All pros must make downtime decision

With the possible exception of Rory Sabbatini, who played 10 weeks in a row this season on the PGA Tour, pros in the Masters Tournament try to keep their consecutive weeks on the road to a minimum.

"Four of five is kind of the max," Rickie Fowler said. "I'm not saying I wouldn't be able to play 10 to 12 in a row. I don't think there is any point to push yourself like that, especially when you're playing for the whole year. Rest is one of the biggest keys to success out here."

Once golfers determine how many weeks in a row to play, then comes the other question: how long to stay away from the tour. What is too little time and what is too much?

Even U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell struggles with that question. Especially the potential harm to his game if he takes too much time off.

"I think as a golfer you're always a little scared of that," he said. "There's definitely that element of, every Thursday morning you tee it up, you are all trying to feel your way back into your game. Is it going to be there this weekend; am I going to have it? That's just the doubt that comes with anything."

Before the WGC-Match Play Championship near Tucson, Ariz., in late February, McDowell took four weeks off and stayed in Orlando, Fla.

"I played a little bit of golf," he said of the break. "I felt like my game was in good shape going into Tucson, and I got to Tucson and felt like I left my golf swing in Orlando. But that's just golf. You're hoping every day that it's going to be there, and all you can do is kind of stay on a path."

THIS HAS BEEN A YEAR where some big names have taken longer breaks than normal, including Luke Donald (11 weeks), Sergio Garcia (more than two months at the end of last summer) and Ernie Els (five weeks).

Garcia and Els had mixed results after their layoffs, but Donald came back refreshed and in a winning mood. He opened with 68 in the Northern Trust Open in Los Angeles but missed the cut after a second-round 79.

The next week, he won the Match Play event, where he never trailed in any match.

"Certainly the break really paid off," Donald said. "I felt refreshed and I did a lot of good work leading up to L.A.

"Certainly, that's the longest offseason I've had for, oh, probably seven or eight years," Donald said. "This year I decided to try something different, spend a little bit more time at home with my new daughter, put the clubs away for a little bit more of an extended period but also have some time to work on a few things that I felt like I needed to work on."

Why so long?

"Just at the end of the season, it seemed a pretty busy season for me last year," he said. "I played 29 events, played all over the world, played the Ryder Cup. It just seemed like it was quite a tiring season for me. I won in Madrid but didn't win anywhere else, but I was competing a lot and kind of in the mix quite a lot, and I think that takes a lot out of you. I think pushing to make that Ryder Cup, I might have played one or two more events than I would usually.

"It's a long year, the Tour, and it was important for me to take a little extra time just to work on some stuff but also have a break," Donald said. "And everyone needs to recharge, occasionally. And I felt like I needed to this year."

Donald has not overdone it since his return. After winning the Match Play on Feb. 27, he has played only twice leading into the Masters (tied for 10th in the Honda Classic and tied for sixth at Doral).

GARCIA TOOK HIS TIME OFF in the final quarter of last season after he lost some enthusiasm for the game, he said. After missing the cut in the PGA Championship on Aug. 15, he didn't return to competitive golf until Oct. 24.

"Obviously I wasn't playing like I wanted to, and when you don't play the way you know how to play, obviously it's a bit more frustrating," Garcia said. "It was something that I felt like I needed to do.

"I think that you kind of lose yourself out there," he said. "And you have to try to find your way back, find yourself again. Like I said last year, I needed to kind of find myself first and from then on, kind of work on the game and try to improve it."

LEADING INTO THE Masters, Fowler's longest stretch of tournaments is four: from the Northern Trust through Doral in mid-March. Does he sometimes watch a tournament on TV and wish he'd played?

"Yes and no," Fowler said. "Sometimes I wish I was at that tournament, but you've got to enjoy your downtime."

As for Els, he took five weeks off before returning March 3 at the Honda Classic, where he worked on shaking off the rust.

"It's just getting into the flow of things," he said when he returned. "Normally my alignment is a little out for some reason, because you hit so many golf balls, you just stay in one position and keep hitting. When you play on the course, you're coming from different angles, so I've got to watch my alignment quite a bit."

Reach David Westin at (706) 823-3224 ordavid.westin@augustachronicle.com.