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BMW PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 27, 2011

Luke Donald

SURREY, ENGLAND

SCOTT CROCKETT: Luke, thanks, as always for coming in and joining us. Just give us your thoughts on today, obviously not the score of yesterday but presumably you are still pleased with your position overall.
LUKE DONALD: Yeah, it was definitely tougher out there today. I didn't quite have the same control and I somewhat didn't expect to come out and play the same as I did yesterday. I mean, that was quite a round yesterday, and it's very hard to replicate that.
But it was slightly disappointing that I didn't take advantage of some of the opportunities that I had there and some of the bogeys I made were kind of weak bogeys, I felt. But I kind of stuck in there at the end and after that bogey on 10 to come back in 1-under for the last eight holes, which notoriously is a tricky stretch at Wentworth, was a good, grinding finish.
So I'm still in a good position, and looking forward to the weekend.
SCOTT CROCKETT: What was difficult out there, pins? Tricky pins out there?
LUKE DONALD: I think the pins were a little bit tougher to come by. Obviously conditions were slightly more favourable, really, than yesterday. Not quite as much wind, no rain. Greens were even probably holding slightly more. But yeah, it was tricky. I think I found it harder on the greens. I'm not sure if that's just because I was in the afternoon and they were a bit more beat up, but I struggled to make some putts today.
SCOTT CROCKETT: Give us the details of your birdies and bogeys before we take questions. You dropped at the first, what happened.
LUKE DONALD: I drove it into the fairway bunker, hit it into the green-side bunker and didn't get up-and-down.
4, I hit a driver and 5-iron to about four feet and missed that for eagle, an easy birdie.
7, driver and a pitching wedge just came up a yard short into the front bunker and missed about an eight-foot putt for par there.
10, I pulled a 6-iron left of the green. Again, missed about a seven-foot par putt.
Drive and rescue club just in front of the green and made about an eight-foot birdie putt on 17.
SCOTT CROCKETT: Chance on 18, looked as if it might roll in.
LUKE DONALD: It was on a good line, and the very last, couple of feet broke pretty hard off to the right and missed that one unfortunately.

Q. Ian Poulter had a bit of a swipe at the course today, he made a double-bogey at the last but he said that it was unfair, just too hard and no fun at all. Is that your view?
LUKE DONALD: I certainly had fun yesterday.
It is a tough course. They have made it very challenging. You look at the cut, it's going to be plus four or five. But as long as you come into the tournament with that mind-set, knowing that it's going to be tough, then you shouldn't have any grumbles.

Q. Is it a case that you've all got to learn this course all over again?
LUKE DONALD: The general routing of the course is the same. The greens are firm a little bit different. It is a course that seems to change a little bit here and there every year. But the general feel is pretty much the same.
Obviously around the greens is very different. But to be honest, it shouldn't take more than a few round to learn it.

Q. Would you have expected 6-under to be leading?
LUKE DONALD: Yeah, I knew it was going to be a tough week. Just in the Pro-Am, you kind of get a feel for how the course is playing. That was my first 18 on Wednesday. It is difficult. It's a challenging course. The greens are firm pretty sectioned off. It's hard to create a lot of opportunities. So that's what kind of made that round yesterday more impressive to me, personally, than -- well, it made it very impressive.
So I always thought after the Pro-Am on Wednesday that scoring would be tough.

Q. One thing the players often say is that good shots, if a good shot is punished, it makes the course unfair. Is there a suggestion out there where there are some holes that you can hit a good shot and you will get punished and you feel it's unfair because of the way the course has been designed, or it's just one of those things?
LUKE DONALD: There are a couple holes out there where I think some softening could help certain holes. I looked at the pin position for 15 tomorrow, looks like it's 2 1/2 paces from the right-hand side. I mean, it's a 500-yard par 4 with a huge bunker in front of the green protecting that pin. You miss it three yards right, you're off a slope, and you play to the middle of the green, you've got a 40-foot putt, probably at best.
Certainly there are some holes where I think they are slightly too severe, but most of them play okay.

Q. If it's Alvaro, how much have you played with him?
LUKE DONALD: I've played a few rounds, not many. You know, I know him quite well. He's a very likable chap, very upbeat. I enjoy his company. He obviously can hit the ball pretty far and is a strong player.

Q. Is it a better tournament when the birdies drop from the player perspective or do you actually like a test?
LUKE DONALD: Throughout the year, I think I like a mixture. Certainly if we had to play this course every week, it would grind on you. You know, it is tough. You wouldn't want to play this course every week, week in, week out. But as long as you come here expecting it to be tough, then you can prepare yourself for that, just like a U.S. Open, maybe certain other tournaments.
But I think there needs to be a mixture.

Q. Is it good to have a test like this with the U.S. Open so close?
LUKE DONALD: Certainly doesn't hurt, yeah. You kind of learn to grind it out a little bit, make some ugly pars, which you have to do at Majors and U.S. Opens. A pretty different course to Congressional, but certainly you're getting into that mind-set where par is not a bad score, which is probably a good thing.

Q. Given how tough it is out there, how impressed are you that Matteo is right up there after two rounds at such a young age?
LUKE DONALD: Well, I'm impressed with him in general. I think to have done as well as he has done at such a young age is very impressive. I suppose he has a somewhat similar game to me. He doesn't overpower courses. He even probably struggles to hold the greens more than I do. I mean, I think I put more spin and hit the ball higher into greens than he does, and that's what makes his score even more impressive I suppose, because some of these pins, you need to hit it in high and have a little bit more control.
So if the greens get firmer, it's going to be tough.
SCOTT CROCKETT: Luke, thanks, as always. Good luck tomorrow.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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