Henrik Stenson, right, beat Geoff Ogilvy 2 and 1 to win the first Match Play Championship in Tucson. Ap 2007

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For golfer Henrik Stenson, 2007 was a very good year.

Stenson, a 31-year-old Swede, won the first WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship played in Tucson, earned a top-20 world ranking, built a stateside home in Orlando, Fla., and became a father for the first time.

"It was a very busy season, and an exciting year both on and off the golf course," Stenson said Thursday from Hawaii, where he is participating in the Mercedes-Benz Championship. "I think things have stabilized a little bit. I'm really looking forward to the 2008 season."

And a break.

Stenson said he expects to play in just 25 tournaments in 2008, five fewer than last year. He will participate in this year's Match Play, which begins Feb. 20 at The Gallery Golf Club at Dove Mountain, South Course, and is expected to play at The Players Championship, the CA Championship and the Masters.

Stenson said he otherwise plans to stay abroad, whether it is in Europe or his adopted home of Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

"Yes, I made a bit of a change. I'm not going to play as much in America in '08," he said. "(I'm) trying to get down the number (of tournaments) and be a bit more prepared and have more time for practice and so on."

Stenson said he hopes the abbreviated schedule will keep him from repeating the slump that marred his 2007 season. He won $1.35 million by defeating Australian Geoff Ogilvy 2 and 1 in the 36-hole Match Play final, a victory he calls "the highlight win of my career so far."

But he struggled with the rest of his stateside tournaments. He finished 19th at the CA Championship, 17th at the Masters and 23rd at The Players Championship — and missed the cut at the British Open, the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship. Stenson made just $500,000 in the rest of his American tournaments.

Stenson blames his hectic schedule — and an unlikely medical condition — for the weak finish. Stenson shuttled between the United States, Europe and the Middle East for 30 weeks in 2007. He was often so busy that he spent practice rounds trying to fix the previous week's problems, "and that's just not the way to do it, I think."

"When you lose your form a little bit, and you don't have that time to work on your game because you're traveling and playing all the time, it's easy to end up in a catch-up situation," he said.

Stenson also dealt with a grass allergy that flared up in the summer; the accompanying medication left him sluggish.

"It's more the tiredness that comes with it. "That's the big problem," he said.

Stenson has at least one more reason to stay home this year: On July 1, he and his wife Emma became parents of a baby girl, Lisa. The trio spent the holidays at their new home in Orlando, Fla.

His thoughts have since turned to Tucson.

"Great memories from that week, and (I'm) really looking forward to coming back in February," he said.