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George McNeill is happy to be able to defend his title at this week's PGA Tour event in Las Vegas. And he's happy that a problem with his neck didn't turn out to be more serious.

"At the first, the initial thought was that I had lymphoma,'' the Fort Myers resident said during a press conference Wednesday at the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospital for Children Open. "It turned out obviously not to be. It was a bronchial cyst in my neck. It was about the size of a golf ball that had somehow flared up in June ... and come August, the doctor said 'We need to do this right now.'

"They didn't know exactly what it was, and the first thoughts of the doctors were cancer. It was something that it turned out not to be anything. It was just something that happened to flare up when it did.''

McNeill, who turned 33 on Oct. 2, played the first two events of the FedEx Cup playoffs, then didn't qualify for the third. He missed five weeks after having the cyst removed, then returned for the Turning Stone Resort Championship two weeks ago, and tied for 22nd.

"It's really boring sitting at home,'' the North Fort Myers High School graduate said.

Still, McNeill made the best of it.

"It's nice to have some time off and relax and spend some time at home,'' he said. "I would like to have played in some of those events that I did miss, obviously. I think that goes without saying. So there's good and bad.''

McNeill is 98th on the money list this year, after finishing 61st in his first full season last year. Part of the reason he finished so high was winning the title he is defending this week. McNeill won the event, then called the Frys.com Open, by four strokes over D.J. Trahan.

"I haven't felt any pressure,'' McNeill said. "I don't feel any different than any other event that I've been to, other than more than one or two people know who I am. So that's the difference. And seeing my picture and name in a few more spots.''

There's also somebody else's picture associated with the event -- the singer/actor Timberlake, who's name is on the event.

"It's a big difference,'' McNeill said. "I was just making a comment driving in here. There's a lot more people here for a Wednesday pro-am than what we're used to seeing. There's a lot of people on the range watching.

"Obviously, with the stars, not only Justin, but some of the other people, actors and athletes that showed up to support the event, I think it's wonderful.''

McNeill played with 2007 Masters champion Zach Johnson, who's playing in the Merrill Lynch Shootout in Naples in December, on Tuesday.

"His wife made him come here because she wants to go see Justin Timberlake,'' McNeill said Johnson told him. "(Johnson) hadn't played here in a while, and he was raving about the shape of the golf course.''

Despite the victory last year, and his similar success so far this season, McNeill tries to remain his laidback self.

"I really honestly don't think I've changed,'' he said. "Maybe some people would say so, but I feel no different than any time other than my bank account has changed a little bit.''