Nobody can really prepare you for living your life out of a suitcase, but I believe I have adapted as well as any "rookie" can to the demands of playing on the US PGA Tour. I'm into the last few days of a six-week stretch on the road during which time I've been all over the States in quite debilitating heat and I've lost so much weight that I feel like a toothpick.

I'm pretty much at the end of the tank, and I am looking forward to a few days' rest next week back in the college environment in Clemson with my coach and a few friends week before travelling across for the conclusion of the Pebble Beach which was hit by rain earlier in the season. It will be good to relax for a few days and to get behind the wheel of my Jeep again. I only got it at the start of the season, but it'll probably need a service because it has been so long since I've used it.

Before that, though, I have the Buick Open in Warwick Hills here in Michigan. I travelled here from Memphis on Sunday night, played in the Pro-Am yesterday and plan to get out early for maybe nine or 10 holes today and just hit a few balls on the range tomorrow. For a change, the weather here is quite nice - about 75 degrees - and I have just taken delivery of a new set of clubs which I will be using this week. I worked so hard with my old ones that I just wore them out.

People think we have a great glamour life, and of course we can enjoy life. For instance, it was great to take a few hours out the other week. I headed off to a casino with Keith Nolan and we handed over our $100 to the blackjack attendant and. It's nice to get away from the golfing world on occasions like that.

But we do work hard. I reckon I spend 10 or 12 hours a day either on the range or on the course, and that's six days a week because I am making the cuts. On top of that, you have all the travelling around the country. Anyway, my game is still there and, despite the tiredness, I'm looking forward to this week's tournament. In the St Jude in Memphis last week, I wasn't as sharp as I would have liked and I had a weak ball flight. In the second round on Friday, I had to grind out a 68 to make the cut. Things didn't go well over the weekend and, on Sunday, I missed the fairway at the first and the rough was so tough I could barely get back to the fairway. I was three over after two holes, got back with three birdies to be level after eight and then missed the fairway at the ninth, a tight driving hole which cost me six shots over the four days.

This week's event marks the end of my six-week stretch which has been quite productive. I probably needed a week off somewhere, but once I started to shoot some low scores I had to keep it going and the week I'd originally planned to take off (the Deposit Guaranty in Mississippi) proved most financially rewarding of all. Hopefully, I can do well in the Buick Open, where I will have my new caddy on the bag.

Dave Patterson is from Alaska and has been on the tour for 22 years. He has a lot of experience. He heard I was on the look-out for someone and approached me last week. It looks as if it could work out. Players who have worked with him say that you can have tremendous confidence in him. If he tells you its a nine-iron, then you play it.

My attitude is good, despite the disappointment of last weekend when I made no impression at all over the final two rounds. I know my game is there, which is the most important thing, and I'm looking for some good finishes over the next few weeks.

The Pebble Beach is obviously a big week because I'm only four or five shots off the leaders with Spyglass (which is probably the second easiest of the three courses in play with Pebble Beach the toughest and Poppy Hills considered the easiest) still to play.

I obviously miss the US PGA next week but that means I can head down to Pebble Beach on the Friday, before most of the other players. After Pebble Beach, I'm into most other tournaments - and that includes the Sprint International which takes place in Castle Rock, Colorado, on the same week as the Smurfit European Open. I'd really love to play a tour event in Ireland but I feel that I simply must focus everything onto keeping my tour card here. So I won't be playing in The K Club this year. Hopefully, I will be able to be a good deal more selective next year.

(In an interview with Philip Reid).