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BMW PGA CHAMPIONSHIPMay 23, 2012Luke DonaldVIRGINIA WATER, ENGLAND SCOTT CROCKETT: Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for your attendance, and Luke, as always, welcome to the BMW PGA Championship. Last night you were honored at the Players' Awards Dinner for your achievements last year, and obviously one of the highlights was the win last year. Let's start with, that the win what it meant to you at the time, being world No. 1 and just going forward from there. LUKE DONALD: Well, I think it was a huge win for me obviously. You know, in terms of kind of cementing the win that I had a few months earlier in the Match Play, I think winning a match‑play event and a WGC was special. But to come here and win a stroke‑play event against a very strong field in the biggest Flagship Event on The European Tour; getting that first win a little bit more validity, whatever that word is, it was special to come here. I grew up just down the road. I had watched this tournament many times as a kid. Obviously not just having the win on the line but also the title being No. 1 golfer in the world was very special, and obviously the year kept improving as it went along, and this was a big part of it. SCOTT CROCKETT: And your thoughts on being back as the defending champion leading into this week? LUKE DONALD: Well, exciting. It's always a great week, and especially when you have forecasted weather like this. I'm excited to be back here. Since the changes, I've performed well around this golf course. And I think any time you're coming back to a place with such good memories, you feel good about it. So I'm excited to be here, and glad to have a chance to go back to No. 1 I guess. SCOTT CROCKETT: Your thoughts on last night, the Players' Awards Dinner; you said at the dinner that in 2010, you were watching it wanting to be a part of it, you were very much a part of it last night with the awards you picked up. It was a nice evening for you, wasn't it? LUKE DONALD: These two nights, this year and last year, were fun to me. I think it really does highlight how strong European golf is right now and how proud we should be of the players and everything that a lot of the guys have achieved over the last few years. It's kind of inspirational in a way, seeing some of those video montages and just seeing what a lot of us have achieved over the last few years. Q. There was interesting press coverage when you were at THE PLAYERS Championship where you were saying that you were really trying hard to get some of the leading Americans to come over to this event, which is, as you say, our Flagship Event. Do you hope that with people like Rich Beem and those people that are here this week, that they may go back and say, yeah, it's a great event and something for the others to come over to? LUKE DONALD: I would love to see this event become even stronger and attract some of the American players over here. I think personally, I set my schedule obviously dependent on where I think I'm going to play well and kind of the run of events that work well in my schedule. But I'm also always trying to play against the best players in the world and challenge myself that way. I think this field is obviously very strong. Europe has proven itself over the last few years. We have the top three in the World Rankings. This is a special event for all of us, and hopefully that's enough to bring some of the Americans here to want to compete as well. Q. Is it fair to say that while you were collecting all of those awards last night, you were still envious of a couple of other people there because they have Majors? LUKE DONALD: Absolutely. That's what I want to win. I'm not going to shy away from it. That's the thing that's missing on my resumé. I want to win Majors. Very jealous to see some of those trophies and some of those guys. Again, sitting there last year, watching them, it's motivating. It's motivating to get yourself to work harder to try and achieve that. Hopefully that will happen. Q. You, Rory and Lee have been swapping world No. 1 for the last 14 months or whatever. Can you explain why you think you've probably just got the edge as the best player in the world? LUKE DONALD: Doesn't he have the edge right now? Well, I mean, Rory is ranked No. 1 right now, so I guess he has the edge. Q. But you obviously think you're the best player in the world, don't you? LUKE DONALD: Why do you say that? Q. Well, you wouldn't be doing it if you didn't, would you? LUKE DONALD: You know, I don't really think in terms of that. I think my focus is to try and always continue to improve and be a better golfer. And you know, in terms of who is the best, I mean, that's a very hard thing to discuss. I mean, certainly I've been one of most consistent players over the last couple years. I've won quite a few events and I'm very proud of what I've done the last couple years. Q. In the last couple of years, whenever you've set a target to win something to get to somewhere like the No. 1 Money List on the US PGA TOUR, getting a top four to get back to world No. 1 a few weeks back, you always manage to achieve that somehow. Does it push you extra when you have a set target like that? LUKE DONALD: I'm very motivated as a player. Ask my wife; I don't really like to lose at anything, whether it be golf or whatever the challenge is. I like a challenge. I like to push myself. And any time there's something to achieve, I set my sights on it and I try and achieve it. You know, obviously whenever I've had some opportunities in the last couple years, I've been able to come through. Certainly it's making me a more confident player and trusting in my abilities a lot more. Especially when it comes to being in contention and having a chance to win; that's when I seem to be able to bring out my best, which is the best time to do that. Q. You talked about the Yanks to coming over to play Wentworth‑‑ sorry, the Americans‑‑ coming to play over here. I just wondered, did