PGA National

I was glad to have made my connecting flight in Charlotte and made it to Fort Lauderdale on time, we were collected by a driver with our Honda car for the week. He drove us the hour down to Palm Beach and then all I had to do was sign a form and I had the use of a new Honda Accord for the week. I stayed on site again, so I only had to walk through the hotel to the locker room and players lounge before I played.

The Honda Championship was the first PGA Tour event to showcase an art exhibition this week. "Orange Step" by Kiril Jeliazkov, is a unique art project, it is supposed to represent a painting, it is displayed over an area of 440yards. The whole composition includes 128 parts, each of them measuring 20 feet high by 10 feet wide. The project is based on the idea that art is for everyone. It certainly made for some interesting looks when you first walked onto the golf course.

The Champion course at PGA National is a tough test, the course was redesigned by Jack Nicklaus in 1990. The 15th, 16th and 17th holes have been named "The Bear Trap" and they are the most challenging holes on the course with the wind and water hazards.

I got up early on Tuesday morning so that I could get my practice done before the weather turned cold and nasty, well cold and nasty for Florida! The weather forecasts over here are so accurate that it makes sense to pay attention. I played nine on my own and joined Tom Pernice Jnr and Duffy Waldorf for the last nine. There was a local restaurant serving food on the back of range Tuesday and Wednesday so I had some fantastic pasta before spending an hour practising my putting. I had my putter tweaked a little by Larry who works for Titleist and he gave me some restaurant recommendations for the week, all in time as the horn for lightning went off as I left the putting green.

The weather did change and Wednesday and Thursday were cold. It was quite nice to have it a little cooler after the heat of Mexico last week. It was no surprise to me to see two Englishmen Brian Davis and Luke Donald at the top of the leaderboard as the conditions were just like home. I played well and finished one under, I had it at two under early and then worked really hard to get it back to two only to drop a shot on the last. It was nearly dark when we finished and I was pleased we managed to get my round completed.

Friday was slightly warmer but even more windy, I got off to a terrible start with a double bogey on the 10th my first hole but worked really hard for a round of two over par, this left me in a tie for 27th place and in a good position for the weekend. Myself and my two playing partners John Merrick and Mark Turnesa all made the cut with a score of one over, as it was two balls on the weekend I played with Mark again. I was pleased with my round of three under and was looking forward to a strong finish.

Sunday wasn't all that enjoyable, the wind was blowing and after two missed opportunities from short range early on I never got it going in the right direction. My playing partner Alex Cejka played really well and managed a round of one under par.

I had collected a rental car on Sunday morning and packed it before I played, so just had to jump in the car and drive to Lakeland. It was only a two and a half hour drive so I was busy doing laundry by 8.30pm. As soon as everything is dry later this morning I will drive across to the Innisbrook resort in Tampa for the PODS Championship.