TEE TO GREEN:AS a professional golfer, you don't often have a year where you have to pinch yourself to make sure it hasn't been a dream. After all, you work extremely hard to achieve your goals and all top players have a team they trust backing up the effort – caddie, coach, agents etc – to ensure everything clicks into place as best as it possibly can. And, yet, as I've said before, this year has been the stuff of dreams.

But I don’t have to pinch myself any more, I know this is real. I only have to look at the trophies – the US Open trophy, the Wales Open trophy, the Andalucia Masters trophy and the Chevron World Challenge Trophy – and the lovely painting Colin Montgomerie commissioned for every player at the Ryder Cup to know that this has been a year of years.

I look back on 12 months ago and I couldn’t have dreamed of having a 2010 like I’ve just had. I’ve exceeded all my expectations this past year, there’s no doubt about it; and it was nice to finish things off over the weekend in the company of Darren Clarke in the Shark Shoot-Out in which we finished second, a charity tournament that is very much fun-based and a nice way to round off what has been a truly memorable year.

People keep asking me what was the greatest moment I’ve experienced and, in truth, they were all brilliant in their own ways . . . but the greatest moment of my year was the putt on 16 at the Ryder Cup. There’s nothing quite like the Ryder Cup.

Pebble Beach, of course, was one of the greatest moments of my life. But as far as a buzz and the adrenaline and the emotion and the passion, there was nothing quite like that putt at the Ryder Cup. That was probably the greatest moment of my year.

In reflecting on the past season, I also know I have to move on. I will start my new season in the Tournament of Champions in Hawaii early next month because it’s an event I’ve always wanted to play. I’ve never been there before and I’ve always fancied it, and I will also play in Abu Dhabi in late-January before committing to a strong US Tour schedule, probably starting with the Accenture Matchplay.

I’m certainly looking forward to 2011 – backing up 2010 is probably the wrong way to describe it. I’ve got to adjust my expectations, anything after this year is going to be a let down unless I win the Masters or whatever.

It’s important I re-adjust my focus and take the positives and confidence out of this year and pour it back into next season. I’m very excited about where my game is at, where I’m going and how I’m feeling about things, and looking forward to trying to build on this year. It’s going to be a challenge.

There is also the fact that you have to be realistic. Every week I tee it up, I know I’ve got a chance to win but I think you’ve got to realise you can’t be 120 per cent every week. You’ve got to be targeting weeks where you want to play well and let yourself off the hook other weeks when you’re working on your game. Mapping out a schedule is very important and, of course, in working out my own itinerary, I’ll be looking at some of the world’s top players like the Westwoods and Poulters and guys like that and looking at their schedules and how they’ve managed themselves for the last couple of years.

I plan on playing both tours, the PGA Tour and the European Tour, which is still very much my home tour. I’m under no illusions – playing both tours is difficult, and you can get sucked in to trying to chase it on both sides of the water and end-up achieving mediocrity. I’m not a guy who’s going to be happy with mediocrity. Next year is going to be a slightly experimental season to see how it goes and 2012 is going to be a rolling schedule. If I don’t feel like next year works, balancing both tours, I’m going to have to make a decision in 2012.

But it’s not like I need to go changing things too much. I’ve had a great year. The only major difference to my season next year will be the FedEx Play-offs and that will be it really. So, there’s definitely an element in trying to pace myself early in the season because you want to be playing your best golf through May, June, July, August really. I’ll be targeting areas of the season where I want to be fresh and on full form. I’m going in with a very open mind to next season, to see how it works out and try to pace myself. One thing I certainly don’t want to do is to end up travelling the world playing too much golf and wearing myself out. I’ve got to continue to enjoy and keep improving, really.

For sure, there is still a lot of improvement in my game. I mean, I’m 31, feeling healthy and am physically very good. I know I can continue to get better and better and put all the great experiences I’ve had to good use in the next five to 10 years.

People have asked me if being a major champion has put more pressure on my expectations but, to be honest, I’ve felt very much in control of my expectations because I realise through my own interest in psychology and working with golf psychologists that the higher your expectation levels, the more likely you are to be disappointed. I’m very aware of that. Now that all the competitive work for the year has been done, we’re into that time of the year when awards are given out and I must admit I’m looking forward to attending the BBC Sports Personality of the Year this weekend. It’s just going to be great to be a part of that night. The Ryder Cup team are up for an award as well, so just to be there mixing with the world’s best in all sports is going to be a beautiful end to the year.

* For more on Graeme McDowell, go to the player’s website www.graememcdowell.com and also visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=II_aAS8oTZw