. For example take this answer to a question about how difficult it is for him to be away from his family when travelling to tournaments in a recent Q and A session on the site.

Woods said: "You're exactly right. Now, it's very difficult to leave Elin and the children, and I'm sure it's only going to get tougher. Once Sam and Charlie start school, it won't be easy to take them out of class for a week-long trip. A veteran pro once said it's tough to leave them as babies, but once they ask you not to go, it breaks your heart. That's something I'll always remember."

So this car crash in the middle of the night outside his home takes Woods into the sort of territory he loathes. So much of it is out of his control.

He will not be able to prevent the inevitable questions over what he was doing and where he was going on a Friday at 2.25 am. He will have little say over police accounts of what happened making their way into the public domain and will have to deal with a media army stationed outside his home.

The incident will dominate the Chevron World Challenge at Thousand Oaks, Los Angeles due to start on Thursday, which is his own tournament with proceeds benefiting the Tiger Woods Foundation. Think about it, LA - if ever there was a place where they know how to run with a huge showbiz story.

In the past year it has been noticeable that Woods has become ever more ill at ease in the public eye. This blog has noted the on-course tantrums, the club throwing at the Open and his morose demeanour during his early Monday morning practice at Turnberry.

For someone who seemingly has it all - a beautiful wife, a young family, fantastic wealth and exceptional talent there seems little in the way of obvious happiness.

Of course, this may be down to the fact that we only see one portion of the 33-year-old's life but it is more than apparent that the trademark smile is not a frequent as it once was and that he seems ever more irritable.

There was the club that went (accidentally) bouncing into the crowd during the Australian Masters last week after a different form of poor driving.

His ragged performance on the front nine of the final round in Shanghai had some observers muttering speculation that "there must be something wrong at the moment." It may just have been his game but it was seriously out of character and so far below his usual standard of golf, just as it was when he missed the cut at Turnberry.

I was with one leading player this week, someone who knows how to win majors, who commented that he "wouldn't want Tiger's life at any price". He added that the only place you can have a proper conversation with him is in the privacy of the locker room - that's when he can be one of the boys.

"He doesn't know what it's like to go to a shopping mall," the player added.

Now Woods' celebrity has veered off on a different course with the lack of control he seems to have shown at the wheel of his Cadillac.

Woods and his advisors will be desperate to assume command of the story and keep details to the barest minimum making their way into the public domain.

He will regard failure to do so as a serious impediment to his progress in establishing himself as the greatest golfer ever to play the game. He finds it tough enough to live life as a dominant figure on the back pages, how he will hate being front page news.

And how his band of followers should get on there to congratulate the newly crowned European number one after a truly stunning display in the desert.

Having covered the Tour for the last seven seasons I am struggling to recall a more dominant performance in such a significant event. You probably have to go back to Nick Faldo's 1996 demolition of Greg Norman at Augusta before you can identify better golf from an Englishman.

Westwood played with a deadly calm, succeeding fully in the objective given to him by caddie Billy Foster to bully his way to the Dubai World Championship title and Race to Dubai crown.

With both titles on the line he was bogey free in compiling weekend rounds of 66 and 64. It was the best golf of Westwood's life.

His objective from here has to be to harness that mental approach at the majors. If he does watch out; green jackets, claret jugs and the rest of the most prized trophies in the game could easily be making their way to Westwood Towers.

It is hard to imagine anyone in the world being capable of beating him in the form he showed in dropping just two shots in 72 holes on the Earth Course and that includes Tiger Woods.

OK it wasn't a major but he was determined to overhaul Rory McIlroy in the Race to Dubai and he was treating it with the intensity of one of the big four championships as he sought to overcome the disappointment of missing out on the Open at Turnberry in July.

Clearly his partnership with Foster has provided the missing link. Westwood has never been one for the mind gurus ("They all look funny don't they," he once said) but Foster has effectively provided that role.

"We are good mates," Westwood said. "You're never quite sure how that's going to turn out when you start working with somebody you get on really well with."

Well it has worked out just fine and Foster has the confidence and caddie intelligence to administer the right advice at the right time. He was in Westwood's ear the entire 72 holes to ensure his boss's mind was in the right place.

"I'll probably get done by the stewards for excess whipping," Foster told this blog. "I just worked really hard on making him focus on every shot and worrying about what he has to do and not worry about what anybody else was doing."

