|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
WGC ACCENTURE MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIPFebruary 27, 2011Luke DonaldMARANA, ARIZONA PAUL SYMES: Warm welcome to Luke Donald, the WGC Accenture Match Play champion. How does that sound? LUKE DONALD: It sounds really good. It's been a long time since I've won in the U.S. To come here and beat the Top 63 players, I guess in the world, is very gratifying. It's been an amazing week. I had a lot of good things happen, made a bunch of birdies, never trailed in a match. Kind of one of those weeks where a lot of things went my way. PAUL SYMES: Martin said your short game today and throughout the week has been the key today. Did you feel that was the key to your win? LUKE DONALD: I'm very diligent about working on my short game. I know that my game off the tee and some of my iron play, there is room for improvement, you look at my statistics. But I make up for it around the greens, especially the last few years. And I pride myself on being a good -- having good fundamentals and working on it. And I can only thank my coach Pat Goss for that. We work hard on it, and I thank them for that. PAUL SYMES: Four Europeans in the top World Rankings. LUKE DONALD: Yeah, we've really had a purple patch on World Golf. Having Lee become No. 1 a few months ago, now Martin No. 1. Obviously Graeme has been playing great. And to make a jump like this is -- whether I deserve No. 3 in the world, I don't know. But certainly in terms of my work ethic and wanting it, then I do deserve it. Q. When you got to -- after building a lead, you got to the 9th, you got to the turn and it was all square, what were you thinking going to the turn? LUKE DONALD: Well, I was frustrated. I don't like giving away holes and the 3-putt 6, and to lose it to a bogey on 9 was frustrating. But at the same time, I told myself I'm swinging well. I haven't -- I'm still not down in the match and never been down this week, and let's continue to try and make that happen. I think that up-and-down on 10 was a huge point for me. If I'd gotten 1-down, I think that changes my mindset a little bit, my psyche. And I got it up and down and then obviously and birdied three of the next six holes or so. I still felt pretty positive, because I still wasn't down in the match. Q. You referenced in an earlier interview that you had the monkey taken off your back. I'm just wondering if we can infer from that statement the fact that you hadn't won in a while really bothered you more than you were letting on? LUKE DONALD: It certainly bothered me. My goal every year is to win, win tournaments. It's a long time since I've tried to play for money, you know. My first couple of years, maybe, as a rookie, you know, you think about making your Tour card and making cuts and making enough money to play the next year. But it's been a long time since that. I solely focus on trying to win tournaments. I felt like I hadn't won my fair share for as good a player as I felt I was and could be. It was disappointing, yeah. It was frustrating to me. I think winning in Europe took a little bit off. Obviously it was a little bit of a smaller event, obviously not a field like this. But to come here and compete against the best players in the world and win the trophy is very gratifying. Q. You said out on the green that you don't consider yourself a modern player. Can you elaborate on that? And do you take a little bit of pride on that? LUKE DONALD: Well, just in the last four or five years, you know, every time I come out in the beginning of the season, you know, I play with these new players and they're all hitting it 30, 40 yards by me, and making courses seem a little bit obsolete. I feel like I might be getting shorter. I'm probably not, it's just my imagination. But I have to work the ball around the golf course a little bit more. You know, even playing today against Kaymer, I wasn't that far behind him. But it's enough where it makes it a little bit more difficult on the courses we play. If you can hit it far and straight, it's a big advantage. But that's why I work hard on my short game. Q. Could you describe your up-and-down on 10? How would you rate that? Were you in the waste or the bunker? LUKE DONALD: It was in the waste area and there was a little bush just kind of behind it, too. So I had to go through that a little bit and I just tried to play it like a bunker shot, really. Obviously the sand's a little bit firmer and more compacted. You don't really know how it's going to come out. But it just came out perfectly, released down to a couple of feet and Martin conceded it. Q. Secondly, when you said you hadn't won your fair share of tournaments, why do you think that was? LUKE DONALD: I just think, as I said, I don't think I'm a modern day player. I think the distance -- I think I need to get better off the tee, a little bit more straighter. For the distance I hit it, I probably don't control the ball enough off the tee. I get myself into some trouble occasionally. I tend to not shy away from playing the big events with the best players, and it just hasn't happened so far. I'm not sure why I didn't win so much, I just think being a little bit short off the tee is a little bit of a disadvantage. But other than that, I'm not sure. Certainly the beginning of every year, I sit down and really try and think of ways I can create more opportunities and get more victories. But it didn't happen so much in the last few years. But hopefully getting past that stage of going a number of years without winning, this will open up the flood gates, as they say. Q. When was the last time hail fell on you on a golf course? And how were the conditions out there? LUKE DONALD: It was testing, you know. It was a little windier actually than I thought. I don't think the wind was that forecast. It was certainly cold but it wasn't ridiculously cold. I think obviously when the hail came, the clouds came, as well. The temperature did seem to drop quite a lot. It's hard to -- I can't remember. It must have been a college event, maybe, playing the Scarlet course at Ohio State in Columbus is the last time it probably hailed on me. But it was interesting. It was kind of bizarre crouching under my umbrella like that, seeing hail. We had to pause for 10 or 15 minutes just for the green to dry out. It was testing conditions. I obviously struggled on a couple of holes, but for the most part to make 5 birdies was good out there. Q. You talked about the Top 4 players in the world now all being Europeans. Do you see that as something that can last throughout the season or is there so much volatility at the top that they go up and down throughout? LUKE DONALD: Well, you know, people win, you move up. You can move up; I showed that today. I went from, I think, 9 up to 3. So it is a lot more compact now. I think the fans kind of find that a little more interesting. There is some volatility in the World Rankings that, you know, Tiger Woods isn't way ahead and no one has a chance to catch him now. I think that spot for being No. 1 in