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CIALIS WESTERN OPEN

July 4, 2004

Luke Donald

LEMONT, ILLINOIS

Q. You're the only guy on the leaderboard with four birdies.

LUKE DONALD: It was a good day. I went out there with the attitude of if I shot a good score today, I'd have a good chance because getting here this morning, it was windy, tough conditions, and I was looking forward to playing today.

I didn't have to shoot 8, 9 under to climb up the leaderboard. A good solid round would get me where I wanted to be, and it played into my hand, the weather.

Q. Talk about 18, a chance to get one back.

LUKE DONALD: Yeah, I hit a good shot in there. It was a tough putt. It was downhill, probably had about two feet of break on it from not more than 12 feet. It was just a pace and line putt. I hit a good putt, it just didn't quite make it.

Q. (Inaudible).

LUKE DONALD: I try to wait for Sundays if I have a chance to win.

Q. At what point do you check the leaderboard?

LUKE DONALD: I usually don't check until I get about six holes in.

I knew I was three or four back and if I made a few birdies I'd have a chance.

Q. As a pro you've gotten better each year, tied for 13th last year. Right now it looks like a Top 5. Are you comfortable at this course now, playing better?

LUKE DONALD: I feel very comfortable here. Obviously this is a home week for me, and that makes it easier. It's always fun to play in front of people you know, and I have a lot of support here, so I feel very comfortable around this course, and I enjoy playing the course.

Q. Are you just getting more comfortable as a pro?

LUKE DONALD: Yeah, I'm learning as I go. I think in my career I've always had a steady progression. I'm progressing every year, and I feel very comfortable out here now. It takes a while to get used to trying to get to know all these guys and play on all these courses. I feel more and more comfortable every week.

Q. The purple shirt is a tribute to the alma mater I assume?

LUKE DONALD: Correct.

Q. Do people out there notice that?

LUKE DONALD: Lots of Northwestern people, a lot of "Go NU" and "Go Cats," it was nice.

Q. How did you end up at Northwestern?

LUKE DONALD: Coach Pat Goss. Originally I was going to go to Stanford, it didn't work out. The old coach used to be the coach at Northwestern, and he sent me over and the rest is history.

Q. What do you think you have learned in the last three years? Is it being a professional and everything that you have do to manage your life?

LUKE DONALD: I think one is just pacing yourself. It's a very long year. It's very hard mentally and physically playing 30 events a year and traveling so much. I think it's important to take breaks and to relax and not wear yourself out, and that's kind of the thing I learned.

Q. 12 looked like -- (inaudible).

LUKE DONALD: Yeah, Chris made a birdie on 10, and I wasn't even thinking. I went to tee it up, and I was just about to hit, and -- I quickly picked up the tee and apologized.

Q. He didn't say anything?

LUKE DONALD: I did. He had fun with that.

Q. You've been seeing different conditions out there all four days. How tough is it out there with the wind today?

LUKE DONALD: Well, one thing, the wind is making it tough, but two, the greens are a little bit softer, and that really helps today. You can definitely attack the pins, control your ball on the greens, and with the wind -- if it was firm and soft and windy, it would have been very, very tough today, but the wind obviously, it just makes driving difficult more than anything because if you miss the fairways here, it's hard to get to the greens because the rough is so thick.

Q. What does this do for your mindset going into the British?

LUKE DONALD: I mentioned that to my brother, my caddie, Chris, and it's almost a kind of a mini-warmup for the British because it was pretty windy at times. Obviously this gives me confidence going into my next tournament, which is the Open Championship, and I'm looking forward to going back to England, to home.

Q. You've won out here before, and it looks like Stephen is going to win for his first time. Can you talk about how hard it is to win for the first time on the PGA TOUR?

LUKE DONALD: It's very hard. I think once you win the first time it gets easier, I would hope. My win came in different circumstances. I won in 54 holes, so maybe I don't know how to win a 72-hole tournament yet, but hopefully that's not too far away.

Q. Is your home --

LUKE DONALD: I live in Evanston.

Q. Why do you do that?

LUKE DONALD: Well, I travel down to Florida a little bit during the winter, but for me there's no better place than Chicago. I enjoyed my time at college here and I stayed here. It's a fun city, but I travel so much that the weather isn't too much of a factor. My golf coach is here, my girlfriend is here, so there are a lot of things that keep me here.

Q. Do you go to any games at Northwestern in the winter?

LUKE DONALD: If I'm around I go to a few, yes.

Q. When you go back to England, you're playing the British Open, and you haven't made the cut yet your first four tries. Playing well now and having some confidence, do you feel like you're ready?

LUKE DONALD: Yeah. The Open Championship is a different kind of golf. I think qualifying last week, giving myself a couple weeks to have everything ready, I'll be able to prepare a lot better this year. I'm going to go over there quite a bit earlier and get a look at the course, so hopefully I'll do better.

End of FastScripts.

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