SAN MARTIN, Calif. – When last seen at a golf tournament, Tiger Woods was leaving early from the PGA Championship after missing the cut.

He didn’t qualify for the FedEx Cup playoffs, giving him a long break that he wasn’t expecting.

If there was an upside that day in Atlanta, Woods figured he would have “nothing to do but work on my game.”

And that’s what he did.

He showed up Wednesday for the Frys.com Open knowing that whatever happens over the next two or four days, it won’t be from a lack of practice.

Woods said he has routinely played 36 holes – sometimes 45 holes – a day at his new home in South Florida, and he noticed his scores getting lower and lower until he set the course record last week at The Medalist with a 62. Robert Allenby recalls seeing Woods at The Bear’s Club one day in the morning and into the late afternoon.

“The major overhauls are done,” Woods said. “I’ve done all that work. Now, it’s just fine tuning.”

There was one occasion during his pro-am round when he asked swing coach Sean Foley to videotape his swing. On another shot, he couldn’t figure out why the flight of his tee shot started out as a cut and then hooked back to the left.

Otherwise, Woods feels as though he’s back to the simple part of golf. Step up and hit it.

“I don’t need to worry about whether I have the club here or here or here or here or here,” he said. “I’ve done all that legwork, and now it’s time to play. And that’s where I needed to get to, which I hadn’t been able to because I wasn’t healthy enough to get there. And that part was frustrating, because I know what I can do in the game, and I just needed the time to practice.

“And that’s why I’m so excited about being here and playing.”

It’s a transition he might not ever have expected, going from a major championship to a Fall Series event with a seven-week break between them. The Fall Series was designed to give most players a chance to secure their PGA Tour cards for next year, and the field is loaded with such players.

There are only six players from the top 50 on the money list, and 26 from the top 100. Rory Sabbatini at No. 27 is the highest-ranked player from the PGA Tour money list.

And then there is Woods, who is No. 118 after having entered only eight PGA Tour events and going the distance in five of them.

He no longer is among the top 50 in the world ranking for the first time since he was a 20-year-old rookie in 1996, having slipped to No. 51 this week. Yet he is such a powerful draw that ticket sales are five times ahead of last year. The Frys.com Open is close to selling out, unusual for a Fall Series event.

Note: Woods now has a new endorsement deal with Rolex.

It’s the first major endorsement deal for Woods in more than two years. He previously had an endorsement with Tag Heuer, which dropped him two months ago. Woods will become one of the global ambassadors for the Swiss-based watch company.

Terms of the Rolex deal were not disclosed, although it is believed to be longer than five years.