For the avid golf fan the Doral Golf Resort & Spa and its fabled Blue Course, regularly called the "Blue Monster", is well known due to the forty-seven occasions which it has been the site of a PGA Tour stop. Doral has produced some famous champions including thirteen with major championships on their resumes including Tiger Woods, the champion for the past three years. Doral is best known for its demanding closing hole, the par four eighteenth, which offers water down the entire left side of the hole including skirting the left side of the green. Recent quotes concerning the eighteenth include one from Jim Furyk, who said "There is no bailout whatsoever" and another from Steve Stricker "That drive is probably one of the toughest drives we face all year". For the second consecutive year Doral is the site of a World Golf Championship, in this case the CA Championship.

Amazingly of the first twenty-seven WGC events Tiger Woods has won an astounding fifteen of them, which relates to over fifty-five per cent of the tournaments played. Tiger's earnings of $19,972.500.00 in the WGC tournaments alone would place him seventeenth on the PGA Tour all-time money list. Ed Carbone, CA Tournament Director and a personal friend of mine, recently told me "the course is in its best condition ever, the greens should run at 10.5 on the Stimpmeter and the rough is very consistent and dense".

Geoff Ogilvy overcame the world's best players and one of the toughest courses to win his second World Golf Championship. (Getty Images)

Well... from what we expected a number of the projections changed. Tiger Woods' streak of five straight wins on the PGA Tour and seven straight wins worldwide was stopped by Geoff Ogilvy, but only by a mere two strokes, and the Blue Monster's fabled 18th hole never played as difficult as normal due to light winds that came from the north. The CA Championship was marked by rain delays throughout the event with play finally finishing on Monday morning. Ogilvy, who appeared to be in command when play ended on Easter Sunday, conservatively made all pars on his final nine holes to claim victory by one shot over Furyk, Retief Goosen and Vijay Singh and by two over Woods.

Ogilvy had a great week with only one bogey over the seventy-two holes while leading the field in greens in regulation. Ogilvy becomes the third player to claim multiple WGC Championships with his second win. Darren Clarke also has two WGC victories and Tiger a mere fifteen. I feel we can learn three short lessons from different players after dissecting this tournament.

1. PLAY SMART: Geoff Ogilvy played a very conservative nine holes this morning, playing away from trouble and accepting longer birdie putts. He did get extremely lucky when his second chip shot on the par three thirteenth hole struck the flagstick and went in. The chip would have probably gone ten to twelve feet by the hole. If your opponents do not apply a great deal of pressure, take the smart route to the winners' circle.

2. NEVER GIVE UP: Tiger Woods, when seemingly out of it on Monday morning, made three birdies in his final seven holes to give him an outside chance. He was grinding at the end just as he does from the first hole of any event. Do not let a few poor shots or bad breaks make you lose your concentration.

3. DO NOT BE AFRAID TO TRY NEW EQUIPMENT OR CHANGE YOUR SWING: The three professionals, who tied for second, have made some recent adjustments. Vijay Singh, one of golf's superstars, has been working on a more upright plane in his swing. To help accomplish this, his irons were adjusted three degrees more upright than he had previously used. Vijay also went back to his belly putter after switching to a standard length one a short time ago. Jim Furyk recently changed putters from his traditional face-balanced model to a heel shafted style. An alteration in style can give us a fresh look. As all of the top players do, Retief Goosen has been working a great deal with his swing instructor. See your local PGA Professional to get your game back in shape or to keep it in top form.

As always Doral proved to be a great tournament for us as spectators and viewers.

Jack Gale is a PGA Master Professional certified in instruction. Jack is the Head Professional at the Dublin Lake Club in Dublin, NH and a Teaching Professional at Cyprian Keyes Golf Club in Boylston, MA. Jack was named New England Section of the PGA of America Teacher of the Year in 1991 and New England Section Professional of the Year in 1993. From 2001 to 2003 Jack was President of the New England Section. Jack has had twenty-six articles published in various magazines and written seventy-three articles in the Boston Globe. Jack may be reached at jackgale@charter.net