It was the perfect advice, best illustrated by McIlroy's performance this week. Finishing third was a fine effort and would ordinarily have been enough to secure a money-list title given the lead he held going into the final event.

But his admission that he would be happier playing with someone other than Westwood after the first round could only embolden the eventual champion and it did. McIlroy will learn and in the meantime we should be grateful for his candour.

To have heard the number of players raving about McIlroy's ball striking this week was convincing in the extreme, especially if his game on the greens tightens up. He's only 20 and runner up in the Race is some achievement.

But it is Westwood who is rightly Europe's number one. Foster has caddied for many great ball strikers; Darren Clarke, Sergio Garcia and in the absence of Steve Williams he is the man Woods has turned to for caddie duties.

"He is as good a ball striker as there is tee to green," Foster says of his current employer and he isn't surprised that Westwood is back in the winner's circle so soon after breaking his season duck in Portugal.

Rivals raved about McIlroy's ball striking in Dubai

"I figured that would take him back to the Westwood of old. He was the best closer in golf bar none 10 or12 years ago," Foster said.

It was the perfect scenario for the European Tour and their Middle Eastern hosts to have the Race decided by the winner of the inaugural Dubai World Championship.

Don't be fooled into thinking the Earth Course was a pushover because the winning score was 23 under par. "I'd have been quite happy to walk off there 16 or 17 under," said Foster.

The layout stood up well to the test and looked good on television. It'll never be a classic - it is a resort course tweaked enough to test the pros.

Was the Race to Dubai a success? It's a question I've been asked several times this week and on balance you would have to say yes. It provided a thrilling climax to the year and it felt as though it generated more attention than previous Orders of Merit.

You may be a better judge - did it do it for you?

Given the economic difficulties in Dubai at the moment it was right that the European Tour sought to cut prize money by 25%. It was still a massive investment by the Emirate and the idea is to use golf to sell property.

That will be the measure. Tour boss George O'Grady says "we are part of the solution" to the financial woes that have silenced so many cranes in these parts - let's hope the Dubai paymasters share his view.

In the meantime it's off to the 606 pages to check out what the new champion of Europe has to say and what you have to say to him. I'd start with a "very well done....."

WGC events reliably identify the best players in the world - that's why Tiger Woods has won 17 of the 32 that have been played.

But in China an out of sorts Woods could only manage a share of sixth place after suffering a front-nine meltdown in the dream final group alongside eventual champion Phil Mickelson, who claimed his second WGC title of the year.

'Lefty' took the title at the end of a thrilling final day that proved big time golf is at home in Asia. The Sheshan course stood up to the test and a unique atmosphere had, at times, the intensity of a major.

For once, Mickelson left world number one Woods trailing in his wake

Woods seemed to be derailed after missing a short birdie putt at the second that would have brought him to within a short of the world number two's overnight lead.

He tugged his tee shot into the water at the short 4th, three-putted after charging a 20-footer almost half that distance past the 6th hole and was screaming at a mis-timed camera on the 7th tee.

Cameras and phones - indeed the combination of both on most sets - are part and parcel of golf in this part of the world. But as Mickelson acknowledged afterwards the main culprits were from shutter happy professional snappers rather than over enthusiastic fans.

Woods sent that tee-shot at seven into a fairway bunker, fluffed his escape and put his pitch into a greenside trap. It was the golf of a Sunday hacker not the world number one and he was clearly riled.

"Everything that could go wrong went wrong for me today," Woods later observed.

Mickelson made an important birdie on that seventh hole to steady the ship after back-to-back bogeys at the 4th and 5th holes. The significance of that birdies became apparent at the next because that's where the first full leaderboard comes into view and it showed Ernie Els was within a shot of his lead.

The South African, experimenting with a new softer ball he'll be using next year, at last was finding his touch on the greens and went ahead with his eighth birdie of the day at the 17th (he'd also eagled the 8th).

But the water gobbled his duffed five-wood second to the par-five last and the resultant bogey scuppered Els as Mickelson was saving par from long range at the 16th and then nudging ahead with birdie at the 17th.

Then came a tense closing hole where the champion needed to play eight irons twice from the left rough to find the green and two-putt for a one-shot win.

Els remained upbeat afterwards, saying: "This week was a big week, I made a lot of putts. My short game is back and I'm feeling good about my future again."