the world is up for grabs for a number of people. And I think that makes it fun for us and hopefully makes it fun for the fans at home, too. Q. You talked about going through the entire week without ever trailing on a hole. How would you rate that kind of feat? LUKE DONALD: I guess it's never been done. So it's pretty special. I've played less holes, I guess, than anyone in this event. And those are things that I will, you know, note to myself mentally, that will give me confidence going forward, that I can perform like this and I can go through a whole week playing great and not letting up and having everything go my way. And it feels pretty good. Q. You've had your critics. I wonder if you've ever noticed them, and do you take satisfaction in shutting them up? LUKE DONALD: I've noticed a few of you out on the course now and again, a few (laughter) yeah. I try not to pay too much attention. But the media is hard to escape. And I think unfairly at times, I've kind of been told that -- depicted as someone that is very happy contending, picking up checks, but doesn't really care about winning. And that is really -- that's as far away from the truth as it can be. I feel like my work ethic is as good as any player out here. I work very hard trying to think about ways to keep improving, keep getting better and winning is what it's all about. Q. I just wonder, what's next for you now? How do you think this win -- what can it do for you, and what is your next objective? LUKE DONALD: Well, hopefully, you know, I gain a lot of confidence from it and I go on to win more events. Like every year, the goal is to win tournaments and to try and win Majors. I think I had a very consistent year last year, won once in Europe. I think I had ten Top 3s around the world. I was certainly knocking on the door, but I wasn't winning. The most disappointing thing about last season was I didn't really contend in a Major, I didn't really have a chance. And hopefully this added confidence will just give me a little bit extra to compete in Majors and have more chances and hopefully pick up a Major. Q. Now that you're in the neighborhood, any reason you couldn't make a run at No. 1? LUKE DONALD: There's no reason, of course. It's not really something I think about so much. I think about, you know, going through the processes of what I can do to maximize me getting better. And if I keep winning tournaments, then I'll probably deserve to be No. 1. But I think that's -- I've got to keep winning. Q. What about the question about you deserve to be No. 3? LUKE DONALD: I'm not sure I came off probably correctly. No. 9 to No. 3 seems like a reasonably big jump. I feel like I'm good enough to be No. 3. But I guess popular opinion would maybe not -- would not say that just because of my record and the fact that I haven't won that much. But I think there's something to say for consistency. Even Lee Westwood being No. 1, I think he got criticized because he hadn't won a Major, he hadn't won too many events in the last couple of years, but his consistency was good enough to get to No. 1. And I think there's something to be said for that, to be competing week in and week out, being under that strain. I know winning is a big deal and it's the biggest deal, but being consistent is also important. I think Lee showed that. Q. Talk about the hail or the sleet on the 4th fairway, just to get a sense what it's like and you wake up this morning and lookout your window, did it shock you at all? LUKE DONALD: It was definitely a shock. I knew there was some cold weather coming and snow was a potential. But to open up the curtains this morning and see it, it was like a wow, you know, I guess -- are we going to play today, I suppose is all I thought. I wasn't really too concerned with the conditions. I was just looking forward to playing. So I wasn't really worried that it was going to be cold or windy, just happy to be in the final and having a chance. Q. Would you let us in on the secret, how would you have played the 18th hole (laughter? ) LUKE DONALD: Driver, 8-iron, make the putt. Q. Do you know where it is? LUKE DONALD: I've been there before and -- when I won my first match, the first thing my wife says, it's a good job you didn't go to 18, because you went there too many times in the last years, and I don't really enjoy it. So try and make it stress free for me, if I can. I did that, I suppose. Q. Was it walking through to the 18th, when you withdrew with your wrist? LUKE DONALD: I was 1-down to Ernie playing 18, and I tweaked something on 17. I didn't feel comfortable. I thought I might have reinjured the wrist. But as it turned out, I irritated the scar tissue and I was just out for a week. Q. During your five years, did you have any real low moments? LUKE DONALD: The biggest disappointment was when I probably had chances to win and didn't close it out. I'm trying to think when that was. I've obviously been in contention a few times. I'm going blank as to when that was. I've really never had any real dips in form. I've always been very consistent and competed. It's never been horrendous golf by any means, where I've really felt like I've lost my game or anything like that. There were times where I was very disappointed and very upset that I hadn't broken through, and I can forget about that now. Q. I wonder if in trying to understand why you haven't won quite as much as you should have done, whether you understood that failure to be a mental issue as much as a technical issue, and if that's the case, do you learn anything by this victory that will help you going forward? LUKE DONALD: I don't think it was a mental issue. Look at my play in Ryder Cups, more pressure packed events than anything. And I've always performed well in Ryder Cups under pressure, winning points. I really don't think it has to do with mental inabilities, to be honest with you. Everyone can improve and I'm sure I can get better. But that comes through building facts through stuff like making 32 birdies in 90 holes or whatever I played. Stuff like that will create a more positive canyon inside. But I think probably back in 2007, if you want to really know the truth, I think I decided to try to hit the ball a little bit farther, to try to catch up to some of my peers, and I think it made my swing get off kilter. And it's taken a good two or three years for it to get back to almost where I need it to be. So I think mostly it's been physical. Q. Was there a sense when you saw some of your English contemporaries doing so well in winning here last year, Paul Casey winning, Lee Westwood going to No. 1? Was that a form of inspiration to you or do you not worry too much about what other people are doing? LUKE DONALD: Yes and no. I think you concentrate on what you can do and what you can control. But having your peers do exceptionally well, people that I thought that I was an a similar level, it does give you inspiration, if they can do it, you can do it. And it's somewhat of a motivator. PAUL SYMES: Congratulations. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|