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VOLVO WORLD MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIPMay 21, 2011Luke DonaldCASARES, SPAIN STEVE TODD: Luke, thanks for joining us again. A bit of a battling performance this morning, but back to your old self this afternoon. LUKE DONALD: Yeah, this morning was definitely a struggle. Didn't look good after 15, 2-down with three to play. But I was able to birdie 17, won 16 with a par and made a good birdie on 18 and won it on the 19th. It was a struggle this morning. My game wasn't very good. But that's match play. You've just got to beat your one opponent and it was just good enough. This afternoon, I played a lot better. I played very steady, six or seven birdies I think, just the one dropped shot. And you know, made it hard on Charl. So it was a tough game. STEVE TODD: Next you have Martin Kaymer, the guy you've beaten in Tucson earlier in the year. LUKE DONALD: Yeah, obviously have a little history with Martin from Tucson, but different time, different tournament. I'm sure it will be a challenging match, as again, we are both confident right now with the wins we've been having, and should be a good match. Q. What was the difference between the morning in the match and the afternoon match? Did you have time to think about what went wrong? LUKE DONALD: I actually just, from a physical, mental standpoint, I just felt a little bit drained this morning. I'm not sure why. I've been just a little bit under the weather the last two or three weeks, fighting off a little something that I just can't get rid of. I found it tough going this morning to have enough energy to see the shots. But actually after a little bit of lunch, quick turnaround, I actually felt a little bit stronger physically and was able to hit a lot better shots. Q. What is it you're suffering from? LUKE DONALD: Saturday night of Zurich, I came down with a bad sore throat, and then a couple of days later, I found out I had strep throat. That's what they call it in the U.S. Q. Throat infection? LUKE DONALD: Throat infection, I suppose. Took some antibiotics, and then a couple of days after finishing them, seemed to come back. Haven't been able to shake it unfortunately. Still, don't have to swing with my throat luckily. So still being able to get it around all right. Q. You said you played better in the afternoon. Did seeing Lee had lost, did that give you any extra incentive or inspiration? LUKE DONALD: Not really. Take every match as it comes, and you know, I'm really not going to focus on something that I can't control. So just focusing on each match ahead of me. Q. Do you think you've reached the stage in match play where you're intimidating players, even if they are leading you, like this morning, you are were 2-down, three to play, and yet you still came back. Do you feel they are beginning to expect that now and looking for that to happen? LUKE DONALD: I don't know. I hope so. I think just in general, I've been up in matches before, and your opponent seems to be able to find a little extra gear when they are down. They get a little bit more aggressive and able to win some holes back, and that's kind of what happened with me against Johan. Hopefully I'm starting to become intimidating to my opponents. That would be a good thing. Q. It was a different time in the Tucson final, but will you be able to take some of that into tomorrow morning's competition? LUKE DONALD: Yeah, I suppose I have the upper hand psychologically. But again, we've both been playing good golf this year, and I'm sure it will be a tough match either way. But I guess you could say psychologically, he wants to get revenge, too. Probably evens itself out. Q. And that's ten match-play wins in a row. That's some streak you're on in there. LUKE DONALD: Yeah, I suppose, even a couple more maybe if you go back to The Ryder Cup. That's a good little run. (Laughter). Q. How many -- LUKE DONALD: Probably have it written down in the diary. Q. That must give you confidence, 2-down with three to play, knowing you're pretty good at this format? LUKE DONALD: Yeah, certainly, I escaped this morning. You know, as I said to the media a few minutes ago, if it was a stroke-play event, I probably would have played myself out of it. But that's match play; you're able to beat your opponent, and I was able to grind it out and move on. I think just that digging deep give me a little bit of added confidence for this afternoon. Q. Do you suspect Martin can play a lot better than he did in Tucson? LUKE DONALD: For sure. He's a very consistent, solid player. I don't think he had quite his best that final. I haven't played too much with Martin, but I'm sure he has a little bit more in his tank than he did when I beat him at Tucson. Again, I think it will be a close match. Q. And the throat you're suffering from, is that Luke Donald Disease you've got? (Laughter). LUKE DONALD: (Pausing) I don't know how to answer that one. (Laughter). If it's brought on by hard work and belief, then yes, it is the Luke Donald Disease (smiling). Q. Earlier in your career could you have foreseen yourself becoming such a dominant figure in match-play golf, or stroke play? LUKE DONALD: I've always enjoyed match play, just because being consistent throughout the bag, is a useful tool I think in match play. Always giving yourself chances for birdies, kind of putting the pressure on not playing yourself out of holes, which I did a few times this morning, and that's got me in trouble. But being consistent is important in match play. I think on 18-hole matches, if you can wear your opponent down, it's not too flashy, which sometimes might explain why I don't get it done as often in stroke play. But in match play, it works pretty well. Q. And how exhausting is it playing six matches, or five -- probably six? LUKE DONALD: Especially when you have to go to 18. Tucson, I was able to take care of business a little earlier. But the last two matches were tiring. I'm certainly pretty much spent for today. I need to go rest and hopefully gain a bit more energy for tomorrow. Q. Are you due to play Monday, the Seve? LUKE DONALD: I'm actually not. I was down to play, and have a company day with RBC. They recently cancelled, or they recently postponed it to a different day. So I'm not down to play on Monday. It would probably be pretty tough to play, as well. Q. Where was that it due to be at? LUKE DONALD: I think it was going to be at Burhill or somewhere in that area. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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