Also in the mix were superb challenges from Ryan Moore (the American doesn't seem to bother with spikes in his trainers by the way) and Rory McIlroy, who rediscovered his mojo with a 63 that may reignite his tilt at the Race to Dubai.

It was compelling stuff wherever you looked and the greatest significance to the game was the overwhelming success of this event. The PGA Tour is looking rather out of step by not acknowledging this result as a tour win and it irritates Mickelson.

"I don't understand why it doesn't," the champion told me. "But it is just as rewarding whether the PGA Tour recognises it or not because I played against fifteen of the top twenty players in the world and was able to come out on top."

It would be no surprise if retrospectively Mickelson is credited with a tour win and it surely will not be long before a formula is arrived upon to give this tournament full credit on the PGA Tour.

Their European counterparts are in a far easier position because this event plays a pivotal role in the Race to Dubai which still has two weeks to run. It's not so simple in America where the season ended with the FedEx Cup.

"That may evolve, as I've said in the past, over the next two or three years," said PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem as he offered some hope of change.

Finchem has often defended playing all the WGC events in America saying that television brings them to the rest of the world. Hopefully he will have seen a different side to that argument by noting the enthusiasm of the Chinese crowds.

The Champions event can fill a significant hole in the global golfing calendar because it is so far removed from the majors and the other American based WGC events in Arizona, Doral and Firestone.

"It'll be interesting to see over the next five or six years where this tournament ends up in the calendar," Mickelson observed. "And whether or not it gets full status in the US.

"This was, I thought, a very successful event. Because of that I think it has momentum to continue to move up in status and importance."

This was another example of Mickelson not putting a word out of place because he recognises the importance of the Chinese market. He's been like the new boyfriend meeting the potential in-laws for the first time all week long.

Woods doesn't need to go on such charm offensives because of his global status, but it was clear from the galleries that Mickelson won the popularity contest with the world number one by embarking on marathon signing sessions, permanently smiling and politely acknowledgment support.

That's not Woods' style, preferring the poker-faced approach of narrow focus. It adds to the stunning contrast between the world's top two players that exists at every level from the opposite way they swing onwards.

Mickelson now embarks on a 10-week break, Woods heads to Melbourne's stunning Kingston Heath for the Australian Masters.

Although neither is keen to fuel their rivalry verbally it promises to be stronger than ever next season. Mickelson has won four times in a year blighted by his wife and mother suffering from breast cancer.

He assures us that his other half Amy is making good progress in her recovery and provided he can maintain an uninterrupted schedule in 2010 we may well see his rivalry with Woods hit new heights.

The global game threatens to do likewise if it can build on the enthusiasm for the sport generated in this extraordinary week in China.

Poulter is aiming at breaking into the world's top 10 before the end of the season; Fisher believes he now has what it takes to turn near misses in majors into victories of substance.

And why not? Both have just recorded highly impressive wins and feel ready to take on a field headed by the world's top two at the WGC-HSBC Champions tournament at the Sheshan International Golf Club.

Yes Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson are in town and the circus that follows is something to behold. It goes with the territory when you are at the top of the game and that's where Poulter and Fisher are firmly setting their sights.

"That would certainly tick a few of the boxes I set for myself at the start of the year."

Of course hearing lofty goals and words of such confidence is not exactly a surprise coming from Poulter's mouth. His self-belief is his greatest quality, it makes him an over-achiever and he is right to recognise the significance of this week and those that follow.

A win here or at the Dubai World Championship to follow his Singapore success would all but sew up a Ryder Cup place as well and Poulter knows it. "It sounds crazy but in four tournaments you can.

"If you can nick one or two wins, and I've already got one, you can get close and the sooner I can get in that side the better it is for me and I can be more relaxed about my golf next year."

Ian Poulter celebrates with the Singapore Open trophy

Fisher also has his ambitions to make it into Colin Montgomerie's team for Celtic Manor but now also believes he is ready to win one of the big four championships.

He will readily tell you that he led all four majors at some stage last year and that but for a putt or two going astray at the wrong moment he would have won the US Open.

But he also acknowledges that those are the putts that make the difference. They don't go astray for those who land Masters, Open and US PGA titles.

And so it was his stellar putting displays that helped beat Angel Cabrera and then Anthony Kim to land the Volvo World Matchplay that gave him most satisfaction at Finca Cortesin in Southern Spain last weekend.

"That's what it all comes down to. You've got to hit fairways and greens but the most important thing is you've got to stand up there on the green and hole putts," Fisher said.

