CA Course Reporters: Thursday morning

Editor's note: The CA Course Bloggers -- Ellie Maniery, Desi Brantley, Stefano Diaz and Philip Spano -- will be taking PGATOUR.COM fans behind the scenes at the World Golf Championships-CA Championship this week. The bloggers will be filing a total of 32 entries over five days, so check back frequently to see what they have discovered.

Other blogs: Wednesday's entries

Valuable input from ace writer
By Ellie Maniery

There's hotter weather today in Doral, but the wind is gusting just as hard as it did yesterday. The hope that the wind would die down during the first round is a little diminished so far, as players struggle to cope with conditions. There's a gathering of ominous clouds outside the media center window that aren't looking so great, either -- but so far, it's difficult to tell if the course is playing as hard as it actually is this year. I'm sure everyone has heard this before, but these PGA TOUR pros make it all look so easy. Even though I've only seen one hole with Jim Furyk's group and the approach shots of Phil Mickelson, Camilo Villegas and Craig Parry I can still see how talented these guys are.

It'll be great to get out on the course again later today and witness more of the golf. This morning, we met with three different media members who shared their experiences with us. One of them, Doug Ferguson (Associated Press lead golf writer), mentioned that viewing golf has special value because most of the memorable action happens out on the course. The little events with the player and the gallery, as well as the great shots, and bad shots all make golf a fantastic sport to be around. All three of the reporters talked about making the reader see what is going on and feel the emotions of the players instead of just telling the audience about it. This resonated with me because of my own writing experiences and what I've been taught, and thinking back on some of the golf articles I've read I can really tell the use of this fresh language makes the story that much more real for people who weren't there.

This tournament bustles with activity. Of course, I'd be willing to guess that any tournament where Tiger Woods plays is probably going to be crammed with people. Still, that first-day tension is even more present when so many people are around to watch. The cheer when Mickelson got on the tee blasted my eardrums halfway down the fairway where we waited for the tee shots. I can only imagine what it will sound like when Tiger tees it up. The whole course is swarming with fans of all nationalities because the World Golf Championships brings together players and fans from all over the globe. The interaction is awesome; there aren't too many sports that bring all these people together in quite the same atmosphere of sportsmanship.

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A 'lefty' admiring Lefty
By Philip Spano

I was REALLY excited this morning. The tournament starts today and I couldn't wait to see some of these really great golfers hit their first shot. Before I went out to watch the golfers I was able to talk to Helen Ross, Doug Ferguson and Randy Mell, three great people that had some really good insight in the writing world.

Helen told me that she likes to write about sports because of the element of competitiveness. She said that it was due to this competitive element that allows sports to be unpredictable and exciting. Everyone loves the underdog because he is not expected to win but he tries anyway. It is also more exciting to see an upset then it is to see a slaughter.

Doug Ferguson shared some really interesting stories of jetlag and told us other funny stories. I really liked his advice and appreciated all his help.

Randy Mell helped me understand better how to write an eye-catching article. He told me that if I see something that I find interesting, "pursue it. It is better to write about something you find interesting or you like." I agree with this. I always find it easier to write about something that interests me.

Today, I also got the privilege of following Phil Mickelson, Camilo Villegas, and Craig Parry's group around two holes, the 10th and the 11th. I am a big Phil Mickelson fan, because we have the same first name and we are both left-handed golfers. It was cool seeing him smash his ball down the fairway on his first tee shot of the day and wondering if I could do that.

I tried to see Tiger Woods on the driving range but soon realized that it is impossible because SO many people were standing and watching that I couldn't even come within 100 yards of him. It is absolutely amazing to see how many people are there supporting him. Everyone wants to see Tiger try to do something that no one has ever done before.

I'm still in the hunt for Tiger's autograph...

Paul, if you're reading this, I just wanted to let you know that I'm having a blast and I wish you were here!

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A home on the range
By Desi Brantley

Wow! That was a great morning with some interesting and funny things. Oh yeah! When I came to the course today it felt like I was in heaven. Once I got in the building, I got to eat breakfast with the other reporters at the tournament. After that, it was time to go outside on the course.

As soon as we got outside and I stepped out in the sun, I felt like I was going to pass out. It was hot. The longer I was out there the more I got used to the sun.

Next we headed over to the driving range. Stefano and I were talking about how we are used to the sun since we both live in Florida. I thought it was cool to see how some professional golfers work on their swing with different clubs at the range.

Then we walked over to the 10th hole to watch the first players tee off. We got great seats in the first row, and watched the first three players -- Jonathan Byrd, Soren Hansen and Brendan Jones -- hit their balls. After watching Jim Furyk tee off, we spilt into two groups and followed the players up to the green. On my way back to the media room to write, I got a chance to see Tiger Woods. I'm hoping I get to see a lot more of him this week.

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Hustle and bustle in the media center
By Stefano Diaz

Wow, what a day! I barely have time to breathe. I've listened to speeches from golf writers about some tricks to avoid getting writer's block. Some of the best were to get up, walk around, relax and think about something you would read. Also Randy Mell, a golf writer from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, told me to try to add some "color" or make it as real as possible. We also talked with Helen Ross who is a writer for PGATOUR.COM. She told us about her job as a writer for sports and how she was involved with the creation of the PGA TOUR website.

As I'm writing this, I'm in a very stressed-out environment called the media center. This is the side of a golf tournament that you don't see on TV. There are 105 people in here trying to write stories about the golf before a deadline to countries all over the globe. There are four plasma TVs flashing and playing the highlights of the golf that is happening outside. They also have a live scoreboard in front of all the different tables for hole-by-hole analysis of each player. Well, that's it for right now. My next blog will be around 4 o'clock today. See you in a bit.