Golf Central

Japan's Ryuji Imada gets a lot of love on In Golf We Trust, but the smiley little fella from Mihara, in Hiroshima Prefecture, got some backing in a strange place this week at Doral: In the US press.

American golf scribes tend to ignore Japanese tour pros like the plague, and quite often are accompanied by tacky references to Pearl Harbour. But Imada has a lot of new friends in the press tent after he got swept up in the maelstrom of John Daly's disqualification last week from Bay Hill.

To summarise, the American hacks are actually rooting for Imada.

About the only thing Imada had in common with Tiger Woods until last week was the fact that they both gods on the greens with Scotty Cameron putters.

After Daly was ruled ineligible from Arnie's party last week for missing his Wednesday pro-am tee time, Imada and Aussie Nick O'Hern were both caught up in the wreckage, also getting disqualified because of a mix-up over their tee times.

And it was particularly harsh on Imada, who is quietly putting together one of the neatest seasons on the PGA Tour. Imada, 31, has been a pro for 9 years and went to the University of Georgia, but has mostly stayed under the radar until this season, when the putting ace started notching Top-10 finishes like a future major champion.

The problem is, Imada needs to get into some majors. He has only played in five of them. And after posting four Top-10 finishes in his first seven starts, ... little Ryuji was on the cusp of playing his way into the field for the Masters. That is, until Daly bungled it with his untimely exit at Bay Hill.

Imada accepted the setback with typical Japanese honourable resignation: "You can't turn back the clock," he said. "I wasn't given an opportunity to play. It was disappointing. But I've got this week to make up for it."

No wonder the typically cynical American press have gotten in Imada's corner: They like a humble guy playing the role of the plucky underdog, especially when he's suffered injustice at the hands of another. And so they have a new guy to root for this week: Ryuji Imada.

In order to make the field for Augusta, Imada will need to move from his current position as world No. 68 into the Top 50 by the end of next week's action in New Orleans. Imada did his part Thursday to merit the new attention, firing a neat round of 4-under 68 with six birdies that left him tied for ninth.

So go ahead and join the chorus and root for Ryuji Imada.

Comebackers: It will be nice to see more of Martin Kaymer this week. The 23-year-old German star made too early of an exit from the first WGC event of the year, losing in the first round at the Accenture Match Play. But with a first-round 68, it looks likely that Florida golf fans will have all weekend to have a look at this great new talent ... The tournament is living up to its design as a showcase for the world's best golfers. Included in the Top 20 after the first day of play are nine Americans, five Australians, two Japanese, two Spaniards, two Englishmen, two Danes, a German, an Argentinian, a Swede, a Frenchman and an Indian.