"Unfortunately this year in the majors I didn't quite do that on the Sundays. Last week Saturday and especially Sunday I holed some crucial putts.

"It's nice to know that under the gun and under the pressure I can step up there, handle it and knock in some putts. I'll take a lot from that and I'm sure it will hold me in good stead when I get into those positions again."

Fatigue may prove Fisher's biggest hurdle this week. Still in the clothes he wore to win the biggest title of his career he was on a delayed Sunday night budget airline full of returning half-term holidaymakers that didn't get him home until 1.20 am on Monday. By early afternoon the same day he was jetting to China.

Flying commercial and certainly on budget airlines doesn't concern the likes of Woods and Mickelson. But they still had to battle the stagnant Shanghai traffic to satisfy sponsor demands on Tuesday.

Both have attracted vast media armies that follow their every move but each recognises the value of the developing Chinese golf market. The inclusion of our game in the Olympics is expected to open the door on an explosion of interest in golf here.

Woods and Mickelson have already done two press conferences - one in the city centre, the other at the course - before hitting a ball in anger. On both occasions they highlighted the point.

"The inclusion of golf in the Olympics will certainly help," Woods said. "If you look at what happened with Sweden when the government got behind golf there, look at how many golfers they have produced.

"China's done the same thing in pretty much every other sport except for golf. If they do there's no question China will become a powerhouse in golf. With the populous and the amount of courses being constructed the game is exploding over here. It's just a matter of time," added the world number one.

And it is those new courses and those that are planned that provide the big attraction for these players. Lucrative design contracts enable them to make serious money.

Mickelson already has projects underway in partnership with Rick Smith and is accompanying their development with instructional DVDs translated into Mandarin to help Chinese people taking up the game.

It's astute business for someone who has always played a brilliant PR game. He completed another marathon autograph session after a lengthy pro-am with a smile on his face; his only concern was for people threatened by the crush.

He has his detractors, some say he's a phony, but in my opinion he's a class act. Just a few moments before I started writing this he and his caddie Jim "Bones" McKay jumped in a courtesy car with me, expressing gratitude that I was prepared to wait to let them get in.

Believe me there are plenty of supposed big-time Charlies on tour who wouldn't have given a reporter the time of day in such circumstances but both were keen to chat without a microphone in sight.

So it's all rather upbeat from me right now - apart from one irritation. This event has World Golf Championship status and a stellar field. Those who have not travelled have their reasons and some are very good - Scott Verplank having undergone surgery and Kenny Perry the recent loss of his mother.

But the tournament will not be recorded as a PGA Tour win. I can understand it not counting on the money list in America as it is effectively out of season, but as a WGC it should still be seen as a US Tour event to be won.

It seems absurd that the winner can't regard it as a PGA Tour win when it now has the elevated status of the World Golf Championships which are backed by all of the tours around the world.

Ho hum, can't have everything I suppose and Poulter and Fisher certainly wouldn't be complaining if they make it back-to-back wins this weekend. Nor would be Mickelson or Woods be too upset with a win in a market so rich in potential.

All that remains unchanged about Wentworth's West Course, a spring and autumn fixture on BBC television screens for decades, is its hole routing, location and clubhouse.

At the end of last year's PGA the course checked in for some cosmetic work. All 18 greens would be re-laid with colonial bentgrass to alleviate the unevenness of spring-time poa bent that was forcing big-name stars like Padraig Harrington to stay away from the event.

So, the plan was for a facelift to attract back the stars to the PGA. But once the golf- design doctors started work they soon realised the need and opportunity for major surgery.

The extent of the development being carried out is truly staggering and it is clear that much of it is dental work because the new Wentworth West will have teeth - strong, sharp, nasty ones at that.

Wentworth's 18th will now have water in front of the green

What was going to be a £1.5m project to make the greens acceptable to the likes of Harrington and Ian Poulter is now a £3m exercise in revamping the entire course, with the most dramatic change coming at the famous par-five last hole.

A new brook has been created to provide a truly "in your face" water hazard immediately in front of the green. It is approximately eight yards wide with vertical wooden walls that separate it from an elevated putting surface.

So a perfect drive to the traditional fairway corner location will require a second shot to carry 220 yards to a small target that's also guarded by deep bunkers front and back of the green.

The bunkers that guard the left corner of the fairway have also been remodelled to make it a real temptation to make an attempt to take on the carry to the green from the sand.

