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DUBAI WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY DP WORLDDecember 8, 2011Luke DonaldDUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES Q. How was your game? LUKE DONALD: A mixture of two halves really. I played solid the front nine and hit a few shots that cost me, poor drives on 14 and 15, and it was a bit of a loose back nine unfortunately. But trying to get a little bit better from here on out. Q. After the first round, maybe a little bit early too tell, but Rory made quite a big step following you. How do you see that situation? LUKE DONALD: Well, obviously he had a great back nine. He got the putter working. He was holing some putts from everywhere, and playing nice golf. So again, I can't really concentrate on what Rory is doing. I've got to kind of take care of my own business. Q. Tournament is not over yet, but it's the last tournament of the season. How do you look back? LUKE DONALD: It's been an unbelievable season, yeah. If someone had offered me to win the U.S. Money List and have a pretty good lead coming into this week, I would have taken it, and yeah, it's been a great year. Q. Can you remember having to take two unplayables off successive drives? A long time I would guess, wouldn't it? LUKE DONALD: Trying to forget quickly, though. Q. Out of the blue? LUKE DONALD: Yeah, a little bit. A couple times last week, I had that left shot, just got to keep working on it. Q. Such a contrast from the front nine? LUKE DONALD: Yeah, it was a bit of a mix. Yeah, obviously I played very well on the front nine, and yeah, just a couple of poor swings. I'll go to the range and try to figure it out and come back. The good news is it's two better shots than I shot last year the first round. Q. How hard is it to not feel like it's a match‑play‑‑ LUKE DONALD: I talked to John about it, it's hard not to see it as match play, but try and concentrate on myself and that's what I'll be doing here on out. You know, just trying to get myself back into contention to have a chance to win. Q. Glad you're away from him tomorrow? LUKE DONALD: No‑‑ it will probably be a bit of a different feeling. Q. Are you distracted by this Twitter nonsense going on? LUKE DONALD: I don't think so, no. Q. Some terrific golf shots but also some jolly crooked ones. What was going on out there today? LUKE DONALD: It was a mixture of both halves. Played very nicely that front nine, and then felt very much in control and then just kind of lost it, poor tee shots on 13, 14 and 15. This course can do that to you. The way the course is, there's a lot of hazards in the middle of the fairway. Bunkers that you have kind of got to aim to one side or the other, but if you miss it a little bit, you can obviously find the bushes. Q. What's mind‑set when you don't know where it's going? LUKE DONALD: Just stick to the process of picking good targets and trusting it. You know, did that the last few holes. Hit a couple good iron shots. But I'll go work on it on the range and try to find a feeling and get that sorted tomorrow. Q. You've worked with the same coach since college, Pat Goss, but I know occasionally you ask Pete Cowen to have a look and cast his eye on you and did that yesterday; was that because you felt uncomfortable or a regular sort of annual checkup? LUKE DONALD: No, Pete has always kind of given me some views. Him and my coach, Pat, talk a little bit. Yeah, that's nothing out of the ordinary. That's happened before and just very normal, really. Q. You said it was crucial not to get wrapped up in the Order of Merit situation or Race to Dubai situation and stay focused; did you manage to do that today? LUKE DONALD: It's always hard playing with Rory. It almost feels like a bit of a match‑play kind of scenario. But the goal is to concentrate on myself, and just try and do what I can do to try and win this tournament. Hopefully the rest will take care of itself. Q. What are your feelings after that? That must have been frustrating certainly? LUKE DONALD: Mixed emotions. Had some great shots on the front side, played very solid and looked like I was in control, but obviously not the nicest feeling when you hit a few off line and lose that control a little bit. I've struggled in the past and done well at other tournaments. I struggled at Wentworth; and I'll remind myself of those situations when things are not that easy, you've got to tough it out. I'm looking forward to the next three days and trying to improve. Q. It was just essentially off the tee that the main problems occurred, wasn't it? LUKE DONALD: Well, yes, of course, it's funny, it appears quite wide off the tee but there's a lot of bunkers in the middle of the fairways that force you down one side or the other. If your aim point is sort of left or right, you miss it a little bit, you can be in the bushes. So that happened a couple of times today, and unfortunately it cost me. Q. The ambition was always to play your own game, but how easy is it to do that when you're up against and in the same grouping as the only man who can deny you what you've come here to get? LUKE DONALD: It was, it wasn't easy. It felt a little bit like match play in a way. There's a lot of to‑ing and fro‑ing; Rory two ahead on the first, and I was three ahead of him, and obviously he had a great back nine and played very well and found some touch on the greens and made some great putts. But, you know, we'll see what happens. Obviously I won't be paired with him tomorrow. Go out and just concentrate on myself. Q. But in the context of the race, he certainly applied a fair amount of pressure with that back nine? LUKE DONALD: I didn't expect anything less. Q. Just a final thought, you touched on it earlier but you do have the reputation of being someone who really does kind of put frustrations behind you and come back strong in tournaments? LUKE DONALD: I hope so. Hopefully I can do it this week. The good news is this is two shots better than I was in the first round last year and I still finished ninth there, so you've got to find the positives. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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