GOLF:

It isn’t often Corona del Mar resident Tiger Woods gets to come back to his hometown and even though he won’t be in his home this week, the world’s No. 1 golfer is near his hometown.

Woods is hosting the Chevron World Challenge, the golf tournament he hosts that benefits The Tiger Woods Foundation. He won’t be commuting to Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, but may find his way to Orange County sometime this week, since he won’t be in the 16-man field. Woods is still rehabilitating from anterior cruciate ligament surgery he had in June after he won the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines in San Diego.

“It is frustrating because it means so much to me to come back here to Southern California, and the things that — the support we’ve gotten over the years,” Woods said. “We couldn’t have built the Learning Center without the support of the local community and this tournament. None of that would have happened.”

This is the 10th anniversary of the tournament he and his late father, Earl, started as a way to provide money for the foundation and its programs.

Woods has donated his winnings from the event every year he has played in it and over the last decade he has earned nearly $7 million for the foundation.

This year, though, Woods will be an interested spectator and he would definitely rather be playing than watching.

“I haven’t hit full shots with my entire bag yet,” Woods said. “As far as coming back, I don’t know how it’s going to respond with repeated practice days and long days of practice trying to get back, ultimately playing my way into shape. That’s obviously going to take a little bit of time.”

But Woods and his doctors didn’t think he would be hitting clubs until after the first of the year.

“The leg has responded well,” Woods said. “I’m actually stronger in my legs than I think I’ve been.”

While Woods is optimistic, he is still cautious about his return.

“But still, you have to understand the healing process of the ligament,” Woods said. “The ligament is only going to heal so fast, and you’ve got to be responsible for your actions, and I can’t stretch that out.”

While Woods is eager to get back on the golf course, the time away has given him time to pursue other interests, like golf course design and spending more time with his family.

“Being able to spend time at home with Sam and watch her grow, it’s something I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to do,” Woods said about his young daughter. “I would have been playing and traveling quite a bit, so from that standpoint it’s been a blessing.”

Woods has also been working on golf course design, with courses in North Carolina, Mexico and Dubai.

Though those courses are private, Woods has not discounted the idea of designing a public course and has always wanted to build a course in Southern California.

“With the time off I’ve been able to really be focused on golf course design, and I’ve learned so much over this time,” Woods said. “ If you look around our house, you’ll see topo maps everywhere, same with my office. So from that standpoint it’s been a lot of fun to work on these three projects. As far as the future lies, we’re getting projects presented to us all the time. It’s a matter of picking the right ones and working with the right partners on hopefully some great, great sites.”

But Woods would much rather be on a golf course playing and it appears it won’t be until at least February until that happens.

“For me not to play, it is frustrating. I want to be out there and competing and trying to mix it up with the boys, but it is what it is, and unfortunately it’s not going to happen this year, but I look forward to coming back.”

JOHN REGER’S golf column appears Thursdays.