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LOS ANGELES - Father-to-be Tiger Woods was in animated mood as he prepared for his title defence at next week's Buick Invitational outside San Diego.
Woods, whose Swedish wife Elin is expected to give birth to their first child in July, will be bidding for a seventh consecutive victory on the PGA Tour in the January 25-28 event at Torrey Pines.
"Needless to say I'm excited about 2007," the world number one told his official website (www.tigerwoods.com) on Friday. "Finding out I'm going to become a father this summer feels pretty darn great.
"Elin and I don't know whether we're going to have a boy or a girl and we're debating whether to find out. As long as it's healthy that's the main thing."
Woods, who will be making his first appearance on the 2007 PGA Tour next week, has not played tournament golf since winning last month's Target World Challenge in California.
He considered launching his campaign at the season-opening Mercedes-Benz Championship in Hawaii before deciding to skip the event to spend more time with his family.
"I had a great time during the holidays and went skiing in Colorado with family and friends," said the 31-year-old American.
"I got back into golf a couple of weeks ago. (Swing coach) Hank Haney came to Florida and we worked hard for four or five days. It was just a matter of getting the bugs out.
"From there I worked on my own. My close friend Notah Begay III visited and we spent about a week practising together and playing little games.
"It was like the old days at Stanford (University) when we would grind and needle each other."
Although Woods could carve out another slice of golfing history at Torrey Pines, he is playing down the relevance of his six consecutive PGA Tour wins dating back to last year's British Open.
"Technically I'm going for seven in a row and that would be nice," said the 12-times major champion, whose run of six titles also included the PGA Championship at Medinah.
"But, as I said last year, my streak really ended when I lost in the first round of the HSBC World Match Play Championship in England."
The limited-field World Match Play, a European Tour event, is not co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour.
Few would bet against Woods at Torrey Pines.
He relishes playing the two courses there, the North and South, and has won the Buick Invitational four times in nine starts.
"I've loved playing Torrey Pines since my days in the junior world and look forward to the tournament," he said.
"Even though they have redesigned the South Course, it's still a wonderful layout and I always enjoy San Diego."
Woods claimed his last PGA Tour title at the WGC-American Express Championship in Hertfordshire, England three months ago.
Should the game's leading player triumph at Torrey Pines, his run of seven consecutive victories would be the second longest in Tour history.
Byron Nelson won 18 times in 1945, including an astonishing 11 in a row.
- REUTERS
