From the article: “The agent was within five feet of Routh and fired at least six times but missed.”
This is an exaggeration. In a story about the assassination attempt, an article claimed the Secret Service agent may have been as close as five feet from the suspect.
This seems highly unlikely, as the agent was reported to have exited the golf cart to the side opposite the suspect before opening fire.
The golf cart was almost certainly on the golf cart track. The golf cart track was several feet away from where the suspect was located.
The distance between the suspect and the agent, when the firing took place, was almost certainly more than 10 feet, and probably more than 20 feet.
It is very close, but not under five feet.
Plus wasn’t there a mess of hedges between them?