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BUICK CLASSIC

June 11, 2004

Luke Donald

HARRISON, NEW YORK

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Luke Donald, thank you for joining us, currently tied for 2nd, had a nice pairing so far this week, playing with Fred. Talk about playing with him and your game is obviously very good this week so far.

LUKE DONALD: Yeah, it's the first time I've played with Fred actually. He's a great guy to play with. I didn't know him very well before this week, but it's gone very well with him, obviously a great player and playing very nicely and a crowd favorite everywhere he goes, especially in New York. It's nice to kind of -- I kind of rode his wave this week so far.

I played nicely the last couple of days. I think I've been struggling with my putting the last couple of weeks, but the last couple of days I seem to have found something and I'm putting very nicely and that's kind of the key to how I've scored the last couple of days.

Q. How does that work in terms of you said you rode his wave; just in terms of the energy out there, the adrenaline?

LUKE DONALD: Yeah, just the energy. I mean, he obviously attracts a large following, and I think -- I enjoy playing with a crowd rather than just a few spectators around. It kind of adds to the atmosphere, adds to the occasion, and I enjoy it.

Q. Can you elaborate on what you found with your putting?

LUKE DONALD: I just changed a couple things. I was getting the shaft too much behind my hands and pushing it forward a little bit more. I've changed my left-hand grip slightly, but more than anything, I've just had a totally different mindset. I've been more confident out there, just believing I was going to be putting great this week.

I've struggled the last couple weeks, and it's just very negative out there. I just decided to just be positive and hopefully the ball would roll in the hole, and it has.

Q. You didn't change putters at all?

LUKE DONALD: Same putter.

Q. When did you make that mental change?

LUKE DONALD: Tuesday.

Q. After the qualifier?

LUKE DONALD: Yes.

Q. Was that pretty disappointing?

LUKE DONALD: Very. I was very disheartened, but I was looking forward to playing Shinnecock. You know, my family was going to come over and everything. It was very disappointing for me to play badly and putt awful and miss. I'm at a stage in my career where I want to be playing majors, every one. I don't want to be missing Masters and U.S. Opens. It's gone now, nothing I can do, but I'm going to hope to qualify for the British, and I should be in the PGA, so hopefully I can make up those two.

Q. Was this a single thing or did you sit down with your brother and talk about it?

LUKE DONALD: With my putting?

Q. Yes.

LUKE DONALD: I had a couple people look at my putting, and I think that helped with the actual fundamentals. I've been working with a performance coach, too, Jim Fannin, and we talked about it a little bit, about just being more confident, changing my mindset, and being ultra confident.

Q. After the disappointment of the sectional qualifier, do you kind of put more importance on this week because you're not going to be playing next week?

LUKE DONALD: Yeah, I get two weeks off after this, which will be nice. Yeah, I'm just -- the U.S. Open is gone, I can't do anything about it, I'm just concentrating fully on this week.

Q. Do you feed off a guy like Freddie when he's playing well, as well, when he's in your group?

LUKE DONALD: Yeah, it helps when other guys are playing well in your group. I think definitely. David had a tough day today, but me and Fred played very nicely and we were kind of making birdies together. As I said, I kind of hit a big crowd following out there and I kind of got on his wave.

Q. Does he look like a guy who's swinging with a bad back?

LUKE DONALD: He had a bunch of acupuncture I guess yesterday, and it seemed to be helping. He had a couple in his ears. Maybe I should try that.

He's hitting it great. It doesn't seem like he's holding back if that's what you mean. I think his back is sore, but I think it improved today from yesterday. He looked worse yesterday than he did today, he just looked a little stiff.

Q. He said he's surprised to be in the lead through 36 holes. Do you look at a guy swinging like that at a tempo like that, are you surprised a guy like that is playing as well as he is?

LUKE DONALD: Well, yeah, I kind of said to my brother, he had a great shot into the 8th hole and made birdie, and I was like, well, I couldn't remember how old he is, about mid-40s, I think, and I said, look out when he gets to 50 and he gets to the Senior Tour, he'll be hitting it about 50 past everyone.

I mean, I'm not surprised. He's got a very relaxed attitude out there, and I think this kind of course you have to take the bad with the good, and he hasn't had too much bad so far, but he's very relaxed and I think that helps around this course.

Q. You said that you're working with -- is it Jim Fannin?

LUKE DONALD: F-a-n-n-i-n.

Q. When did you start that?

LUKE DONALD: I started the beginning of this year.

Q. Would you say your putting has been the issue this year or has it been a combination of things?

LUKE DONALD: I think I've had a decent year up until now. I haven't had too many issues with my game. The last two or three weeks have been frustrating. I played kind of poorly at the Memorial, mainly on the greens again, and then this U.S. Open. But the first half of my year has been decent. I've given myself chances to win on numerous occasions, I lost in a playoff at Buick, and now I'm around 35th on the Money List. If I keep playing well, there's no reason why I can't have a great year this year.

Q. Are you going to qualify at Congressional for the British or go over?

LUKE DONALD: Congressional.

Q. So really after this week you're not going to play until the qualifier?

LUKE DONALD: Correct.

Q. When is that qualifier?

LUKE DONALD: It's the Monday after Booz Allen or the Monday of Western.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Luke Donald, thank you.

End of FastScripts.

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