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U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPJune 14, 2011Luke DonaldBETHESDA, MARYLAND BETH MURRISON: We are happy to have with us this afternoon in the interview room Luke Donald the No. 1 ranked player in the world. He has finished in the top 10 in his last 8 U.S. tournaments, including a victory at the Accenture Match Play earlier this year. He's playing in his seventh U.S. Open, his first time at a Congressional in an event. He did say he played U.S. Open qualifying here a few years ago. Can you talk about how the course is playing and coming to Congressional for The Open? LUKE DONALD: Yes, as I said, I came here a week ago Monday and the course was playing great. It's still playing great. It's changed a little bit. The greens are a little bit firmer and faster, but I like the way it's been set up. The rough is manageable. I like the fact that there's some variants around the greens in terms of runoff areas and some of the grass around the bunkers isn't knee high. But it really is playing very well. It's a tough test. The back nine, especially, is a very tough challenge. But I think it's fair. It's set up very well right now. BETH MURRISON: What have you learned in past U.S. Opens that you think might help you this week? LUKE DONALD: Just to be patient, really. It's always going to be tough out there. As they say, par is always a good score at U.S. Opens and just to kind of stay patient but not be too defensive, but just go play your own game and try and have some fun. Q. Your peers have complimented you so much on all the top 10's, talking about what a consistent golfer you are. Is that the way you see it, or do you look at all those or some of them as lost opportunities? LUKE DONALD: Well, certainly if you're not in contention, you don't have a chance to win. That's the first goal is to get in contention and have that chance. And I've obviously done a great job of that. Certainly I could look back and think that I could have turned a couple of those seconds into victories, for sure. But overall it's been a very satisfying few months. I've played extremely well. I've given myself lots of opportunities and I have taken a couple of them. If I was sitting here winless, yes, it would be a different story, but I've picked up a couple of trophies. Q. I know you've sort of reinvigorated yourself, if not reinvented yourself. What spurred you on, what led you to decide that was necessary, and was it more physical things that needed to be done or mental things? LUKE DONALD: Well, to be honest a lot of people have asked what have I done differently, and not a lot, really. I think the better I've become, the harder I've worked, for sure. But nothing has really changed. I still have the basic premise of just trying to compete and continually improve. I wouldn't say I've changed anything. I don't really like the word change. I've just tried to make what I have just a little bit better every day, just trying to get in that mindset that there's no real limits and that you can improve on anything going forward. Q. You said to improve in the mindset that there's no real limits, how did you, then, handle when, yes, you were in contention or right near the top and it looked like you were going to win multiple times and just didn't get there until last week or week before? How did you handle that? Did you just have to keep telling yourself it will come, it will come? LUKE DONALD: Exactly. You learn from those experiences and you try and improve. And you just go back to every day just trying to figure out what I need to improve on, whether it's driving it in the fairway more, hitting more greens in regulation, getting up and down more. I look at the stats, I figure out what I need to improve on and kind of work at it. Q. You'll tee off 8:00 in the morning on a difficult par-3 over water. What do you think that's going to be like? LUKE DONALD: Certainly a challenge. I suppose if I was given the choice I would have preferred to tee off 1 early on. It's a challenging hole. The whole back nine, 10, 11, 12, it's going to be a good start to the U.S. Open. It's a good stretch there. But I'm going to have to play them eventually. Hopefully I can play them well and move on. It's certainly a challenging start. It's not too often you begin on a par-3, it's just a different kind of feel. It's something you just have to deal with. Q. How has life changed since becoming No. 1? Any cool experiences, meet any people, anything like that? LUKE DONALD: I've been so busy that it hasn't really changed too much. Obviously a little bit more media attention, probably been recognized a little bit more. But it certainly hasn't changed a great deal. A few fun messages from people. Greg Norman sent me a text congratulating me; Ralph Lauren called me, things like that that doesn't happen every day. But certainly it's been a little bit of a whirlwind the last four or five weeks that I haven't really been able to -- I guess the last couple of weeks that I haven't really been able to think about it too much. Q. Back in '05, I think it was an event in Atlanta, you told me that you were confident, you believed you would become one day world No. 1. Now that that's happened, do you feel vindicated, and how much are you enjoying relishing the challenge? LUKE DONALD: I've always enjoyed the challenge. I'm not sure -- I don't remember our conversation, but certainly there was a point in my career when I got pretty high in the rankings in '06 that I was working