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MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 3, 2006

Luke Donald

AUGUSTA, GEORGIA

BILLY MORRIS: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen and welcome. We're delighted to have Luke Donald with us as our first interview of this year's tournament. Luke as you know is from England. He won his second PGA TOUR event at the 2006 Honda Classic. In his outstanding Masters debut in 2005, he finished tied for third with three rounds in the 60s. In 2005, he missed just one cut in 18 starts on the PGA TOUR, tied for second at Buick Invitational and THE PLAYERS Championship in 2005. On the 2004, European Ryder Cup Team, this is second Masters appearance, and yesterday as we all know he tied for sixth at the BellSouth.

Luke, we're delighted have you with us here at Augusta. Would you like to say something or do you want to go directly to questions?

LUKE DONALD: I'm just glad to be back here. It's obviously a place I grew up watching this avidly on TV and enjoyed playing here. Last year was a great first experience for me, and looking forward to this next week.

Q. Having played well before a major like you did yesterday, does that mean more or less as opposed to playing well before a regular Tour event, playing well going into majors, make any difference to you at all or does that have anymore or less effect do you think?

LUKE DONALD: I definitely feel better about my game, having shot 66 yesterday rather than if I shot 75 or 76.

You know, I felt like I played nicely yesterday. I felt like I played quite nicely during the whole week. It was very close to very good golf. You know, I think that's encouraging and that's why I like to play the week before usually before a major just to kind of get judgment on how I'm playing and how I'm feeling coming into the major week.

You know, glad I shot 66 yesterday.

Q. It's three hours from Atlanta to Augusta if you drive. Do you try to use that time just to focus on the event or just to clear your mind or how do you use that time?

LUKE DONALD: Well, that I-20 is a pretty straight rode. It's not the most interesting highway I've ever been on. (Laughter).

No, it was me, my brother and my girlfriend and someone I work with in the car and we were just chatting. I wasn't thinking about anything.

Q. It's been said your temperament is well-suited for the majors and you're a composed person, you don't really show a lot of emotion on the golf course; is that a particular asset here where a lot of emotional things can be going on, particularly on the back nine? Is that part of the reason you did so well in your debut that you're an even-keeled type?

LUKE DONALD: I think I did well on my debut. One, because I was excited to come here. It was my first year here and I was just truly looking forward and excited and felt like at last, I've made it to The Masters and just looking forward to playing.

Two, I also thought I did well because, you know, when I came here for some practice rounds, I thought it was a good course for me. The greens are so severe and so sectioned off that you have to be very accurate with your irons. That's something I feel like I did well. So, you know, I've always -- ever since I first came here last year, I felt like this was a good golf course for me.

Q. The mental side of it would be part of it, as well as your ball-striking, I would think.

LUKE DONALD: Yeah, it's true with any major. You have to be patient. The golf courses we play in majors, including this one, they are very demanding. They demand a lot of your patience, demand a lot of your golf and you can be frustrated easily. If you can kind of stay on an even keel, I think that's going to help you.

Q. Do you notice any changes this year, Luke, and do you like what you see?

LUKE DONALD: I came here a month ago. I haven't played yet this week. I'm hoping to play nine holes later.

I came here a month ago. Yeah, definitely some changes. They have lengthened the course and it's definitely harder. Anytime you add length, it's going to make the course harder. But, you know, hopefully that will just play to my strengths of having to hit very accurate, long irons. That's something I've done well throughout my career and I feel like even though the course has changed, I've changed as a player, too. I've gotten better since last year so, it shouldn't make too much of a difference.

Q. Would you prefer a dry week?

LUKE DONALD: Yeah, I think so. I prefer any week where it's dry and a little warmer and I feel like I can swing a little bit free are and get a little bit more out of my drives. You definitely have to hit it -- it helps to hit it a little bit further.

Q. There's been some, Nicklaus included, who have suggested that only ten or a dozen or so players have a legitimate chance of winning this week, just because of the sheer length. What do you think when you hear those comments, does it inspire you at all, or is that -- what's that word I'm looking for -- rubbish?

LUKE DONALD: You know, there's no question that if you're hitting it far and reasonably straight, which you do have to around here, it's gotten a lot tighter, this course, in previous years, it's a big advantage. I saw a couple of people tee off 1 and Tiger Woods was 30, 40 yards past most people. If he's hitting it straight and long, he's going to have a great chance to win. He's going to go in with 9-irons when I'm hitting 5-irons. You know, if he's playing extremely good golf and putting well, he might run away with it like Mickelson did last week, who knows.

But I've still got to believe that I still can; if I play really great golf, then I've got a chance to win around here. I do put a lot of emphasis on my iron play and how good it is. You know, if I live up to that, then there's no reason why I can't make some birdies out there and compete. But definitely adding length does make it harder. That means I have to be more on top of my game. That's what I think Jack was trying to get at.

Q. The strengths of your game are very similar to those of Nick Faldo who, of course, won three times here. Have you been influenced by him, and if so, in what way?

