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THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 22, 2007

Luke Donald

CARNOUSTIE, SCOTLAND

Q. Your work on the range obviously paid?
LUKE DONALD: It's not what I was looking forward to. My short game was not very good this week at all. I wasn't getting up-and-down. I drove it very nicely this week, all in all. I didn't really hit the ball badly, I just didn't score. I didn't hole many putts when I needed to. And my chipping was miserable, to say the least. I wasn't able to score that way. Come back next year, try harder.

Q. Chipping on links different than chipping on other courses?
LUKE DONALD: Not really. I don't think it's that different, especially this week, because the ball wasn't really getting away from me that much. The greens were holding, so just -- I just didn't chip very well.

Q. Garcia comes through and wins this afternoon, is it an inspiration for the Europeans?
LUKE DONALD: Absolutely. Sergio is one of my best friends on Tour and I'll be pulling for him. I hope he does the job. I think he's very capable of going out there and playing well. It looks like the weather is easing up a bit. I think if it was tough conditions like I played in, it might be -- could be anyone's really. But I think better weather will favour people who have a lead. So Sergio should be looking good.

Q. Did you see this coming, his form this week?
LUKE DONALD: Not really. I played a practise round with him and it looked like he was playing okay but hitting a few wayward shots. But he played quite solidly last week, I think.
He seems to be more comfortable on the greens, that's for sure, with the belly putter. He doesn't look quite as forced with the putter. He looks like he's been able to release the putter a little bit better. I think he got quite mechanical for a while with his putting. And this one, the belly putter, seemed to bring a little more freedom in his stroke.

Q. I'm assuming you're hanging around a few hours, just see what happens?
LUKE DONALD: Yeah, I'm not sure what I'm doing. I'm going to be flying, but I'll watch for a few hours and see how he does.

Q. What are your plans?
LUKE DONALD: I have a week off and I have the Bridgestone and then PGA, week off and then the four playoff events.

Q. A European win could ease the pressure from people like us?
LUKE DONALD: Hopefully, yeah. I'm hoping he pulls through. There obviously will be less talk about a European winner, but also less talk about why I'm not winning or playing better at the Open Championships. But I guess I've got to figure that one out, as well.

Q. I was going to ask you that. Your iron play is not normally something that's the bad part of your game or a poor part of your game. A surprise to you that it's happened this week?
LUKE DONALD: Well, I think it was more short game than anything. A little bit of iron play, a few weak iron shots. But all in all I feel like I'm swinging okay, just not getting up-and-down when I do miss greens or a few silly three-putts or not making those four-footers when I needed to, just kind of scoring tools that weren't very sharp this week.

Q. Will you just take a break from it all and actually concentrate on that part of the game this week?
LUKE DONALD: I'll have a couple of days off, but I'll be back at it and raring to go.

Q. Do you have any special memories of all the rounds you've played with Sergio, something he pulled off that's out of the ordinary?
LUKE DONALD: No. Probably just the Ryder Cup matches we've played together. I think we're unbeaten in Ryder Cup matches. Obviously we have a good partnership and have a lot of fun times out there, kind of cheering each other on.

Q. You had some good battles at Crans-sur-Sierre?
LUKE DONALD: Crans-sur-Sierre, yeah. I stayed in his house both times. The first time I won, which is a bit cheeky. And then I let him win the next year.

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