GOLF TOUR NEWS:THE SEASON may officially be over but, for the sport's elite, the work goes on.

And, as Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy departed Dubai International Airport for a 17-hour flight to California, where they will compete in this week’s Chevron World Challenge, and Pádraig Harrington for the Nedbank Challenge in Sun City – there was a part of each of them already thinking of work that needs to be done over the winter and of what next year will bring.

In McDowell’s case, it is a conviction that he can’t stand still. In a year where he won his first major, the US Open at Pebble Beach, and holed the winning putt in the Ryder Cup, the temptation would be to believe he has well and truly arrived. Not so, in his mind. As far as the 31-year-old Ulsterman is concerned, his short game – an area which he diagnosed as requiring extra treatment as long ago as his debut appearance in the Masters in 2005 when he picked the brains of Ben Crenshaw – is still not at the level he would want it.

McDowell explained: “I think tee to green my game is as good as any of the top players. Maybe I could do with picking some yardage up off the tee. But apart from that, I’m thinking my iron play is continuing to improve. It’s probably from 75 yards in, that’s where I need to sharpen up. I’ve been working hard with Pete Cowen for the past few years on that area of my game.

As I get better and better and hit more greens, that area of your game becomes hugely important just for the momentum.

“I definitely know from 75 yards in, I’m not a world class player and need to become better from that area. I’m probably a five out of 10 right now, and I need to become an eight or a nine out of 10. There’s so many games within the game. The work I’ve done with Pete Cowen over the past 18 months means my long game is in the best shape it’s ever been.

“But there’s no doubt my short game can get better and better. It still continues to be something I don’t believe in as much as I believe in the rest of my game. That needs to get better so that’s the focus of attention for the next four or five months, towards the start of next season.”

McDowell, who has made reaching number one in the world a future goal, plays in the Chevron – hosted by Tiger Woods – this week and finishes off his year’s play by teaming-up with Darren Clarke in next week’s Shark Shoot-Out. After a short break over the Christmas period he will play in the Mercedes in Hawaii (the start of the US Tour) in January and then the Abu Dhabi Championship in late-January.

After that, however, it will be a case of working with his coach, Cowen, in Orlando before resuming play in the Accenture Matchplay in late-February before building up for the Masters at Augusta in April.

“I’ll be gearing up for Augusta. That’s a golf course which puts your short game under the utmost pressure. I’ll be targeting that as a place to go and see what we’ve got after two or three months of practice,” said McDowell.

But there is no danger of major remedial work on his swing or anything like that. As McDowell observed, “It’s not like I need to go changing things too much. I’ve had a great year. The only major difference to my season next year will be the FedEx play-offs and that will be it really. So, there’s definitely an element in trying to pace myself early in the season because you want to be playing your best golf through May, June, July, August really. I’ll be targeting areas of the season where I want to be fresh and on full form.”

McIlroy, who has moved back ahead of McDowell in the latest world rankings, 10th against his friend’s 11th, finished the season strongly with two top-five finishes in his last three outings. What area would he most like to improve?

“My consistency is probably something I could work on, but I feel my short game has improved so much this year because it has had to because I haven’t hit it as well this year as I did last year.

“Just out of necessity my short game has improved and I have got a lot more variety, which I am very happy with. And if I can get the ball striking back up where it was this time last year I will be very happy,” said McIlroy.

Harrington, meanwhile, headed to Sun City in wind-down mode but convinced he knows where he is headed down the line.

“Hopefully it (2010) goes down as just one of those years. I look forward to getting out next year and getting a fresh start. I’m not scratching my head at all.

“ I’m very clear about what I need to do and that’s why I’m optimistic. The main thing I’ll be working on is how I practice rather than what I practice, to try and get a bit more competitive.”