It is a recipe for memorable golfing drama to surely excite the watching galleries. What the players will make of it remains to be seen, though, because it is a penal design that provides a punishment perhaps greater than the crime of a slight mishit would deserve.

But the pros have to remember they're in the entertainment industry - not that they will need reminding by the time they reach the 18th, anyway, because the entire ethos of the changes is to make golf on the West Course exciting and unforgettable.

"What will people remember from this hole?" has been the repeated challenge put to the Ernie Els design team by the Wentworth owner Richard Caring, the fashion and restaurant tycoon.

It was when the course closed on 31 May last year after Paul Casey had won the PGA and Wentworth had staged its Club Championship that it was quickly realised there was a massive chance to make dramatic change.

"We realised it would be a travesty not to take this once in a lifetime opportunity of having the course closed for a year to create history," said Wentworth chief executive Julian Small.

Losing a year's worth of golf on the West Course was already going to be a £3m hit on the Wentworth coffers. They were in for another £1.5m to relay the greens and for another £1.5m they decided to go for a comprehensive re-build.

The total cost of the project therefore is £6m and it is progressing on time, and so far has been aided by ideal weather conditions in the summer and autumn.

Nevertheless, it remains a tight race against time to have the course ready for the European Tour's flagship event next spring (incidentally it will be staged a week earlier than usual 20-23 May).

Among the most noticeable changes will be the way the bunkering has been dramatically deepened all around the course. For example, on the 1st the trap guarding the front left of the green is fully 15 feet below the putting surface.

Wentworth's West course will look very different at the 2010 PGA Championship

The hazards retain the rolled faces that were the trademark of the original designer Harry Colt, but in their severity they are approaching the Woodhall Spa scale in places.

Sensibly, the long 17th remains free of bunkers (as has always been the case) but the green is smaller and has been shifted slightly with a dramatic run-off to the right.

The 12th has been reclassified as a par-four rather than being the easy birdie/eagle chance when the scorecard suggested it should be completed in five strokes. It has a new raised green and bunkers will guard the right side of the fairway. It will present a formidable challenge.

On the 15th a re-routed ditch will meander down the right side of the fairway and the bunker that prevented wayward drives careering into real trouble down the right will be removed.

Water that guards the 8th has been extended and a new tee is being built to provide tournament directors with the option of making it a short, driveable par-four.

Indeed, every hole has been changed in some way or other. There is still a vast amount of work to be done and only once it has been played by the top pros will we be able to gauge how successful the project has been and its popularity in the locker room.

But already there appears potential for great drama and the days of 20 under par winning the PGA now seem well and truly gone. I'd go further and say that the European Tour has the makings of its own much needed Stadium Course with the changes that are being made.

The big names are being urged to return to its flagship event next year, and every indicator suggests they will heed the call. How they deal with the new course will be fascinating to watch. "I just can't wait," says Small from his Wentworth office and it is easy to see why.

A fortnight after those comments in the St Andrews interview room at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, Scottish golf, and indeed the British game, undoubtedly has plenty to celebrate following Martin Laird's maiden PGA Tour victory in Las Vegas.

Shame it was a tad under the radar - but it's hardly Laird's fault that Britain was collecting world titles in Formula 1 and gymnastics on the same day, and that the event didn't seem to haul too many Las Vegans from their slot machines to watch the action.

The fact is Laird beat a pretty decent field and now has a similar claim to fame as Masters champion Angel Cabrera in beating Chad Campbell in a play-off.

He was nine places outside the PGA Tour's all-important top 125 when he embarked on the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospital for Children Open (fine artist, laudable cause and I'm sure Shriners are very nice people - but let's be honest, a dismal tournament title).

But Laird is no stranger to such circumstances and delivering the goods when necessary. In his rookie year in 2008 he scrambled into the top 125 in the last week of the season to retain his playing privileges.

It was a year in which he'd had two top-four finishes and a share of seventh, and it was a highly commendable debut campaign that might have been wasted without a strong finish.

"I didn't realise it would be quite so hard to finish top 125 on the money list," Laird admitted when we spoke earlier this year.

The top 125 isn't a concern now, for a while anyway, because this victory - the first by a Scot on the PGA Tour since Sandy Lyle at the 1988 Masters - has earned Laird a two-year exemption and elevates him from 134th to 62nd on the money list.

