With no Tiger Woods, Doral tournament forges ahead
Even though Tiger Woods is not part of the field, this week's WGC-CA Championship still holds enough enthusiasm.
No getting up to make predawn practice rounds for cousins Amado Alvarez and Arturo Alvarez on Tuesday. No jumping and snaking torsos to see through three- and four-deep galleries Thursday through Sunday, either.
And, boy, do they miss all of that, which comes with Tiger Woods playing at Doral.
This week's World Golf Championships-CA Championship at the TPC Blue Monster lacks the world's top-ranked player, and might soon lack CA as a sponsor. The clouds over the tournament, short and long term, parallel Tuesday's overcast sky -- not containing destructive storms, but holding enough to douse enthusiasm.
``It's just below the majors for us,'' PGA golfer Paul Casey said of the CA Championship. ``It's the next step down. It's there the world's best turn up -- limited fields, no cut, shootout for 72 holes. If you win any World Championship event, you've beaten the world's best. Certainly, around the Blue Monster gives it something extra.''
As a WGC event, a status a Doral tournament might lose without CA returning as sponsor, the tournament brings a star-studded field, even without three-time winner Woods: defending champion Phil Mickelson, the PGA Tour's second-most popular player; and Colombian Camilo Villegas, who has drawn large galleries sporting Colombian flags, soccer jerseys and University of Florida colors since first coming to Doral in 2006; Padraig Harrington, winner of three majors; Sergio Garcia; Ernie Els; Vijay Singh; world No. 2 Steve Stricker; 2009 Masters champion Angel Cabreraon, and on.
``There are [other] good players -- we recognize that -- , but he's a monster,'' said Amado, who lives in Miami and held a CA Championship flag autographed by several players.
``We still will come because we're golf fanatics,'' said Arturo, who lives in Miramar. ``But you can feel it right now. The crowd isn't like it was last year.''
Weston's Manuel Contreras and Miami's Juan Douzoglou agreed that a Tiger-less Doral lacked some of the usual buzz. Like the Alvarezes, they're not casual fans, but true golf nuts.
``The people who come out and watch [at Doral] have a lot of fun,'' Casey said. ``They're ver
y knowledgeable and enjoy their golf. It's got a buzz, especially if you get in a group with, like, Camilo or something. It's wild. It's fun.''
Yet, Amado Alvarez said he told his cousin last week while they were at The Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, ``It's pretty easy to follow Camilo Villegas. There's not too many people like there is with Tiger Woods.''
The Honda, played 80 miles north of Doral, claimed it drew the tournament's first six-figure, week-long crowd, with 101,200 fans. Wednesday's Kenny G Gold Pro-Am more than doubled the 2009 crowd of 4,000 because a foursome with Jack Nicklaus, Dan Marino and Drew Brees helped pull in 9,300 fans. Sunday's final round, led throughout by champion Villegas, had a crowd of 31,500, according to the tournament, up almost 6,000 over 2009. Then again, Honda's field was better than in past years.
Nobody is expecting record crowds at Doral. As for the tournament's future, Ty Votaw, the PGA Tour's executive vice president for communications and international affairs, wouldn't say definitively there would be a PGA Tour event at Doral without CA as title sponsor next year. Tournament executive director Eddie Carbone said last month there definitely would be a tournament, title sponsor or not. Before CA, there were (going backward chronologically) Ford, Genuity, Ryder Truck Rental and Eastern Airlines.
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