The David Toms Foundation's focus is on "underprivileged, abused and abandoned children." Essentially, it funds programs designed "to enhance a child's character, self-esteem and career possibilities."

It has distributed more than $2.5 million in grants and raised more than $1 million to assist people displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

Toms, who lives in Shreveport, La., barely touched a club during his offseason, but spent lots of time duck hunting, at LSU football games and dealing with foundation issues. The emphasis now is on supporting established charities, but he dreams of opening a golf academy/afterschool program for the kids his foundation targets.

David Toms was in a "zone" last year, shooting a record 9-under 61 Saturday and a 5-under 65 Sunday to win the Sony Open by five shots. Advertiser library photo

This week, Toms' fundraising is concentrated on Waialae Country Club. He scorched into a share of the lead with a third-round 61 there last year and clinched his 12th tour victory with a 65 Sunday. The career-low 61 is the best score here since par was dropped from 72 to 70 when the tournament was taken over by Sony in 1999.

"It was just one of those things," Toms insisted. "They call it the zone, but I just felt good over all my shots. My distance control was really good so I had a lot of solid make-able birdie putts and I was putting exceptionally well. I need to find that again."

He could not the rest of the season, finishing 11th on the money list and 19th in the World Golf Ranking, but never recreating the winning magic.

Much of golf's charm is that it can be a microcosm of life, and Toms experienced his share of out-of-zone experiences as he closed on his 40th birthday last week at Kapalua.

Adam Young, one of his closest friends and director of his foundation, just got a clean bill of health after being diagnosed with Hodgkin's Disease.

Toms was air-lifted off the course at the 84 Lumber Classic a year before Michelle Wie was wheeled out in a gurney. Her problem was exhaustion. His was a heart problem surgically repaired a few months later.

Katrina devastated his home state and he had to withdraw from last year's U.S. Open with a back injury, returning to the tour two months later.

Perceptions change, in massive and miniscule ways.

Toms hopes he is "just in the middle" of his golf career at 40, but his perception of playing on this tour has already changed. He spoke eloquently of "wanting to win more than anything else" last year, admitting that had become "everything to me" on the golf course.

"There are obviously superstars that win all the time and it looks like it come easy to them," he said after his five-shot victory. "I guess sometimes like today ... maybe it looked like it came easy to me because I played great, but on the inside it's always a battle."

That won't end anytime soon, even with so much life going on outside golf.

"I always put pressure on myself to go out and play great, but at the end of the day you sit back and know it's just a game," Toms said. "I've got so many things in my life I like ... but I still want to go out and play my best and say I had a good day. It does put it in perspective. Some will tell you it doesn't matter with all that's going on, but it does matter. That's what drives me to play good.

"Every week you're there to try and win the golf tournament. If you don't, you basically fail. It doesn't matter if you finish second or 10th or 50th."

Having said that, Toms has some 40-year-old wisdom for Hawai'i's most notorious entries in this year's Sony.

He believes Kane'ohe's Dean Wilson, who won his first tour event last year at age 36, can succeed at the next level — "winning multiple events" — if he "believes in his own abilities."

Toms' advice to Parker McLachlin is to play his rookie season "like he's playing his Sunday game with his friends — don' get caught up in the whole atmosphere. A lot of people have that happen."

For the teen golf terrors — Michelle Wie, 17, and Tadd Fujikawa, who just turned 16 Monday — Toms' advice is even more basic: Have fun.

"For the young man, with all the focus on him he needs to still enjoy the experience," Toms said, "and maybe take notes out there on the golf course in between shots about what he's feeling, how he's reacting to all that's going on out there. Is he watching the scoreboard, playing his own game? Learn from it."

Toms believes even the well-seasoned Wie would benefit from enjoying the moment more.

"Obviously she has the game for this," Toms said. "If she could somehow ... just like Tadd, she just needs to enjoy the experience because she puts a lot of pressure on herself. It's very hard not to, but at the same time you need to get away from that a little bit. It's almost like she should just go out and play golf as if she was one of the guys just out of Q-school. Go out there like nobody knows who you are. How would she play then?"