Woods finds a way to occupy his free time

Tiger Woods had a circular stick in his hand in Southern California again Tuesday and waggled it confidently as he stood over a golf course.

It is not what you think. Tiger is not back, not quite yet.

The knee injury that will be forever etched in our memory as the focal point of his courageous and dramatic playoff victory on that Monday in June at Torrey Pines is still healing. He said his timetable for returning to the PGA Tour is still uncertain. He had surgery shortly after the U.S. Open.

"I can walk, the knee is good, we are right on schedule," he said. "There is no pain, and the work is on strength and mobility."

Well, no pain until the daily rehabilitation begins.

"Oh, man."

He rolled his eyes as he spoke.

"There is lots of work, hours a day. Man."

But it is the very nature of Eldrick Woods to be a tiger about staying busy, even while doctors are keeping him off the golf course. That's why he was here Tuesday. This was Tiger Woods, designer, rather than Tiger Woods, best golfer in the universe.

In a fancy room at a swank hotel -- the room filled with investment, developer and public relations types all dressed elegantly and a scattering of the opposite (also known as the media) -- Woods announced details about his part-time job.

He has designed a golf course on a spectacular piece of land along the Pacific Ocean, just south of Ensenada and about 70 miles south of San Diego. It is called Punta Brava (Wild Point), and is a $100-million project financed by entrepreneur and former NFL and NBA owner Red McCombs.

McCombs, in attendance, said, "When this was brought to me, I wasn't especially turned on. Then, they told me there was a good chance that Tiger would be involved. I said, forget it. It's over. I'm in."

Woods took a display pointer, stood next to an artist's rendering of a proposed Punta Brava, to be completed in about three years, and described something that sounded like it could eventually become the Pebble Beach of Mexico. Pebble Beach of California, of course, is public. Punta Brava will not be.

Woods talked about the elevation on the seven-mile peninsula that dropped from a 1,200-foot mountain to 300-foot ledges for villas and homes that overlook a golf course near sea level. That course, Woods said, will have an ocean view from every tee, fairway and green.

"Now, if you go and hit it in the bushes or the junk," he said, "maybe not."