I enjoyed this column from my old friend Gene Wojciechowski today.
Geno, writing for ESPN.com, ventured out Thursday to watch the top pairing (at least on paper) at the Cadillac Championship Thursday at Doral. Hope you had an armband (inside joke).
The world’s top 3 players were in the same group: No. 1 Martin Kaymer, No. 2 Lee Westwood, and No. 3 Luke Donald.
You’d think a pairing of that magnitude would have a significant following, right? Or at least, a respectable gallery ringing their fairways and greens.
Nope. Geno writes:
So excited were the galleries about the marquee pairing of Martin Kaymer, Lee Westwood and Luke Donald that almost fives of people gathered around the seventh green as they approached the hole. You could have placed a sofa and ottoman there, and not bothered anybody.
I counted: There were 58 fans around the green. Fifty-eight. Joe’s Stone Crab gets longer lines.
It seems the pairing featuring No. 4, 5, and 6 got all the attention. And it wasn’t for No. 4, Graeme McDowell. For some reason, people were more interested in the other two guys, No. 5 Tiger Woods and No. 6 Phil Mickelson.
Yes, it feels strange to write No. 5 Tiger Woods.
After play, Geno approached Westwood. He writes:
I mentioned this to Westwood in the locker room after darkness cut short Thursday’s play. Said that I was a little surprised about the small size of the Kaymer, Westwood and Donald galleries.
“Really?” he said, smiling.
“You’re not?” I said.
“Not here.”
“But it’s still 1, 2 and 3 in the world.”
“And it’s still from Germany, England and England.”
“So I’m being naive about this?”
“Yes.”
Ah, young, naive Geno. Actually, he’s not that naive. I suspect he knew the answer to those questions.
