CA Course Reporters: Saturday afternoon

Mar. 22, 2008

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.

Caught in the rain at Doral
By Desi Brantley

We went to the 10th hole after lunch to try and see Tiger Woods play some more holes. We stopped along the fairway to watch him hit a shot there, and the crowd around the hole was humungous. I got all the way up to the ropes because a lady and a man let me get in front of them to watch.

We walked ahead to try and get in front of the big crowd, and we had to go all the way up to the green at the 11th hole to get a spot. Stefano, Ellie and Philip were by the green and had a spot for me to stand along the ropes. I got there and saw Tiger miss a putt for a birdie. He putted a second time and made par.

While Tiger was putting, it started to drizzle a little bit. We started to walk off the course but while we were walking, it started to rain really hard. When I got back inside my hat, my shirt and my shoes were all soaked. The cuffs on my pants are still wet right now. I put on three hats to try to keep my head dry, but they all ended up soaked.

After we got out of the rain, we interviewed David Howell. He's from England. He said his back was hurt and that was why he wasn't playing in the tournament. We asked him what course was his favorite and he said it was Augusta National.

We also interviewed John Swainson, the CEO of CA, and he said he gets to fly on a private jet. I asked if his jet had a Jacuzzi in it. He said it didn't. He also said it didn't have a putting green. He asked me what my handicap is, but I didn't want to say.

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Catching up with CA's CEO
By Stefano Diaz

Today, after the bad weather stopped play, there was a swarm of people running and trying to escape the monstrous rain. The crowd was so huge all I could think about was that quote, "You can run, but you can't hide!" That explained the situation out on the course when the rain started coming down.

While we were waiting for the rain to stop, I was able to talk to pro golfer David Howell. Unfortunately, he was not able to play this year at Doral because of a serious back injury that has taken him out of playing tournaments for quite a while.

We also met John Swainson, the CEO of CA, and we talked about the benefits of being the head of a major company. He told me that he is able to fly in a fancy private jet, but it doesn't have a Jacuzzi or anything crazy like that. He also talked about what he thinks about Tiger and what it was like to be the Honorary Observer in Tiger's group. He also mentioned that he had the privilege to play a round with Tiger. When I heard that, I had to ask him how it felt playing with him. Mr. Swainson said that it was "awesome" and that he wasn't nervous at all because they were able to play with mulligans.

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Get perspective from one of the best
By Philip Spano

This afternoon I got a chance to talk to the great David Howell. David is a really nice and friendly guy who knows a lot about golf. We talked about how he prepares for a golf tournament and how he deals with bad weather, among other things. I asked him what he thought about this tournament and the Blue Monster. It was interesting to hear a professional golfer's perspective on a world-famous course and his take on how some of the golfers play the course. It is not often that you get the opportunity to sit down with one of the world's greatest golfers and have a conversation with him.

I also got the chance to talk to John Swainson, CEO of CA. John was a very friendly guy who answered all my questions with a smile on his face. Now, I had stereotyped a CEO of a big corporation as a rich man who always wears really nice suits, but John was different. John was wearing shorts and the same collared shirt that I was (except that it was orange instead of blue). He told me what he does as a CEO. He also told me that he has to travel a lot for his job. John said that sometimes he has to go around the world, go to a meeting and then fly home -- all without a break! I was impressed by this. After a long plane ride, I need to sleep. Just the thought of getting up, getting on a plane, going to a meeting -- right after the plane ride -- and THEN flying home right after the meeting shocked me.

I would like to thank John for giving me the great opportunity of coming down to Doral and experiencing what some people have never seen. The past few days have really been action-packed and full of great things. I have learned a lot about what it takes to run such a grand-scale project like a World Golf Championships event and I know that this knowledge will help me in the future. I would also like to thank David Howell for sitting down with me and giving up his time to answer some of my questions.

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A little camera shy
By Ellie Maniery

Today we finally got a chance to meet the CEO of CA, John Swainson. Since CA is the company responsible for both sponsoring the tournament and bringing me out here to report on it, it was awesome to meet him. I really appreciate what he's allowed me to be a part of this week. We asked him some questions about being in charge of a company as large as CA, how he managed to work well even through jet lag, and how a sport like golf is good to sponsor for the company's sake.

We also got the chance to talk with David Howell and ask him some questions. We've met with way more TOUR players than I ever thought we would before I came here. Even though David hasn't played in a little while due to his back injury, it was still great to spend some time with him. We were supposed to watch the tournament with him so we could have the opportunity to get his feedback and learn what he sees in relation to what an average fan might. However, the rain washed away that hope, as all the players were called off the course before we met with him. At least we still got to ask him questions. Once again, as soon as PGA TOUR Productions showed up, I lost my train of thought in mid-question and kept looking at the cameraman. It was less nerve-racking when David noticed and laughed a little, saying that having a camera in your face was something you got used to after a while. I can see how that is true, but for the few times it's happened while I've been here in Miami, I've always been jittery when they first start rolling.

We also got a chance to ask David a question I've always kind of wanted to ask a TOUR player. Phil asked if it was ever annoying for a TOUR player when they are asked about Tiger in a press conference after having a good round themselves. He said "even though everyone else in the field is trying to catch and beat Tiger, it's not as if they're jealous of him -- they can also be fans of his, too." It can be annoying for the top players in the world who compete with Tiger Woods every week to hear about it all the time, he said, but for the rest, it wasn't so bad at all.

I got the opportunity to watch the lead group today, too. We saw their last hole before their rounds got called off. The crowd around them is huge and the people following the three of those guys swarm all the way up the side of the fairway. I think I was on TV! Look for me on the 11th green behind Tiger! (I am the one holding a black umbrella!)

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