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THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIPMay 12, 2011Luke DonaldPONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA Q. Can you talk about your overall comfort level with this course, and talk a little bit about your round today? LUKE DONALD: Well, I think it's the eighth or ninth time I've played here, so I'm feeling more and more comfortable. Thought the course was set up well. You can obviously make some birdies out there. There are some guys going really low. The greens are holding, the fairways aren't too firm right now. They're holding, too. And the greens aren't ridiculously quick. So there are some opportunities for birdies out there, for sure. I didn't have my best game today. I made some great par saves, and sometimes you've got to kind of gut it out a little bit, and I did that today pretty well. Q. Do you expect the course to change over the course of four days here? LUKE DONALD: It's hard to tell. I'm sure they'll get the greens firmer. When it's this hot and humid, it's a little less control of the golf course than you would say in March when they could really get everything firm and fast. But I'm sure you'll see the greens getting a little bit lighter in color, a little more yellow in color and getting firmer and faster. Q. Considering the wind to be in early, is that a good position to be in? LUKE DONALD: The wind picked up as the day went on, but it wasn't too much. Nothing out of the ordinary. The scoring conditions this morning were pretty good. Q. Is there satisfaction shooting 69 after shooting 66 (indiscernible)? LUKE DONALD: Probably the latter. I think grinding it out when you don't quite have it and posting a pretty good score is a sign that there's no give-up. You're grinding out there. Sometimes you're not going to hit it pure every day, and you just need to rely on a good short game, and I had some good putts. It was nice to will a few of those par putts in and kind of keep momentum going. Q. Can you talk about playing with Bubba? LUKE DONALD: He's just very fun to play with. He hits shots that you don't often see when you play golf. A lot of shape to them. He hit probably a sand iron into 18 today, and most players would be driver and a mid-iron or 3-wood and a mid-iron. So I guess he's a breath of fresh air. He's just very different to what you usually see. Q. Your short game is pretty good. How does it compare with his? LUKE DONALD: He struggled a bit on the greens today with the pace. He kept coming up a little bit short. I think he was struggling with the grain. They're a little grainier this year than I've seen in the past, and he certainly struggled with that. Q. Talk about his ability to manufacture shots around the green. How much do you admire that? LUKE DONALD: It's pretty good. It's solid. Again, he's not won twice without having some kind of good short game. He's impressive off the tee, and it's nice to have a weapon like he does where he can hit the ball very far and shape the ball like he does with control, but you still need to be pretty proficient around the greens to have won a couple tournaments, which he obviously is. Q. Can you talk about your great friend Sergio Garcia and the long road he's got back to the top? LUKE DONALD: I think he's pretty close. I played a practice round with him at Augusta. I played nine holes with him this week. I think he's enjoying the game a lot more. He seems a lot more lighthearted and his kind of usual self. That will help a lot. He's always been a great talent tee to green, and I thought his putting stroke actually looked a lot better at Augusta and this week. He's gaining more and more confidence all the time. Q. There's a lot of talk about the two European players that are not here. Would you give me three quick reasons why you are here? LUKE DONALD: I nearly won here a few years ago; I enjoy the course; and it fits well with my schedule. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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