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BELLSOUTH CLASSIC

March 30, 2005

Luke Donald

DULUTH, GEORGIA

JOHN BUSH: Second place last week, If we could get a few comments from you.

LUKE DONALD: Yeah, it was disappointing in ways but encouraging in other ways. Obviously it was very, very tough conditions, and, you know, I played a few of the easy holes badly.

Although, easy to do, you know, a couple shots I thought were good turned out to be bad because of the wind. But I was proud of myself to kind of grit down and play the last few holes so well and at least give myself a chance to force a playoff with Fred.

But overall, a lot of positives to come out of that week.

JOHN BUSH: And a lot of positives to come out of the year so far as well, six top 13 showings in seven appearances. Just talk a little bit about your season.

LUKE DONALD: Yeah, I got off to a very nice start, best start I've had, and I think I've just kind of rode my confidence a little bit from the middle of 2004 where, you know, I decided to go to Europe, I won a couple of times over there. That bred some confidence and I've kind of carried that through to 2005 and very happy with the results.

JOHN BUSH: And here at the BellSouth Classic, a Top-10 finish last year, so you obviously feel comfortable here, just talk a little bit about your preparations for this week, as well.

LUKE DONALD: Yeah, last week was obviously a very long week and ending on Monday, I decided not to play yesterday. I was very, very tired. I got in a good practice, Pro-Am round today, and the course is in good shape. It's a course I wouldn't think that necessarily is too favorable for me. It's reasonably wide open, you can call it somewhat of a bomber's course, but I feel I'm improving with my length and I feel confident in my game; that I can still play well here as long as I put decent.

Q. The improvements you've noticed since mid-2004 with your good finishes, what has come together in your game specifically to propel that improvement?

LUKE DONALD: I think just general improvement. I think my mental side has gone a little bit better, I feel more confident about my game just up here and that's going to make my physical game better in itself. I have improved my putting. I worked quite hard in the off-season of correcting a few things in my putting, but I've gone from being a very streaky putter to one that's a little bit more consistent. You know, when you can hole putts out here, you're going to play well.

Q. A lot of times people say their breakthrough comes mentally when they are able to instantly forgive themselves for bad shots and not let this carry over; are you better at that?

LUKE DONALD: Yeah, I see a huge difference since I first came out on TOUR. I beat myself up a lot, kind of get upset easily on the course, inner more than outer, but now I just let those bad shots go away. I try and have fun out there more than anything. You know, it's a -- they say it's a marathon, not a sprint and if you keep having fun, you're going to do well.

Q. Was it more physical tiredness yesterday or mental fatigue?

LUKE DONALD: A little of both, having to play almost two rounds in one day in wet conditions and windy conditions. Wind really does take it out of you physically. You know, having to dig deep mentally on the last few holes really took a lot out of me, too.

Yeah, it would not have been of much use if I'd come out and hit balls yesterday.

Q. In some ways do you wish that you weren't here; that you were just doing something else, practicing or whatever?

LUKE DONALD: Well, I'm going to take it a little bit easier practice-wise this week, than I would normally. But I looked at the end of last year, I looked at my results and I tried to figure out the weeks I played badly or I missed cuts why that was. It was usually coming off an off-week, and I felt like this year with all of the majors I was going to play the week before. I feel like my game is better once I played a week or two weeks, and I'm kind of getting in a flow of that that playing mode and scoring mode and that's why I really started to play well.

Q. Mixed emotion of pleasure and disappointment from Monday, what do you think, now you've had a few days to reflect, what's the overriding emotion you've got?

LUKE DONALD: I'm going to take nothing but positives out of last week. If you dwell on the negatives, it's only going to hold me back, and you know, if someone had offered me, I said this in the media room after, if someone offered me second place at the beginning of last week I would have taken it judging on my past two missed cuts there. Overall it was a very satisfying week, obviously a few things didn't go my way on the last round, but, no, I'm going to try and use that as a confidence-builder rather than bringing myself down.

Q. What is your build-up to St. Andrews going to be?

LUKE DONALD: St. Andrews? I will play the Western Open in Chicago, fly over to Loch Lomond and then up to St. Andrews.

Q. That's one event you do want to turn your record around in, as well as last week?

LUKE DONALD: Yes, that's -- I'm 0-for-5 at the British Open, but I feel like I'm a better player than I was the last five times I played there. I've played pretty solidly there at the Dunhill last year and hopefully use that confidence to play well there.

Q. Is there anyone in particular you will try to play practice rounds with next week at Augusta?

LUKE DONALD: Monday I am playing with Bernhard Langer at some point. I think I may be playing a few holes with Sergio on Wednesday, I'm playing with him in the par 3 tournament, and I may be playing with Charles Howell who has played there quite a bit. Obviously trying to play with people who have a good track record or know the course quite well and maybe I can get a little bit of inside info off of them.

Q. How did your pairing with Bernhard Langer come about, after the Ryder Cup last year?

LUKE DONALD: I've known Bernhard a few years now but we obviously claim closer once he captained on the Ryder Cup. And there's not too many pros out here that, you know, work harder at course management and know where to miss it, where not to miss it. Having won two Masters himself, he should know Augusta pretty well. So I thought he would be a good guy to play with.

Q. You've got to be careful about how much you ask him, though, not to sort of distract from what he's trying to do.

LUKE DONALD: Yeah, I've never done that, but it's good to maybe pick up one or two things that could save you a couple of shots.

Q. So you won't grill him?

LUKE DONALD: I won't grill him, no. I think I've played this game long enough to figure out how to work my way around a golf course.

Augusta is a little different, I played there a couple of weeks ago and you know, the pin positions are going to be very tough. It's going to take a little bit of local knowledge when to be aggressive, when not to be aggressive and that will depend on the condition of the course, but I'm sure I could learn something from Bernhard.

Q. Monty not getting into the Masters --

LUKE DONALD: No, that's too bad. He's obviously been pushing to try and get in and come close a couple of times, but he'll be back, don't worry.

Q. Should there be an exemption for Ryder Cup players?

LUKE DONALD: It could be. I think, what, Monty and probably McGinley wouldn't get in either, right? You know, you would have thought on a Ryder Cup Team most players would get in in that way. If they only gave out a couple of exemptions that wouldn't be such a big deal and maybe they could change that rule in the future.

End of FastScripts.

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