LUKE DONALD: Well, you know, I grew up around the era when he was at the top of his game and he was world No. 1 and winning these majors. I grew up watching that on TV, and, you know, having him as an inspiration because of that. He was the best player in the world and best player in England. He was the world's No. 1 player, and being English, of course I watched him growing up.

I never really tried to model my swing on him or anything like that. But watching him kind of inspired me to try to become a better player, that's for sure.

Q. In view of the female sis now placed on accuracy off the tee and having to be straight, would you be attempted to follow the example of Phil Mickelson and include two drivers in the bag, or do you think that's the motivation for what he's doing?

LUKE DONALD: I'm not really sure. I heard he has two drivers but I'm not sure the reason.

Q. He gets more draw on one and the other he uses for a more accurate fade. They are weighted differently.

LUKE DONALD: This course, they have often said you need to hit a draw to be successful. There's quite a few holes where you need to turn it right-to-left. So, wow, I don't know. That's -- I would prefer to have a sand iron in my bag I think.

Q. Were you surprised by that?

LUKE DONALD: Surprised, yeah. I heard that he put it in far last week, but it was for preparation for this week. You know, it's hard to believe that you wouldn't want to play this golf course with a sand wedge. You can get in such tricky spots around the greens, which you thought you might need that club rather than off the tee. I mean, it is somewhat narrow but it's not considered a narrow golf course, Augusta. I don't think you win or lose this tournament off the tee. I mean, it's all around the greens.

So for me, I would stick to my sand iron.

Q. The gentleman mentioned Nick Faldo, have you haven't taken anything out of his game that you've watched on television, have you taken anything from him on the mental side of the game and his own desire to be the world No. 1 which was all-encompassing for many years?

LUKE DONALD: Yeah, definitely. You read stories about some of the things he did just to prepare, how, I don't know if anal is the right word. (Laughter). He's very precise in everything did he, let's put it that way. (Laughter).

You know, I've listened to him even in the commentary box the last year or so and I remember watching The Match Play and he was talking about one match and it looked like everyone -- I think someone had a lead and he was saying something like, you know, why is he playing so safe; Nick Faldo didn't really get that. He said that when he was at the top of his career, he thought about every shot he was trying to hit to the green he wanted to hole, if he didn't hole that, he was going to hole the next one. Every shot was trying to hole it, not worrying about the next one. He didn't mind if he hit it three foot past on the putt. It didn't matter he was just trying to hole that shot. I thought that was an interesting thing, every shot he was trying to do, he was just trying to get it in the hole.

You know, certain things like that, you definitely take from someone who has been at the top of the game.

Q. The fact that he was a winner more than anything else, would you take that from him more than anything else?

LUKE DONALD: But he definitely dedicated his whole life, really, for a number of years to be the best. You know, if you want to be the world's No. 1, I think you have to -- it's a lot of dedication.

Q. When you played your practice rounds here, what clubs did you use at 4 and 7, and did the lengthening of those two holes, particularly put guys who are the short to medium hitters at a disadvantage?

LUKE DONALD: Well, the wind was into our face on 4, and the pin was at the back on the back shelf and played it off where the plate was. I think it was 248 yards to the hole and I had to hit 3-wood. I made 2, though. (Laughter). 7, obviously, goes the other way, so it was downwind and I hit driver and an 8-iron.

7 is going to be tough, for sure. I think for me, 4 isn't such a big deal. If it's into the wind, I think the shots will stop anyway. Whether it's a 3-iron or a 3-wood, I think you can get it to stop. If it's downwind, I'm probably going to be hitting my rescue, my 2-iron, which I can hit actually quite high. I can hit it higher than my 3-iron and land it a little bit softer. So I'm hoping it's not really a big deal for me.

Q. But 7 you think is going to be --

LUKE DONALD: 7, if the wind is into you, that's a very small green to be hitting a mid-iron into it. So you know, you'd almost be playing for the front bunker trying to get up-and-down if you've got a long iron in your hand.

Q. You won Honda, a week later Greg (Owen) is just a putt or two away from winning, what's your assessment of this current group of younger, when I say younger, maybe 30-below, British players, and do you think that there will be majors out of this group and this will be the backbone of Ryder Cups for a lot of years to come?

LUKE DONALD: Well, I do know that it's going to be one of the hardest European Ryder Cup teams to make. There's so many good players playing well, and that's great for European golf. I think that can only lead to good things when it comes to winning PGA TOUR events and ultimately winning majors. You know, hopefully someone, hopefully me, will break out of the mold and win a major and that will spur on these other guys to do the same.

There's no question there's a lot of great talent coming out right now and a lot of good English players playing well. As I've said, that's great for Ryder Cups and it's great for English golf and European golf.

Q. And with the standards that Nick set, does a victory here or a victory in the Open, is that going to be the way you're judged and maybe other British players are judged?

LUKE DONALD: I think you're always judged by what you win.

Q. But these two tournaments, especially? Would that be the main goals of British players?

LUKE DONALD: Winning Masters?

