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BMW CHAMPIONSHIP

May 26, 2006

Luke Donald

VIRGINIA WATERS, ENGLAND

STEVEN FRANKLIN: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back. Luke, welcome back in again. Very nice start, incredible start. Tell us about the ace at the second.

LUKE DONALD: Yeah, it was a nice shot if I do say myself. (Smiling.)

7 iron from 146 yards, the wind was in and off the right to left. Just a little punch 7 iron and pitched to about eight or ten feet behind the hole and then spun back nicely into the hole. So very delighted to see it go in. It was my first ace in a tournament. So very excited.

Q. First ace in any tournament on the European Tour?

LUKE DONALD: In a tournament. I think I've had just six or seven just playing socially. But that was the first one in a tournament.

STEVEN FRANKLIN: Obviously a massive high. A little bit of adrenaline at the next, was that a problem?

LUKE DONALD: No, not at all. I hit it just over the back of the green in two and chipped to about two, two and a half feet and really just made a poor putt. Lack of concentration, really, more than anything.

STEVEN FRANKLIN: Nick's just been in here, and I believe he's just talked about dreaming of winning this tournament last night and talking about beating you in the final round, as well in this dream. Is this something you do?

LUKE DONALD: I don't know if I've dreamt about it. Of I definitely try and go through in my mind before the round, try and play the round out. You know, it would be a great tournament to win. Obviously a huge event on The European Tour and a great field. So come Sunday if I'm at the top of the leaderboard, you know, I'll be very happy.

STEVEN FRANKLIN: We'll just do your card and open it up. You had a birdie at the 4?

LUKE DONALD: Driver and 3 wood to the back fringe and two putts from about 30 feet.

7 was 3 wood into the right rough. I laid up with a 9 iron, wedged it to five feet and missed.

Next I hit a drive and a 4 iron to the front edge and 3 putts from 50, 60 feet maybe.

12, drive and a 3 wood on to the fringe. Chipped it to four feet and made the putt.

At 15, I hit my drive into the left bunker, just hit the lip, almost flew over it. Was unlucky. I tried to just lay up at the end of the fairway and caught it a little thin and it flew straight into the water hazard there, which was a mental error, lapse in concentration, which cost me obviously a double bogey. I was just trying to get the ball out to the edge of the fairway and trying to make four.

Then 18, drive, I drove it into the second fairway bunker, just hit a 9 iron out and wedged it to about five feet and made the putt.

Q. The ditch that crosses the fairway, you hit your second shot?

LUKE DONALD: Yeah, I was trying to lay up just short of it (correct) and caught my just thinned it a little bit.

Q. How much harder today than yesterday with that wind?

LUKE DONALD: Definitely harder. The wind is considerably stronger. There was really marginal wind yesterday. But it is in the right direction. I think it makes the back nine playable.

But the wind, it's tough to judge, and I think with the greens being even softer, I found it hard to control the spin on the greens. There was a number of times where I thought I hit pretty good shots and it was spinning off 20, 25 feet, and that's hard to control. If you ask any professional golfer, they want the ball just to land and stop and stay where it is. They don't want it to you can't control how much it's spinning. So that was tough. But the wind is strong, and it's getting up; the last few holes were very strong.

Q. Will it be harder this afternoon than this morning, do you think?

LUKE DONALD: It was a little miserable and damp this morning but there wasn't much rain when I played.

This wind is tricky, and I don't think it's going to be any easier, that's for sure.

Q. Unlucky to be 67 like yesterday?

LUKE DONALD: It could. You can score around here no doubt. There are a few holes on the front nine especially that are playing tough. I think 1, 3 is still a tough hole; 5, and 9 are going to be kind of into the wind and, you know, still playable. But they are going to be playing long.

The rest of the holes, you know, with the greens still being soft, you can throw the ball straight at the pin especially with longer clubs. And you can make some birdies out there for sure. You have to play well.

Q. Do you have a theory as to why Nick came through a little later than you did?

LUKE DONALD: Well, I had probably more experience by the time I turned pro. When he did, he turned (pro) at a younger age than I did.

It takes time to adjust to life on Tour. I had four years of college under my belt, and you know, for me it worked out really well. I felt like I was very ready when I came to the U.S. Tour when I turned professional. So, I don't know, I can't really speak for Nick. Could be a number of things, a few swing changes, I don't really know. I just felt like I waited a little bit longer.

Q. He's also four years younger.

LUKE DONALD: Yeah. He's got time, plenty of time.

Q. Is there anything about the way he hits the ball that strikes you or is there anything he does as he plays that you think he does particularly well?

LUKE DONALD: I haven't played a great deal with Nick but the few times I have, he seems very consistent, he seems to have a great will to succeed and be successful. He's quite a powerful player. I think he hits the ball a decent distance off the tee and he favors a small fade every time I've played with him, which is a consistent shot.

You know, that's going to hopefully produce a lot of fairway hits and when he gets to the greens, he's pretty good on the greens. So, you know, he's got every aspect of the game, and it's only a matter of time before he breaks through and starts winning lots of tournaments and going on from there.

Q. Coming into the week, people were saying that there was slight worry for Ian Woosnam about the Ryder Cup Team; how pleasing is it to look around yesterday evening and see yourself and Paul Casey, David Howell all up there?

LUKE DONALD: Yeah, it's encouraging for the Ryder Cup and for The European Tour. I think the leaderboard looked very the weight was very heavily shifted toward the top Europeans and top British players. That's good for the game of golf, good for the Ryder Cup, and I'm sure Ian Woosnam was happy to see it.

It's nice to see people like Paul Casey's been playing well the last few weeks and that's good to see.

Q. Did the setup get any tougher today, from what you said yesterday, did they do anything, like tougher pin positions or anything like that?

LUKE DONALD: Not too much. The pin on No. 9 was very hard. It was pushed on a little shelf on the left side. That was the highest point of the green. I'm thinking they put it there because of the rain early on.

You know, the conditions were worse today, and I think the course was set up fine. No easier, no harder, really.

STEVEN FRANKLIN: Thank you, Luke.

End of FastScripts.

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