World Championship: The excesses of post-Ryder Cup celebration quickly paled when Lee Westwood returned home from Oakland Hills.
His wife Laurae had given birth to their first daughter - they have a son Samuel Bevan (2001) - Poppy Grace some three and a half weeks ago and was unable to accompany her husband to America.
Domesticity beckoned for Westwood over the past 10 days manifest in the care of a small child and new-born baby. He wasn't complaining, happy to fulfil feeding duties and other sundry responsibilities while sneaking away for the odd few hours of practice.
He arrived in Mount Juliet rested, boasting a renewed appetitive for competitive fare and keen to put behind him Europe's Ryder Cup success. "It's important for everyone to move away from the Ryder Cup. We really enjoyed that but hopefully we've got it out of our system by now. This is a big tournament as it is and there aren't many world golf championships.
"After the majors they are the most important tournaments in the year. It's a good field, minus Phil (Mickelson) and Vijay (Singh) so it'll be well worth winning, a feather in your cap."
As if to further illustrate the importance of this week in the golfing calendar, the Englishman pointed out that the field is recognition of the most consistent performers.
There are no wild cards, rather a merit based system that provides an entrée to a lucrative end of season tournament.
"It rewards good consistent golf. Those that aren't playing well don't get in. It's a bonus towards the end of the season for having a good year."
Westwood is keen to avoid a Ryder Cup hangover and took preventative measures, principally declining to play in The Heritage at Woburn last week. He maintains it won't be difficult to refocus from the demands of team golf to the more traditional self-interest.
"That's why I didn't play last week so I could get it out of my system. I didn't want to play last week, certainly in Europe. A couple of guys in America played well but they weren't coming off the high that the European players were, so it's a little easier to get yourself ready.
"I always struggle the following week after the Ryder Cup. I've got three big tournaments coming up and having played five matches in the Ryder Cup felt that I needed a rest."
It's easy to see why Westwood is enjoying his golf these days. A two-year slump in which he plummeted from Europe's number one player to a golfer struggling to break 75 has made him appreciate the good times a little more.
He had the courage to deconstruct his swing under the practised eye of David Leadbetter and was prepared to tough it out. Happily ensconced amongst the elite again he fields the dog-eared question about Europe's lack of success in recent years in the majors with a dismissive shrug.
"These things ebb and flow. A few years back they were saying that there were no good English golfers coming through and now all of a sudden we've got five on the Ryder Cup team. We had our fair share of victories as a continent (Europe) at the end of the 1980s and the beginning of the '90s. We had major champions and major victories then; these things happen in spells and cycles. It just happens that Fiji and South Africa have them all."
Speaking of things Fijian Westwood, with seven victories in one calendar year, can put some perspective on Singh's eight wins this season.
"I have own seven tournaments in a year but to win eight tournaments in the States is a miracle really. Nobody ever seems to do that. Vijay will be missed this week."
One suspects not by the winner come Sunday night.