with a guy called Jim Fannin, and together we kind of thought I could possibly become No. 1. It probably wasn't the right mindset in a way. I think I pressed too hard and didn't let things happen and got upset at myself when things weren't perfect. And in the last few years I've just tried to go back to basics about just trying to, as I said, improve every day, just trying to get a little bit better at every component in my game, just seeing that there are no limits at the margin of everything I do. I think that's really gotten me to No. 1. It's been less of a thought about trying to be there, just more about going through the processes. Q. You are the No. 1 golfer in the world, so do you think you're going to win this time? LUKE DONALD: It's dangerous to go and expect too much and come to a tournament expecting to win. But I expect to do what I know I can do. And obviously the goal is always to have a chance on Sunday and to contend. I've been doing that a lot lately, and there's no reason why I can't do it this week. Q. You know Martin Kaymer's caddie quite well. What sort of interaction do you expect to have with him over the first two days, if any? LUKE DONALD: I think it's a good group. Obviously I'm friendly with Lee and Martin and the caddies. Other than Martin, there's five English guys there, so we have a lot to chat about. It's good to see that my brother got picked up again by one of the great players. All credit to what people think about my brother as a caddie. Q. What did you take away from the Masters? Was that a missed opportunity given the way that you started or was it one that you thought I'm going into contention? Did that sort of give you another spur? LUKE DONALD: Some of the things I took from the Masters were obviously I felt like I was a bit hesitant to get out of the gates. I think out of all the majors, I think because the Masters and the way it's been set up the last couple of years you can make some birdies, and I think I was probably a little bit too defensive to start with. So hopefully I can learn from that for this week. Whether I felt I slipped away, obviously if I had gotten off to a better start I would have been in a great position. Obviously I have rued the double bogey on 12, but to be honest, Charl played so well coming down the stretch, even if I made par there, I was still a couple back. It wasn't one I felt that got away from me, but it just gave me more encouragement that my golf is good enough to win one. Q. With as well as you've played in the past year and a half, two years or so, was any of that spurred on by your Ryder Cup experience, even in times when you weren't playing well on the regular Tour and maybe weren't looked at as a big of a threat? You've always been looked at as a threat on the Ryder Cup; you've always played well there, and you always seemed to enjoy that. Have you taken anything from that and used that to build your regular Tour again? LUKE DONALD: I'm not really sure. Certainly I've had three great experiences in Ryder Cups. I've enjoyed every one of them. It's something about the Ryder Cup that elevates your game to a different level. You see more incredible shots and more birdies made that week than you do any other time. Something you can learn from that. Again, it's very hard to translate match play golf into stroke play golf. It's something that a lot of us try to do sometimes but the one thing with match play is if you make a triple bogey on a hole it doesn't really matter. If you do that in stroke play, you can certainly tumble down the field. And that's the biggest difference, I suppose. It forces you to be a little bit more defensive in stroke play. Certainly you learn from those experiences and you try and emulate the way you feel. And obviously majors has a similar vibe in terms of the atmosphere of the crowds and everything that goes with it. It's very similar to a Ryder Cup. Q. Is Dave Alred here? LUKE DONALD: No, he's not. Q. When was the last time you saw him? LUKE DONALD: Wentworth. Q. Can you explain to those of us who are intrigued by the association between a man made famous for helping someone kick goals at rugby and you, what he does for you? LUKE DONALD: Well, I have to answer this one again. This is always a tough one for me to answer because I never really know how to answer it. Dave is just another part of the team, another set of eyes that looks at the way I practice, looks at the way I prepare, has suggestions on ways I can do it a little bit more efficiently, a little bit more under pressure. And that's really his main role. He looks at different ways for me to practice. I take a little bit more notes now. I'm always trying to challenge myself, go through drills where I'm trying to -- where I get a score and I'm trying to beat that score. It's just putting a little bit more pressure when I'm practicing. Q. Do you know Ryo Ishikawa, the Japanese golfer? LUKE DONALD: Yes. Q. He wants to be No. 1 ranked golfer like you. Please tell me what's your impression of his play, and also do you think he'll be able to win in a major and has a chance to be a No. 1 ranked golfer in the future? LUKE DONALD: Of course, Ryo is a great talent. And at such an early age he's had a tremendous amount of success, more success in Japan. But he's played solidly over here, as well, when he's played. As many times as he's won in Japan, that creates a lot of confidence in your player. There's no reason why he can't bring that to the biggest stage of the PGA Tour and the major championships. It wouldn't