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PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

August 19, 2006

Luke Donald

MEDINAH, ILLINOIS

KELLY ELBIN: Luke Donald, ladies and gentlemen, in with his lowest PGA Championship round, 6 under par 66, tied for the third round lead with Tiger Woods at the 88th PGA Championship.

Luke, comments on the rounds and feelings as you head to Sunday.

LUKE DONALD: Well, obviously very excited to have shot, a third successive round in the 60s. You know, my second round without a bogey. I felt more comfortable out there today than the first two days with my game. I hit more fairways, more greens, and felt pretty much under control. It's always nice when you have that feeling on the golf course. So hopefully it will be like that tomorrow.

KELLY ELBIN: Would you go through your birdies, please.

LUKE DONALD: Hit a 6 iron to about 30 feet on 2 and holed it.

Then 2 iron, 7 iron to about 20 feet on 3 and made it.

Driver and 2 iron and two putts on the fifth from about 40 feet.

And then a drive and a 6 iron and holed a 12 , 15 foot putt.

9, I hit a 2 iron and a 7 iron just missed the green on the left fringe and chipped it in.

Then I hit a 6 iron to about three feet on 17.

KELLY ELBIN: For your information, Luke has gone 38 consecutive holes without making a bogey.

Q. Can you talk about your confidence going into tomorrow's round with Tiger, and what you think it's going to need or what you're going to need to shoot tomorrow to beat him?

LUKE DONALD: Well, I'm obviously looking forward to it. You know, playing with Tiger Woods the last round of a major, especially being in Chicago where I've been living for the last nine years, that's going to be exciting, something I'm going to be looking forward to tomorrow. It's going to be quite a thrill.

With regards to score, you know, conditions will probably be very similar. I think the weather is going to be very good, light winds, I'm going to have to make a few birdies.

Someone from the pack is going to charge out and make some early birdies and go low. So, you know, pars are not going to be very good tomorrow.

You know, maybe, 3 , 4 , 5 under tomorrow might be good enough.

Q. After you won at Honda, you spoke openly about being ready to challenge to be the No. 1 player in the world. How much does this fit into that big picture goal?

LUKE DONALD: Well, it's my first chance, really, of trying to impress. I really haven't been in serious contention in a major before. I played decently at the Masters last year, but I was still quite a few shots away from Tiger and Chris DiMarco.

Yeah, this is where I want to be. This is what I need to do if I want to realize that dream and try and become the best player in the world. You know, tomorrow will be should be fun, but, you know, hopefully it will all work out.

Q. Players that have played final group with Tiger, particularly in majors, don't have a real good history. You've played with him; what's the challenge of playing with him in the last group? Is it Woods the player, or all the things that go with the Tiger Woods gallery?

LUKE DONALD: Well, it's a little bit of both. I think the problem with, you know Tiger is a phenomenal player. He's the best player in the world. He brings with him a huge crowd that's very noisy and moving around, and that has its distractions.

But, you know, tomorrow, I've got to just go out there and play my own game. I've not got to watch Tiger. You don't have to play your best to win majors, and even though this tomorrow, you might have to make a few birdies because of the way the course is playing, you've just got to get it done.

You know, hopefully I'll be keep playing the way I've been playing.

Q. How much different a player are you from last year at The Masters, and where are you better and is it all mental or is it physical or somewhere in between?

LUKE DONALD: Well, I think I've improved physically and on the mental side. My game seems to improve every year. I'm giving myself I feel like I'm a more consistent player every year. I'm getting the slight swing faults that I have in my swing out consistently more. I'm hitting a lot better shots.

And mentally, I've been working with Jim Fannin for the last three years or so, and especially this week, it's been working very well, so I've been very positive keeping my head up and, you know, obviously it helps when you play good golf.

Q. You seemed to play a lot of confidence through this third round. You needed a birdie at 17 and you got it to get a share of the lead. You've got the biggest stage tomorrow against the No. 1 player. It's going to be crazy, even though you went to school in Chicago, the confidence factor, how are you going to keep that up?