Q. Or the Open, would those be the two main ones you would want to win?

LUKE DONALD: Well, I've always said I would take any major, but if I had to lift them in preference, being British, I'd probably have to put The Open Championship at the forefront. The Masters is a tournament I grew up watching, I had a videotape of best shots of The Masters, I think I could almost tell you the last few winners since about 1980 onwards. Just watching those best shots of The Masters was one of my fondest memories growing up. It's a tournament I've watched for a long time, and as I said, I was very excited to play here last year.

Q. Talking about Faldo, do you remember where you were in '96, were you watching?

LUKE DONALD: I was home in England just watching it when he beat Greg Norman.

Q. The way you finished last year the final nine holes, do you have extra confidence coming in here and do you feel every major you approach now, do you feel you've got just extra confidence, or from your last experience that you seem to be moving forward?

LUKE DONALD: Yeah, I'm upping my goals now and finishing Top-10 is great, but I think I want to do more than that. No point coming here if I don't feel and expect to have a good chance to win. You know, I've cracked into the Top-10 in the World Rankings now and the next step is to compete and win majors.

You know, I feel like I have a good game for majors and I have every chance if I'm playing good golf that I have every chance to compete and win. So, yeah, I'm definitely not coming here just to make up the numbers. I'm trying to win.

Q. Did you look at last year's round specifically to look for anything where you might pick up something?

LUKE DONALD: I have not, no, not really. I mean, I had three good rounds and a poor second round. I think the poor second round was more through expectations. I shot 69 I think the first round, maybe 68, I can't remember. You know, that changes your level of expectations and I think, I thought too much ahead and this year I'm going to try to take every round as it comes.

Q. Wondering when you go back to England whether they think you've got an American accent and whether you've been thoroughly Americanized.

LUKE DONALD: It's a little bit of a twang there.

Q. The guys are laughing in the back, back here.

LUKE DONALD: I'll try and speak a bit more proper. (Speaking in strong English inflection.) (Laughter).

No, losing it a little bit, trying not to.

Q. Losing what?

LUKE DONALD: The accent.

Q. The fact that no British player has won a major since Paul Lawrie, is that cyclical, coincidental or a reflection on the players?

LUKE DONALD: Well, I think there's a bit of everything in there. But you would have to think it's a reflection on the players. It's hard to explain, really. We've had good enough players to win, that's for sure. We haven't had the best players in the world since that time. Vastly the Top-10 players in the world have either been American or you've got Ernie and Retief and there's not been too many Europeans. But, hopefully that will change.

Q. You've been very forthright saying that you think you should be winning majors and that you've got, ultimate aim is to be No. 1 in the world; have you had any reaction to that or do people think that it's a reflection of your confidence and you ought to be quite brash about it?

LUKE DONALD: What do you mean? From who?

Q. From fellow players.

LUKE DONALD: I'm not going around just saying, "I'm going to win this week, Buddy." (Laughter).

Q. You did say that you thought after you won at Honda, you said: "I can see myself as reaching No. 1."

LUKE DONALD: I've never felt that reaction from other players; that they felt like I've overstepped the mark or I've been too confident or anything like that.

Q. Maybe it's an English thing, but we're not used to the brashness.

LUKE DONALD: Right.

Q. English reserve.

LUKE DONALD: I was just trying to make the point if you don't believe that you can be the best player in the world, then it's going to be hard to get there. That's why I've tried to up my goals and up the way I've been thinking.

Q. If I remember correctly, getting back to last year, you went to sleep on Friday night and you had a lead or a share of the lead, I can't remember; how did that affect you going into Saturday when you had to play and finish up the second round on Saturday and then going to play another round after that?

LUKE DONALD: That was the weather delay. Hard to think back, really. I can't remember how I felt.

Obviously felt like it was a great start. Obviously probably didn't expect it that much, being my first Masters. You know, I had had some success that month before. I played well at the Buick and I played well at THE PLAYERS Championship. My game felt good and I was just going to see what happened, I guess.

Obviously came out and I think it was cold and a little bit wet and the course was playing very long and I struggled and shot 76 or 77 on the second round. Obviously happy with the way I finished. I think I was 6-under my last eight holes on Sunday. So it was obviously a nice way to finish.

Q. One other thing, David Howell obviously made a very good debut as well. Is this the sort of course where perhaps familiarity breeds a bit of caution and a bit too much respect?

LUKE DONALD: You can definitely look at it that way. I think sometimes you can get in the mind-set, well, you don't want to miss it there and it forces you to completely go the opposite way. But I think I felt like I did so well just because I was so excited to be here.

I was so looking forward to playing and I had a buzz around me that I was at The Masters and I was playing my first Masters and this was great. Again, you know, you play practice rounds and you know where the trouble is, but you haven't had past experiences ever being in trouble and maybe that happened.

Q. Can you bes excited the second time?

LUKE DONALD: I'm going to try. It's an unbelievable place to come and play. You know, it's always in spectacular condition and it just has that atmosphere about it and I think it gets you in that kind of excited mood. I'm looking forward to it.

BILLY MORRIS: Well, Luke, thank you very much and good luck to you this week.

End of FastScripts.

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