>Laird received his trophy from tournament host Justin Timberlake

He is a graduate of Colorado State University, where he won four collegiate titles. Preferring to stay in America rather than to head back to Europe at the start of his pro career, he blossomed on the Nationwide Tour in 2007 to earn his full Tour card.

"America is where I live," says the Arizona-based player. "But Scotland will always be my home."

Laird played on home soil for the first time as a professional at the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond in July and justified his invitation with an opening 65 en route to finishing in a share of eighth place.

This Las Vegas win would have taken him to sixth place in the European Ryder Cup standings, but he's not eligible for Colin Montgomerie's team because he's not a member of the European Tour.

Laird, though, has already managed to do something Monty has never achieved by winning on the PGA Tour. "A fantastic win, I'm delighted for him," Montgomerie said.

Now it will be interesting to see whether Laird uses the breathing space this win gives him in America as a vehicle towards European membership. But it is more likely he will continue to ply his trade Stateside and try to climb from his current world ranking of 108 into the top 50 which opens the door to a global schedule.

He has every reason for confidence after securing the £463,000 first prize in Las Vegas. He is a likeable and grounded player who has now proved he has the game to succeed in golf's toughest back yard.

We have known Lee Westwood possesses those attributes by the bucket-load, but that winning touch had deserted the Englishman until his fine victory in Portugal on Sunday.

Naturally, he believes he has jettisoned a very annoying monkey from his back having seen winning chance after winning chance slip from his grasp in the last couple of years.

How rewarding his pitch to tap-in range on the 17th must have felt because it was ultimately the part of his game perceived to be his greatest weakness that gave him his victory.

Players often feel that one win will lead to more frequent visits to the winner's enclosure. Some do in hope, others in expectation and Westwood is entitled to anticipate more trophies and in more prestigious events.

The big money tournaments in Spain, China and Dubai that provide the climax to the European season provide a perfect opportunity. It will also be fascinating to see how Rory McIlroy responds to being knocked from the top of the Race to Dubai standings.

So there is much to look forward to in the next month and beyond - especially for Westwood and, of course, Laird.

Ramsay was right to tell us not to be too despondent about the Scottish game and Laird has proved the point.

Roll it all under a UK umbrella where Westwood and McIlroy also reside, along with plenty more home talent, and it is easy to see why we should view the future with huge optimism.

As the build up to the 2010 match continued with a special exhibition match between Colin Montgomerie and Corey Pavin on the TwentyTen course that will stage America's defence of the trophy, diplomacy was once again the only winner.

Neither skipper wants to put a word out of place as both put even the obdurate Geoffrey Boycott to shame when it comes to playing a straight bat.

So no crowing from Pavin in the wake of another handsome US victory in the President's Cup, no celebrating the fact that a ready-made partner for Tiger Woods has been found and no boasting that the world number one has now got the hang of team golf.

Then again, did we expect anything different?

Both skippers are intelligent and articulate. They both know that this "countdown event" is nothing more than an exercise in keeping next year's contest on the map, plus a chance to make a corporate buck or two with a lavish gala dinner.

So it was quite in keeping that the nine hole exhibition clash, where Montgomerie partnered Chris Evans against Pavin and Welsh opera star Bryn Terfel, should finish all square.

United States Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin meets the press

Tellingly though, Pavin commented after generously conceding an early two and half footer: "It's probably not going to be like that a year from now."

Nor would we want it to be and despite the ongoing friendly phoney war next year's match is shaping up to be an epic contest.

The US have the nucleus of a side that threatens to be the strongest we've seen in Europe since their last away win in 1993.

Pavin admitted he has already been in contact with Freddie Couples and will seek a further debrief after his excellent stewardship at Harding Park.

Not that the Ryder Cup skipper will admit it, but his first question will surely be about how Couples handled Woods in the team environment.

Couples had the advantage of being great friends with Woods, who sank the winning putt and for the first time gained a one hundred percent record playing for his country as a professional.

In foursomes and fourballs Woods teamed up with Steve Stricker and they proved invincible.

"It's hard to find a partner for him that's comfortable with him and able to play their own game," Pavin admitted. "It's hard to play with the number one player in the world because you don't want to disappoint that player.

"Obviously Steve felt very comfortable with him. I watched some of the FedEx events and I watched them play together and their interaction was very good.

"But you never know what's going to happen in the next year. With those two you don't know how they're going to be playing a year from now. But it is a possible pairing, it may not happen as well."