surprise me if he broke through. Q. Does this course favor any sort of player? Has any sort of player got an advantage, like the bombers? LUKE DONALD: Well, the rough certainly is more manageable. It's something you can get shots to the green or around the green from the rough. You're not just wedging it out. So obviously someone who hits it further is going to have less club into these greens. The greens are certainly firming up from a week ago when I played. They're significantly firmer. They were even watering them today, so they're even concerned right now that they're getting too firm. So I suppose if you're hitting it long and straight it favors you. But it's the same every week. I think U.S. Opens are all about controlling your golf ball, hitting fairways, hitting greens, as well. Q. I was just wondering whether -- I know there's a scorecard length here, but they move the tees around a lot. Are the fairways running enough right now to where you specifically aren't at any sort of disadvantage being in the medium hitting range? Have you got enough firepower to hang with the big boys here? LUKE DONALD: I think so. I was just playing the back nine, which is the longer nine. The front side you're going to hit a fewer shorter irons, actually. The 1st, 5th, 8, all holes where you could potentially be hitting wedge in. The front nine has a mixture of long and short holes. The back nine is a longer nine. But I was still hitting 4- and 5-irons, and that's on a Tuesday. I think as the weather warms up the fairways will get a little firmer. Those will be going down to 6- and 7-irons. So I think that will be fine. If they continue to get the greens firm, it obviously helps if you can hit 8-iron rather than 5-iron, but that's the same every week. Q. You had a fellow Northwestern alum playing in the practice round with you today. What was that like, and can you talk about sort of in general what it's like being at the U.S. Open where you have non-touring professionals in the field with you? LUKE DONALD: Well, I believe I read somewhere that this is the most people they've had qualifying and even sectional qualifying and prequalifying before that that have made The Open. It is the U.S. Open. It should be Open to those who have a chance to make it, and that's great. It's great to see a mixture of guys. It's an opportunity for a young guy to break through and have a stellar week and always makes for a fun story. It's good to have a mixture in the field. Q. Ernie was in earlier saying that when he won in '97 he benefited from trading blows with Monty because they were old foes. It seemed like there was the same going on with you and Lee at Wentworth. I wondered if that was the case and whether you figured it would be useful having a similar group coming down the final nine on Sunday. LUKE DONALD: Probably. I mean, I think it's usually beneficial to play with someone you're friendly with and get along with and have a friendly rivalry with, yeah, sure. And it's nice when both of you are playing well and kind of spurring each other on. So it just adds to the momentum of your game. But we'll have to see what happens on Sunday; hopefully I will get in that position. Q. The No. 1 ranking is a statistical achievement; it's not like winning a tournament where you're getting a trophy on the 18th green. I want to get a grasp of the comparison of the feeling between the two, comparing say winning on the Tour versus the No. 1 ranking. Is one a greater feeling than the other? I assume they would both pale compared to winning a major, for example? LUKE DONALD: Yes, they're very different, obviously. In simple terms, being No. 1 ranked means you've outperformed the rest of the golfers in a two-year period. You've played more consistently. In that regards it's very gratifying to know that you've been more consistent and better over a two-year period. Obviously you win a tournament, you're better over a four-day period. But winning is a big deal, and winning majors is a big deal. Certainly being No. 1 is a great achievement, but if you ask me if I would swap that for Phil's record, sure, I would love to take his majors and the number of victories he's had. But I'll continue to feed off all the good things that have got me to No. 1, and hopefully I can add to my victories, too. Q. Who from Northwestern did you play with today? LUKE DONALD: Chris Wilson. Q. The 16th hole out here, if you hit a good drive will you go for it every day or have they done enough around that green where you actually have to think about it? LUKE DONALD: I think so. It's certainly reachable. There is a big runoff on the right-hand side. I guess that the miss is to play to the front edge of the green. If you get in that little swale just front to front right, it's a very easy chip to most pins, and that would be the ideal place to be. Certainly long isn't great. You're going to pay the penalty and run over the green and be in some nasty pine straw back there. But again, I like that set up by Mike Davis. I think he's done an excellent job in varying the course. It's something you don't usually see at U.S. Opens; usually you're in the rough, you grab the lob wedge and you hack away. But now with some different areas around the green there's a little bit more imagination involved with the short game. So I think he's done a good job. BETH MURRISON: Luke, thanks so much for visiting us today. We wish you well this week. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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