Donald cornet says the TPC sulky Monster at hooter Doral, the host consort for the piece Golf fundings-Cadillac Championship, pass on get a gigantic renovation after the tournament.(Photo: Scott Halleran, Getty Images)
DORAL, Fla. (AP) — Donald Trump last year signed a contract to acquire the Doral Golf Resort, and he hired respected architect Gil Hanse to renovate the Blue Monster course that hosts the Cadillac Championship. But on Tuesday, the recent owner made it sound as though the course was going done more than just a renovation.
"They atomic number 18 saying that the course is in the best shape in 25 years. It's a olive-sized ironic, because we blow it up on Monday," Trump state.
PRESSURE AT NO. 1: McIlroy learning the ropes
Work on the Blue Monster begins after this universe Golf Championship is all over. Trump say it would be a "brand new, undreamed of course."
"We started as a renovation," Trump said of the course in the beginning designed by Dick Wilson. "And as we got more and more into it, Gil and I started to say, 'Wow, we are really making it a untold bigger and I think much more superb course. ... We are really doing massive changes."
RORY, TIGER: Together again, at Doral
He said the first hole, which now is 529 yards as a par 5 and traditionally the easiest at Doral, would be extend 100 yards with a lake to the right of the green. The plan is to turn the par-3 15th hole into an island green, and his biggest change would be at the turn.
Trump said the green on the par-3 ninth would be sparkd to the right along the water that guards the 18th green. That would allow the tee on the par-5 10th hole to move farther to the left so that the tee shot is over water.
"What it does is it creates an incredible amphitheater for No. 18, No. 9, and even the tee shot on the 10th hole, which is now over the water," he said.
Ernie Els finally interrupted him.
"Where will the fairway be? It's just water," Els said with a laugh.
Hanse, also chosen to build the Olympic golf course in Rio de Janeiro, had said last year he would sieve to keep the intentions of Wilson's original design, though he said it would not be accurate to call his work a "restoration" because of significant changes to some of the holes.
Trump said because workers will determine 6 inches of "pure, unafraid soil" on the fairways, the original grime will be used to create mounds for better viewing.
" 1 thing I've heard is that by being flat, it's a little bit hard for the spectators to see you guys play golf," Trump said. "So we are creating these tremendous slopes and mounds and the rough, and I think it will be really good for the players. It will look beautiful, but it will also be very good from a applicatory standpoint. People will be able to stand up on these hills and see what's going on in the fairway.
"I think it's going to be a really abundant tribute to golf, and we are going to basically be twist a brand new course."
Justin Rose, the defending champion, doesn't seem to mind. Besides, Trump said he would leave the 18th hole alone.
"By all accounts that 18th hole will not change significantly, which I think is a good thing because you windlessness want to be able to come to Doral and recognize it as Doral," he said. "But it needs to whitethornbe get clog up to living up to its reputation as the Blue Monster. It's been somewhat low scoring here the last a few(prenominal) years, and I think a revamp is going to certainly do it some good."
WGC SLUMP: Tiger Woods has gone 14 major championships with come out of the closet winning, dating to his playoff win in the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines.
Perhaps more surprising is how long he has gone without a World Golf Championship.
No one was more dominant than Woods in these world championships. He won 15 of the first 27 events that were played (he missed the Match Play in Australia, so his winning rate at one point was 58 percent). When he won at Firestone for a record ordinal time in 2009, he had won 16 out of 30.
Since then, however, Woods has gone 10 WGCs without winning.
Woods hasn't advanced out of the bet on round of Match Play since he last won in 2008. He tied for 10th at Doral in 2011 and withdrew in the final round last year. He has only if one top-10 finish at Firestone in the last trine years. And he tied for sixth in his two appearances at the HSBC Champions in Shanghai.
OGILVY SPARK: Geoff Ogilvy never thought he would use a sports psychologist, though he enjoyed casual conversations with Bob Rotella and a few others. But he decided to hire Julie Elion about a month ago on what he described as a "neighborly recommendation."
Ogilvy is neighbors in Scottsdale, Ariz., with Jim "Bones" Mackay, who came to know Elion when she worked with Phil Mickelson.
"I just realized this was a good thing for me — on the face of it it's been a good thing for me," Ogilvy said.
They first met at the genus genus Phoenix Open, and after he missed four straight cuts on the West Coast, the former U.S. Open champion delivered a grip performance in the Honda Classic with four rounds at par or better to finish second. It moved him up 32 spots in the world ranking to No. 47, getting him into Doral and boosting his odds of staying in the top 50 at the end of the month to get into the Masters.
Ogilvy said he's fine Thursday through Sunday, but it was Monday through Wednesday where he had a "history of messing my game up in practice."
The move came with one endorsement.
"Bussy (caddie Matthew Tritton) says I'm in a better range on the golf course," Ogilvy said.
BACK ON THE BAG: Steve Stricker's wife caddied for him when he first joined the PGA tour of duty nearly 20 years ago, even though some players told him he should fill hiring a professional caddie. He won twice in 1996 to show otherwise.
Nicki Stricker mostly stays at home these years raising their two daughters in Wisconsin, but they started a few years ago picking one tournament a year for her to caddie. With his limited schedule this year, they chose the Cadillac Championship.
"We like to do it erst a year," Stricker said. "She did it last year at The Greenbrier."
Nicki Stricker was asked if she was a good caddie, and she looked over at her husband.
"What do they say about caddies? alimentation up, show up and shut up?" she said. "So yeah, I'm a good caddie."
DIVOTS: Donald Trump is helping in a big way with the "Els for Autism" national golf tournament. Six of the tournaments will be played at Trump-owned courses. "He's giving us one colliery of a break," Ernie Els said. "This is going to really help us. We allow made $4 million the last two years, and with his help, we could be mountain the close year with $7 million. That's how big this is." ... EverBank has signed on as a presenting sponsor for the Tampa Bay Championship next week. The tournament at Innisbrook is still trying to land a title sponsor. ... Michelle McGann is not done with golf just yet. She plans to try to qualify for the Founders Cup next week in Phoenix when the LPGA rub begins the domestic portion of its schedule. ... The U.S. Senior Open has extended its exemptions to the top six on the European Senior Tour money list, meaning Paul Wesselingh and Chris Williams will get in the field at Omaha (Neb.) Country Club this summer.
STAT OF THE WEEK: Fifteen players have won the last 15 official events on the PGA Tour schedule dating to Rory McIlroy's win in the BMW Championship.
FINAL WORD: "When little chum salmon beats up on big brother on a regular basis, the roles start to reverse. I'd feel out of place giving Rory advice." — Graeme McDowell, on his relationship with Rory McIlroy.
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Materials taken from USA Today
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