Montgomerie is clearly of the opinion that his team may well have to face the Woods/Stricker combo and watched events in San Francisco with interest.

"Steve Stricker was actually outside Tiger on a number of occasions and holed the putt before Tiger had a chance, wow - you know they have a great team there and they did very well," Montgomerie told me.

"You would tend to expect that they might well be playing together (at Celtic Manor) but it's up to Corey, I can't be saying that. We'll just have to wait until the team is announced a year from now.

"The American team looks strong, there's no question. Paul Azinger got a great result, (in the last Ryder Cup) and they've now won the President's Cup. We have a job here to stop that roll.

"We have talent in Europe, but at the same time to give the American's momentum in any form is the wrong thing to give them. They have it right now in team golf and it's our job to regain that back," Montgomerie added.

Pavin expressed similar sentiments. It was another example of both skippers being largely in agreement and there's no sign of a falling-out in the near future.

"I think we have the same philosophy....." Pavin began. "We do," interrupted Monty. "We're both competitive and have the same views about competition and about the Ryder Cup," the Scot added.

Unperturbed by the interruption Pavin went on: "We both want to beat each others brains out here, we both want to win and we both respect that we both want to win and we have no issues with that. It is a respectful friendship that we have and it will always be that way."

He's probably right, but let's see when a two and a half footer isn't conceded in a little under a year from now.

Make no mistake, this is ultimately a business decision by the IOC who, despite 27 votes against inclusion, are looking for a lucrative slice of golf's commercial and television portfolio, as well as its ever expanding appeal in the Far East.

But for golf, the benefits will also run deep, with membership of the Olympic family offering potentially significant influence on how the game is run and perceived.

Golf needs international leadership to bring tours together so they don't compete against each other, but instead work together to produce schedules that work for players and fans alike.

Yes, it's a pipedream, but one worth putting on the IGF's agenda, given that the organisation has acquired more teeth with its successful Olympic bid.

Will Tiger Woods add Olympic gold to his collection of major titles in 2016?

This move to attach the famous five rings to the game was also at the heart of the introduction of drug testing at the top of the game. Now golf is proving itself to be clean and is living by the standards of other sports.

The Royal and Ancient's Peter Dawson and PGA Tour's Ty Votaw should be applauded for spearheading the campaign, though it is hard to fathom why they failed to ensure representation at the African Olympic Congress in Nigeria earlier this year.

Today's vote was by no means a shoo-in despite the executive recommendation golf and rugby sevens received in August. Delegates still needed to be convinced and especially by golf after the African no-show and because of its reputation for elitism.

There was tough questioning in Copenhagen especially on the subject of men-only golf clubs - the R and A and Augusta National spring to mind. But this is the way of the world if you want to evolve from an insular, solitary position to one in which you are a member of a global family and those organisations need to get used to it.

Suddenly golf becomes answerable to such questions. So Mr Dawson why no female members at your R and A? And Mr Billy Payne, you ran an Olympics, so surely your Augusta club should start to move with the times?

Messrs Dawson and Payne may well have answers to those questions, but it is an interesting thought that they are now being put by some of the most influential voices in global sport.

Who knows, they may prompt change. At the very least they will inspire the kind of modern thinking required to ensure golf thrives in the 21st century.

It's also worth pointing out that while Olympic gold will not, in all honesty, be the pinnacle for Tiger Woods (assuming he's still interested in 2016 when he'll be 40) but it will be a huge motivator for those who can raise a less familiar flag at medal ceremonies.

Ireland might be one example, though Rory McIlroy's preference is to play for Britain. Golfers enjoy playing for their country and indeed, when it comes to the Ryder Cup, for their continent. The game is presented at its best when the prize is not monetary but all about glory.

But expect the United States to dominate the men's tournament and the South Koreans to clean up in the women's. The plan is for both to have fields of 60 players including the top 15 in the world from the men's and women's rankings.

The rest of the field is based on world ranking with a maximum of two players from each country. So if the Games were next week, Britain would be represented by Paul Casey and Lee Westwood by virtue of their top 15 status - were an Ian Poulter or Ross Fisher or both force themselves up to such a ranking they would play as well.

Currently the US would have seven players in the men's event. The Irish team would be Padraig Harrington (courtesy of his top 15 status) and world number 161 Damien McGrane - the next highest ranked Irishman, assuming a raft of Northern Irish players follow McIlroy's lead and declare for Britain.