LUKE DONALD: Well, you know, I've got to stay positive no matter what happens. If I hit some loose shots, I've got to dismiss them right away. You know, just keep finding my next target.

So far, I've not got myself into too much trouble. Obviously tomorrow is going to be a little bit different, a little bit bigger crowds and a little bit more noise. But if I can try and keep calm, I'm sure I'll have some nerves, especially to begin with and probably coming down the stretch. This is what we practice for.

Q. The writers make a big deal for obvious reasons about the fact that Tiger has won 36 out of the 39 times he's had a 54 hole lead and 11 for 11 in the majors. I'm wondering in your mind if you can get your head around those numbers, and then if you can, what it would be like if you could be the guy to finally take him down?

LUKE DONALD: Well, it's pretty impressive. His numbers are obviously impressive and that's why he's the best player in the world right now. You know, he knows that just playing his game is going to be good enough usually. He usually let's other players lose to him.

But saying that, there's a lot of expectations on that. You know, he doesn't want to ruin that record and he's going to be expecting to go out there and he'll have people expecting him to win. Maybe I can use that to my advantage and just kind of sneak by without anyone noticing and, you know, pick up the trophy tomorrow.

Q. In 1999, Sergio with his youthful enthusiasm kind of took the crowd away from Tiger. Do you think there might be a bit of a home crowd advantage for you tomorrow and that maybe you can be buoyed along by that a little bit?

LUKE DONALD: I've definitely had a lot of local support this week and it's been fun and it's motivated me for sure.

You know, a lot of people like Tiger, too. I don't know whether the local support will outweigh Tiger's kind of Army following him. It will be fun, and I'm sure I'll have a lot more support than I would if it were anywhere else.

Q. Can you recall the tournaments where you've played with Tiger and how much easier it was the last time compared to the first time?

LUKE DONALD: It always gets easier. I mean, the first time I think I was paired with Tiger at the British Open at Royal St. Georges, and that was 2003, I believe, and I didn't play very well there. I was struggling that year.

And ever since that, I've played with him a couple more times. And it gets easier every time.

Q. At the Bear's Club, there's a lot of Nicklaus. It's a lot of art and painting, most of them relating to his wins in the major championships. Does any of that stick in your mind in particular?

LUKE DONALD: Well, obviously Jack Nicklaus was a phenomenal player and has 18 major wins. He has a lot of memorabilia. He has plenty enough to fill the Bear's Club which is a huge place, so it's hard not to see some of it.

I would like to have at least some of that sometime at the end of my career when I'm 65, 70, I'd like to have a lot of memorabilia like that. That would be fun. That means I've had a good career.

Q. What have you picked up from Nicklaus?

LUKE DONALD: I played with Jack Nicklaus at the British Open last year and that was quite an experience. Those kind of things will help me for tomorrow. But, you know, one thing he said, he's never gone out of his way to give a lot of advice, but the one thing he did say to me was be patient. You know, I've got a good enough game to win and compete in majors.

You know, as you always know, you've got to be patient, you've got to stay calm and if you hit any bad shots, just carry on.

Q. You mentioned playing with Tiger at Royal St. Georges and a couple other times. Any specific example from those rounds with him that was particularly crazy or different from any other player and maybe why are you better equipped now to handle that kind of scene than you were a few years ago?

LUKE DONALD: Well, 2003, I was ranked probably outside the Top 100 in the world. I wasn't kind of on the world stage at that time. I was not the player I am today.

I've obviously since then I've won a few times in Europe. I've won a couple times around the world and I've won in the U.S. Those experiences have helped me become a better player.

But, you know, Tiger brings he's the best player in the world. Everyone wants to follow him. Everyone wants to from all kind of people, from the golf spectators to the guys who like having a few beers; he brings a rowdy crowd with him.

You know, it's been pretty rowdy out here the last few days. It will be a little bit louder, but hopefully not too much.

KELLY ELBIN: Luke Donald, tied for the lead after three rounds of the PGA Championship. Luke, thank you.

End of FastScripts.

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