Doral Diary: Saturday

It was a beautiful day in Miami, much different from Friday. There was barely a cloud in the sky, the temperatures were warm (at least by Kentucky-March standards, if not Miami-March standards), and while the winds were high, they kept the heat and humidity from becoming oppressive. I went out with Geoff Ogilvy and Graeme McDowell today. My observations on the day:

* The crowds were about what I expected. Our group had only a few spectators, but I wasn’t expecting a large crowd; even with Ogilvy’s major championship and WGC history, he doesn’t seem to be a big crowd draw. The Villegas/Mickelson pairing was on an opposite hole to our group a few times, and the gallery following that group was quite large.

* Pace of play again became an issue on a few holes. We had to wait a few times, especially at the short par-4 16th. When we got there after the par-3 15th, the group in front of us hadn’t teed off, and we had to wait for them to play the complete hole before teeing off. I’m not sure if it was the slowness of that particular group (Adam Scott/Brian Gay) or the accumulated slowness of the groups in front of us (we were the 19th group off in the morning), but these delays seem to be getting worse almost every week.

* Geoff Ogilvy really is off his form right now. I was surprised to see him out-driven several times by McDowell, who isn’t a long hitter. He also hit three shots into the water during the round. His play wasn’t what I was expecting from a major champion and winner of multiple WGC titles.

* Annual tournaments often have their “usual suspects”, and I had one of those encounters this afternoon. The standard bearer for the group that I followed during the third round last year was back at work today. I’d befriended his mother the year before, and it was nice to catch up again today. The young man is quite a McDowell fan, so he was happy to get to walk with his favorite player for two years in a row.

* I usually stay behind or on-level with the players I’m following, but today I got a shot ahead of them at times, while talking with fellow spectators. On the 13th hole, I remembered why I usually don’t walk ahead. I was standing on the green with some new friends while the players teed off. Shortly after the first player teed off, another spectator (who was much taller than the rest of us and had better visibility) said, “Incoming!” We all ducked, and the ball landed about 4 feet in front of us; it came in at such an angle that, if we hadn’t ducked, it would have hit any or all of us. A minute later, the second player teed off, and the taller spectator said, “Here comes another one!” It was again duck-and-cover time, as the second tee shot was just as wayward and landed only a few feet in front of the first one. It was the first time I’d ever been “hit into”, so having it happen twice was an experience! Even stranger, one of the other spectators had actually been hit by a player during the first round; I think I know who to avoid standing next to now!

Tomorrow’s forecast is calling for another beautiful day. Let’s hope that the golf is beautiful as well!