There are five South Koreans in the women's top 15, while the British team would be Catriona Matthew (No.16) and Karen Stupples (No51).

There have to be reservations over the make-up of the fields because if Britain had two players in the top 15 of the women's ranking Matthew would miss out even though many of those eligible to play would be ranked well below her.

Michelle Wie (left) could be going for gold for the USA in Rio de Janeiro

An opportunity also looks like being missed by opting for straightforward 72-hole strokeplay. Other formats present the game in an attractive light whether they be group and knockout matchplay or a team format such as that used in the world cup where players team up for fourballs and foursomes.

But overall golf's inclusion in the Olympics would seem to be good news for anyone who wants to see the game move with the times.

Gold should become an ambition for all leading players and let's hope it is, because the calendar would welcome a truly global tournament not automatically staged in the United States that golfers aspire to play and win.

Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have shown how much the Olympics mean to them with a commendable commitment to the tennis tournament in Beijing despite its proximity in the calendar to the US Open.

There were others, however, whose approach was not so wholehearted, and there are enough cynics in golf to ensure a similar attitude from some players towards the Rio tournament.

But let's hope they are in the minority and a greying Tiger Woods with word and deed proves the IOC correct in inviting golf to join the party.

The majority of the amateur players competing in the team event come from big business and pay handsomely for the privilege of playing alongside some of the best golfers in the world.

But despite the abundance of champagne corks popping and the air of wealth around the East Coast of Scotland last week, it would be wrong to assume that golf is breezing through the current choppy economic waters.

On top of the recently announced 25 per cent cut in prize money for the Race to Dubai there will be more evidence of how the credit crunch is impacting on the European Tour when it announces its early schedule for the 2010 season.

The first indicator is that it will begin this year despite the Tour's commitment to turn the Race to Dubai into an easier to follow calendar year campaign.

"From the end of the 2009 season when the Dubai World Championship will finish the Race to Dubai, we will then have a reasonable break through until the calendar year in January," Tour chief executive George O'Grady promised last November.

The Tour were keen to end the anomaly of a season starting in the wrong year, but haven't been able to do the deals to turn this into reality and O'Grady's prediction has proved wide of the mark. "It's just not been possible," said a Tour source.

So the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek in South Africa and the South African Open will both be played in December 2009 and will count towards the European money list for 2010.

Sponsors hold all of the aces in the current climate and tours around the world have to bend to them rather than the other way round.

The European Tour can ill afford to lose tournaments and the new schedule will confirm the demise of the popular Johnnie Walker Classic which had been a permanent fixture in the Australasian swing of events.

Furthermore, the clubhouse for the Dubai World Championship to be staged on the new Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates will not be completed in time for the inaugural running of the season-ending tournament on 19 November.

Temporary accomodation will be in place for players and officials, but television directors will have to work hard to make sure this prestigious event doesn't appear to be taking place in a building site.

So golf needs all the good news it can get and assuming it gains Olympic inclusion on Friday it can set about growing the game in the relatively untapped Brazilian market.

The International Golf Federation is taking nothing for granted despite having been officially recommended for the 2016 Games in Rio De Janeiro. Padraig Harrington, Michelle Wie and Suzann Pettersen along with 16-year-old amateur Matteo Manassero will participate in the final push in Copenhagen.

Michelle Wie will be supporting golf's bid for Olympic status

These are articulate and photogenic ambassadors for the game and Wie and Manassero represent its future, one that the game fervently hopes will include the Olympics in its schedules.

On a completely separate note - although it does concern innovative thinking which never goes a miss in the current economic climate - I wanted to applaud a piece of catering common-sense encountered on St Andrews' spectacular Castle Course.

As you arrive at the 9th tee there's a phone link to the halfway house and a quick call allows you to pre-order refreshments. The result is you can complete the hole, stop at the window pick up your food and proceed to the 10th with no delay.

I'm sure other courses offer similar facilities, but most don't and it's a mighty fine idea.

As for the course, the newest at the home of golf, my advice would be to bring along a camera (the views from high above the South of the town are spectacular), a sense of humour and leave behind scorecard and pencil.

Trying to compile a decent medal score is nigh on impossible given the undulations which are too severe on the huge greens - but as long as you can laugh about the odd four-putt you'll have great fun and the closing two holes are truly breathtaking.