GOLF:

Though the break from the game of golf wasn’t what Hal Sutton wanted when it happened, it turned out to be the best thing to happen to the new member of the Champions Tour.

Sutton, who will be playing at the Toshiba Classic March 6-8, is readying for his debut at the Newport Beach Country Club, which will be part of his first full year on the Champions Tour.

The golf world had heard little from Sutton, who walked away from the game four years ago, partly because of the criticism he received as captain of the U.S. Ryder Cup and partly because of where he thought the game was headed.

“I didn’t necessarily agree with the direction golf was going, but maybe golf was evolving and Hal Sutton wasn’t,” Sutton said. “That’s what four years away from the game will do for you. It will make you sit back and take a look at what really is important.”

By 2005 Sutton was showing burnout on an otherwise stellar career. He played in 10 events, made the cut in just two of them. The combination of playing poorly and not agreeing with the tour’s emphasis on long hitters was the impetus for Sutton to retire from the PGA Tour.

“If I was in charge I wouldn’t have moved the game in the direction it was going but I wasn’t, that’s OK,” Sutton said. “I think it’s just the evolution of the game. It’s not one person’s decision. It was multiple decisions made by a few. It is what it is.”

Though he played once in 2006, missing the cut at the Nissan Open at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, he didn’t so much as pick up a club until last year.

“When I left it, I left it,” Sutton said. “I didn’t play at all. That was really good. It was a cleansing process for me.”

Sutton instead decided to focus on his family and building golf courses. One of his designs, the TPC Treviso Bay in Naples, Fla. is the host site for the Champions Tour’s The ACE Group Classic hosted by Peter Jacobsen. Sutton has committed to that event as well, which is the week prior to the Toshiba Classic.

“I was excited to hear that it was going there,” Sutton said. “I think it’ll be fun to compete in an event there.”

Competition is fun to Sutton again and working on his game, rather than trying to change it, is his focus.

“That was my New Year’s resolution. I’m not going to get caught up in the details of how or why I am just going to take care of my business,” Sutton said. “I know how to play the game, that’s what I know how to do. I don’t know how to build a game or protect a game. I’m not sure anyone else does either. I think the game is bigger than all of us.”

Sutton played two events last year to get acclimated to his new tour. He finished tied for 23rd in his first event, the Administaff Small Business Classic and was tied for 61st the following week at the AT&T; Championship.

His new mindset will fit in nicely with what he has observed on the Champions Tour.

“It’s pretty relaxed out there,” Sutton said. “ I think a lot of guys’ careers have been defined well before they get to the Champions Tour. It’s still very competitive out there and guys want to win. We were so competitive on the regular tour, but it seems like so much more a relaxed atmosphere that is almost hard to describe.”

Sutton has been working on his game leading up to the Toshiba Classic and will have played in two events before he arrives at NBCC.

“I noticed the guys on the tour score really well,” Sutton said. “Your scoring is done from a seven-iron and down. That’s what I’ve been working on. Making sure I am using them well so I can score low. In order to win you have to make a lot of birdies and to make a lot of birdies you have to hit it close.”

If he accomplishes that goal he expects to be a fixture atop the leaderboard.

“I obviously want to win, but I’ve been out of the game for four years,” Sutton said. “I believe I still have what it takes to win and if you have that belief you will be all right. I’d like to win multiple times and I am going to work on doing that.”

JOHN REGER’S golf column appears Thursdays.