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THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

March 28, 2005

Luke Donald

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Thanks for joining us. It's been a long week for you, but you played well and gave yourself a chance certainly to win on that last hole there. Start with some opening comments on the 18th hole out there.

LUKE DONALD: Yeah, I mean, 18 is playing really tough. It's a tough enough hole without any wind. And with the wind 25 miles an hour off your left shoulder, dogleg left, I mean, it's a very tough hole. I'm proud of myself to give myself a chance for birdie on that hole. I don't know too many people who would have made birdie there today, but at least I gave myself a try.

Q. What club did you hit in, and what was your thought of putting that rather than chipping from behind the green?

LUKE DONALD: I had 188 yards, the breeze was into, off to my left. And I really I hit a 4 iron, pitched right pin high, maybe four feet to the right of the hole. I hit a great shot. Unfortunately just caught that runoff.

I mean, it's a little bit tight, a little bit kind of muddy ish where my ball was. Not muddy, but it was a little bit tight. I thought my best chance of making it would be to use the putter.

Q. When you smiled, was that because you hit a good shot or because you had a break in the game?

A. I think it was a grimace more than a smile. I knew I hit a good shot. You could tell from the crowd it had gone off the edge.

Q. How did you feel about your performance generally throughout the week?

LUKE DONALD: If someone offered me tied 2nd at the end of the week I'd say yes, especially with my track record here. I came with two missed cuts. I haven't played well here. But if I was offered tied for 2nd playing the last round, I would have taken it. In the end I did shoot 4 under, and it was tough out there. I made a few mistakes, but it is disappointing I didn't win, but I'm proud of myself that I was able to finish as strong as I did, and at least give myself a chance.

Q. Can you talk about the range of emotions you had during the final round, where you had the problem at 4 and the wheels came off a little bit and you were able to get it together at the end.

LUKE DONALD: Yeah, I was making some bogeys out there. I wasn't really hitting too many bad shots. I think 4th hole it looked like I hit a good shot and the wind just hit it. It came up short, double bogey. And then I had a putt to go to 11 under on the 7th hole from maybe 12 feet, and 3 putt, and I think that was a big turning point.

And then I go and make a 6 on 9 and a bogey on 12. And those are two holes you want to have birdie chances at.

I messed up on some of the easy holes, but I played the hard holes pretty well. I always knew that if I could just keep my head down, keep going, I knew those last few holes were going to be tough, and the leaders were going to feel the pressure. I really thought 10 under was the number I had to be at if I wanted to win outright. In the end I was right, I guess.

But I knew 16 you can make eagle; 17 if you hit a good shot you can make birdie. I just wanted to keep going.

Q. The two putts on 16 and 18, did you think they were in?

LUKE DONALD: 18 always looked a little bit left. It was struggling to stay up. But I only missed, barely.

16 I thought I had a chance. I read the putt as going a little right down the hill, and it stayed pretty straight in the end, only missed by a couple of inches.

Q. You talked previously about the Buick and what you got out of that experience. What did you get out of this experience today?

LUKE DONALD: I guess I'm going to have to reflect on it a little bit before I can really make that answer. But my golf is going in the right direction, that's for sure. I've gotten off to a great start this year. And these experiences, you learn from them. Maybe once it sinks in, I'll let you know what I've learned.

Q. Last two weeks you've kind of said it's not a bomber's game; what's your take on that and how that fits your style of play?

LUKE DONALD: Well, the rough has been very penal, I think, in the last two weeks. I didn't play last week, but I heard it was just as bad as it was this week. When the long hitters can't get to the greens, even if they're missing fairways, then obviously it favors someone who can keep it in play. And Fred Funk is the straightest player on Tour. He obviously kept it in play, hit a lot of fairways, and that way you can create opportunities. If you're hitting out of the rough you're struggling to make pars.

I think driving it in the fairway the last two weeks has obviously been a key factor to people who won. I'm a reasonably accurate driver, myself, so those kind of conditions favor me.

Q. How you played the last three holes here, was that drawing on what you learned?

LUKE DONALD: I didn't hit any left shots, so that was a good thing. It goes through your mind. You're playing 18 with water all the way down your left. You hit one of those shots, my bad swing, and I'm going to finish at 5 under. So I'm proud that of myself that I hit a good shot and I hit it solid down the left side and the wind just took it back. I feel like I'm improving.

Q. Can you talk about the differences between the morning and the afternoon? Was there any difference in the wind?

LUKE DONALD: Definitely wasn't lighter, the wind, in the afternoon. I think, if anything, it was a touch stronger. But it was very similar conditions, I think. I think the pins were a little harder to get to on Sunday well, the fourth round, and that made it a little bit tougher. I'll be interested to see what the scoring average difference was. But I guess a few people got to play up to nine holes in the third round before today, so I'm guessing the 4th round was a little higher score average.

Q. There were 16 rounds in the 80s. Do you think it was just the pins?

LUKE DONALD: It was the wind mainly. The wind was 25 miles an hour, a couple clubs' difference sometimes. When you've got wind and water, the pins tucked tight, close to the water, I mean you have to be right on, otherwise you're going to see those high rounds. It doesn't take that bad a shot to hit it in the water.

Q. Lyle is the only European winner here; not today, but at any point in the tournament did you think of that and use it as inspiration?

LUKE DONALD: No, I didn't think about that one bit. I was just trying to concentrate on my game. I wasn't reflecting on the past at all. No, just trying to stay in the present.

Q. I think you talked about that, too; it's just a case of this golf course being typical of American courses, versus European golf courses?

LUKE DONALD: Yeah, I mean this is pretty typical American style course, fast, undulating greens, heavy rough. It played differently obviously this year being wet, but I would say this is a typical American style course. But more and more Europeans are coming over here and getting to grips with how to be successful in these type of courses.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Luke Donald, thank you.

End of FastScripts.

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