Editor’s note: John Maginnes played the PGA TOUR for a decade and also won three times on the Nationwide Tour. Maginnes now works as an analyst for the PGA TOUR Network on XM Satellite Radio.

By John Maginnes
Special to PGATOUR.com

ATLANTA -- It happens this time of year. I get a little sentimental about the year that has been and the path that my life has taken. I suppose we all do.

Some years, for me, that wistfulness was postponed until the second week of December. When you are preparing for the PGA TOUR National Qualifying Tournament, though, there is no time for romanticism. Sunday ends the official TOUR season, though, and looking back, it has been a heck of a year. As we move forward everything is about to change and most agree that the changes will be for the better.

The 2006 season was an interesting year on many fronts. It brought us Tiger’s 50th win, not to mention Nos. 51, 52, 53 and 54. Then there is his run of victories -- six and counting -- in PGA TOUR events, and he has a couple of majors in a row, as well. Tiger will have played several events spanning the globe before that TOUR streak is put back into play. The speculation is that he will tee it up at the Mercedes-Benz Championship in January and go for seven. Should he reach 11 in a row and match the venerable Lord Byron Nelson it will be interesting to see history’s take on the comparison of the two different yet similar feats.

This was a year to remember and thank Mr. Nelson, who left us the week after the Ryder Cup concluded. Many of the records he holds are thought unattainable in the modern era. Whether those records live on forever or fall as they often do will not diminish the legacy of the great man. Mr. Nelson was kind to all who were fortunate to meet him and I am proud to have been one of lucky ones who got to shake his hand.

In my first full year outside the ropes I gained an appreciation and perspective on my former profession that I don’t think that I could have attained with my name still on my bag. As a “lifelong field player,” as David Feherty once described me, I never had a full appreciation of the crunch the top players face from the media. To tell you the truth, I never realized just how good those guys are, either. Furthermore, I never fully appreciated how hard each and every city works to make every event as successful as it can be.

As a member of the media I accomplished things in my first year that I never would have as a player. I made it to the Mercedes Championships, the Ryder Cup and THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola this week in Atlanta. This is the first time since 1991 that I didn’t miss a cut somewhere in the world. Of course, I miss being inside the ropes and living a dream. I miss signing autographs and having kids look up to me. But I love the fact that I get to go home every week and see my own kids, and that is far more important. I know just how lucky I was but it might surprise you to know that I feel just as lucky right now about the opportunities that lie ahead.

On the PGA TOUR Network on XM Radio today our host Jay Randolph Jr. asked our listeners to e-mail their favorite moments of 2006. The answers were as varied as our listeners. Phil at the Masters. Phil at the Open. Tiger since August. Listening to him and Mark Carnavale read those answers started this moment of self evaluation. Another year has passed more quickly than the last and before you know it we will be in Maui wondering if Stewart Appleby can win the PGA TOUR’s season-opening event for the fourth consecutive year As a player on TOUR some years are better than others. I assume that it is the same for broadcasters and writers but after just one year I will have to wait and see.