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CHAMPIONSHIP
TICKETS AND HOSPITALITY
GENERAL INFORMATION
HOST COURSE
WORLD GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS
| Maginnes: Plane truth is that Doral is loudly spectacular  PGATOUR.com Contributor DORAL, Fla. -- One of the coolest images that I have ever seen at a golf course is the blimp hovering over Doral and looking down on jumbo jets that are landing at Miami International. That's right, I said looking down. Can you imagine what it must be like to fly the blimp in such traffic?  (WireImage)
Doral is located so close to the end of one of the runways at Miami International Airport that when a 777 is landing to the east you have to halt your conversation because no one can hear you anyway. On rare mornings when there is no wind, the palm fronds ruffle in the wake of a jumbo jet's wash. For this reason, and the proximity of the course to the busy streets of suburban Miami, Doral is the loudest golf course on the PGA TOUR. If that alone wasn't enough to make this week's World Golf Championships-CA Championship unique, there are plenty of other things going on this week that add to the tournament's allure. Previously the TOUR visited Doral at the beginning of the Florida Swing, rather than the end as it does now. Tiger Woods would be the two-time defending champion of that event if it still existed. Here comes the confusion, though. Although the tournament is played at the old home of the Ford Championship and before that the Doral Ryder Open, this week's tournament was previously known as the American Express Championship. The American Express Championship that Tiger won last year in England a week after the Ryder Cup is no more. It has been replaced by the CA Championship at Doral. You got that? Here is where it gets really fun. Which victory is Tiger defending this week? Is he defending his consecutive victories at Doral or his two straight American Express Championships, or both? Or all four, for that matter? Either way it doesn't really matter. I say that it doesn't really matter because I can't figure it out. What I am pretty sure of is that the new tournament is good for the community and for the overall health of the TOUR. Michael Bradley and Craig Parry might argue with that statement. Both of those players would be in the field if this was a regular TOUR event as both players have won at Doral in the past 10 years. They didn't qualify for the CA Championship, though. The event this week is expected to sell out for the weekend. If Tiger is in the mix you can virtually guarantee that it will be standing room only. And that's pretty impressive when you consider what the CA Championship is competing against in the Miami area this week. In addition to the NHL and NBA teams gearing up for the playoffs, there is a plethora of other sporting events vying for the entertainment dollar. There's an Indy Racing League race down at Homestead on Saturday night. The best tennis players in the world are in Key Biscayne for the Sony Ericsson Open. I also heard something about a music festival, but without John Daly in the field I don't think that we will get a really good rendition of "Knocking on Heaven's Door." I will have to wait for the Hootie and the Blowfish "Monday after the Masters" party. No other event in the area can trump the excitement of having Tiger Woods in town, though. The planes landing at Miami International can't drown out the roars of his crowd. If we can just figure out what tournament is going on, we should be in for one heck of a weekend. Copyright 2007 PGATOUR.com. All rights reserved. |
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