you talk to any of them, did you say, you should come to Wentworth, especially on a week like this when the sun is out and everything? LUKE DONALD: I think you must have just walked in a bit late there. (Laughter). Were you finishing breakfast? You can look at the transcript. That was the first question I answered. Q. That never happened when I was at The Telegraph, that's for sure (laughter). LUKE DONALD: Standards are slipping. Q. I feel like I'm going to get a call this afternoon. Looking at the Major question, which seems to be inevitable, particularly this time of year coming up to the U.S. Open, have you looked at this period of plenty and why it's not happened for you at the Majors, or is it just a question that in the rhythm of the golfing year, you just can't win every week? LUKE DONALD: I think Majors, there is more expectation, there's more pressure, it's learning to deal with that. I think that as every Major passes, I am learning. I am learning that I get more uptight at Majors. I want to win it so badly that sometimes that gets in the way, and it's learning to just relax and kind of deal with that. Obviously I feel like‑‑ well, I know I have the ability to win one. It's just kind of managing those expectations and approaching it with the right attitude. Q.  In this head‑to‑head with Rory at the top, who would you say is the most naturally gifted of the two of you, and if it isn't you, what is it that you bring to it to enable you to be No. 1, sometimes? LUKE DONALD: Well, I've said in the past, I think Rory is one of the most naturally‑gifted players there is. He just has that look about him; free‑flowing, hits the ball far, just seems really effortless. I don't really watch myself play that much, so it's hard to talk about myself in those terms. I feel like personally, if I don't work hard and grind it out, I'm not going to be that successful. It's just not that easy for me. I can't take weeks off, come back and expect to hit it well. I'm just not one of those players that is able to just pick up a club and start where I left off. It takes a lot of work, a lot of effort, and that's kind of how I've been able to be successful. Q. You just said about, "ask my wife" how much you don't like to lose; are you very competitive with her, or she's just observing you being competitive out on the course. LUKE DONALD: I think she's just observing me. But she'll tell you anything, you know, just daily things whether it's chasing my daughter up at the top of the stairs, I don't like to let my daughter win and she's two years old. I'll pull her back if I have to. (Laughter) Just that competitive streak in me I suppose; half‑joking. Q. You said you've been coming here and watching this tournament as a kid several times. Do you remember any particular round or any tournament that really fired you up to become what you are today? LUKE DONALD: No real specific moment, you know, but just a lot of memories of this place, not even just this tournament, but when they had The Match Play here, as well. I remember walking around and actually the first‑ever shot I watched was actually ironically an American that was playing here. I think it was Chip Beck, a long time ago. I was standing by the 13th green, I think I was probably eight or nine years old. Suddenly this ball comes in, flies to about two feet, and I'm thinking, wow, how good are these guys. And he managed to miss that putt. It was just little memories like that, even seeing Ernie when I was a little bit older, just when he was just starting out; Faldo; even Seve a little bit here and there. Just the greats that have played around this course and the history that it has. Q. What would have been your handicap when you saw that chip shot of Chip Beck? LUKE DONALD: Twenty maybe. SCOTT CROCKETT: Anymore questions for Luke? If we are all done, can I just ask for your attention for one more minute before we leave. As well as being on accomplished golfer, Luke is now also turning his hand to wine production, I believe, and to celebrate that for those of you attending the AGW lunch this afternoon, Luke is donating a couple of cases of his wine for to you drink. So I think perhaps a round of applause for our depending champion to do that, a very, very nice gesture. The second thing is we are joined on stage by George O'Grady, Chief Executive of The European Tour. I'm delighted to say that George is going to present Luke with Honorary Life Membership of the you're even pure. GEORGE O'GRADY: Goes without saying that any player who donates a couple of cases of wine to the media immediately gets Honorary Membership of The European Tour, which is the highest award we have. Outside of everything that has been chronicled of what Luke did last year, there's one award which the players regard enormously of great importance, and that's the players' Player of the Year Award. Now, in other years it's been quite a close contest but when you think in a year when a Tour Member was No. 1, a Tour Member won the Masters, and a Tour Member won The Open, not to mention World Golf Championships, one person took 95 percent of the votes. Probably the only person not voted was himself because he can't vote for himself, but to get in that year, 95 per cent of your colleagues voted for you to win. We have no hesitation, all of the board, the committee and 95 per cent of all your colleagues reckon you were that without a doubt the No. 1 player last year. This is the highest award we can give, Honorary Life Membership of The European Tour, we hope you'll have it with pride. LUKE DONALD: Well, this is special, obviously. Thank you, George. As I said at the dinner last night, it is very inspiring what The European Tour has done in the last few years, and it's nice to be mentioned in the same breath as some of the greats that have played this Tour, and this is very special. This means a lot, and I really thank you for it. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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