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BMW PGA CHAMPIONSHIPMay 26, 2012Luke DonaldVIRGINIA WATER, ENGLAND MICHAEL GIBBONS: Start us off with your assessment of that fine 69. It looked like pretty tough conditions. LUKE DONALD: Yeah, that was by far my best round of the three. Today was very tough out there.  And to shoot in the 60s today on a day where the wind was pretty constant but swirling around in the trees, it made it very difficult. But hit a lot of solid shots, and kept it in play for the most part. A couple of loose shots coming down the stretch, but very pleased the way I finished. Making that birdie putt on the last, I think was hugely important for me. Playing with Justin tomorrow is going to be a tough go. He's obviously playing well and played with him the first two days, and it's going to be a fun day tomorrow. But physically and mentally, it was tough out there and it's going to be another grind tomorrow. Q. You're one of three players to break 70 today and Ernie Els was critical after his round about the lack of water, particularly on the greens holding the ball. Would you support that theory? LUKE DONALD: There were a couple that were a little firmer. 12 was certainly getting that glean to it. I would have thought Ernie is kind of used to it. We do play some events, THE PLAYERS Championship, they have gotten like that in the past. There was a slight bit of inconsistency. 18 seemed quite soft when we were hitting into it. 12 was quite firm. But in general, it wasn't something that my caddie and I talked about too much. It wasn't something I thought about in great detail. Q. When you look at those people who have shot either 69s or 70, all of them are guys who have played this course lots of times before. Could you imagine for the younger ones who have not played here very much; today was a real test, you could see by the scores. LUKE DONALD: It was. I'm not sure how the guys did behind us. I saw a couple of scores and I think they were struggling. This is a tough place and it demands a huge amount of patience. It's not necessarily geared towards the bomber. It's geared toward someone who can work their way around it; I did that well today, and that was very pleasing. Q. Did you take a look at any of the scores before going out, gauge how difficult it was, or was that obvious? LUKE DONALD: I went for a run this morning and it was blowing already at nine in the morning. So I knew it was going to be difficult. Q. There were actually nine scores in the 80s as well as dozens in the high 70s, how good was your round, considering how tough the scoring was? LUKE DONALD: Obviously being in the second to last group, the conditions, as I said, that was by far the best round I played out of the three. The first two rounds, I played decently. I got it around. Today I had to have a lot more control of my ball. In that wind, if you're a little off, the ball is going to go places you don't want it to go. For the most part, I hit a lot of good, solid shots and really kept it in play and didn't put myself under too much pressure. Just a little bit come down the stretch, but that's a tough finish down the last few with that wind direction. But again, that was a very, very pleasing round. Q. Can you tell us what happened on 17? I think the second shot in the bushes, you hit the wood. LUKE DONALD: Yeah, I hit a poor drive there, pushed it to the right, which is obviously better than left, but still I had a tricky shot between a gap and it came out left. Tried to punch a 3‑iron low and hit another tree. Fortunately able to punch it up within 90 yards of the green and get up‑and‑down for par. Q. Very nice. LUKE DONALD: Thank you. Q. Justin was in here saying that he felt it was like a U.S. Open course out there. Would you concur with that? LUKE DONALD: In terms of just the focus and kind of the mental and physical, what it took out of me, yeah, I did feel that at some point. The only green that was a little bit shiny and quite firm was 12. That kind of crept into my mind that it was playing a little bit like a U.S. Open; that certainly if they don't water them a decent amount tonight, they could get very tricky, and almost, not unplayable, but very, very tough to make putts. So it kind of had a little bit of a U.S. Open feel. Obviously we are in England and not anywhere near America, but it had a little bit of that feel, yeah. Q. What club did you hit, second shot on the fourth? LUKE DONALD: That was a 6‑iron. Q. That was a great shot. Watching the galleries, everyone was going wild at that point, just wonder if that got your round started a little bit. LUKE DONALD: Well, certainly you want to take advantage of the par 5s as much as possible, and obviously I made three out of my four birdies on the par 5s. So the 4th was my first birdie of the day. I hit 6‑iron into the 12th, too. These were holes that with the wind direction, they are well within reach. The last few holes do offer some opportunities, but there's some danger with them, as well. It was nice to take advantage of the par 5s like I did today. Q. Are you pleased to be having such a tough test with the U.S. Open coming up? LUKE DONALD: I think the tougher, the better. The good players that can be patient that can kind of deal with it, you know, they are always going to rise to the top usually when it's tough conditions. You know, and obviously a few weeks before the U.S. Open is good prep. Q. Last year you and Lee; this time, you and Justin. Great for the British crowds, the English crowds, to be able to cheer on their heros? LUKE DONALD: Yeah, just on a side note, a big thank you to the crowds, ten‑deep in places. I've never quite seen many crowds at this, even at an Open Championship; they are usually following Tiger. It's great to be back here and obviously well cheered on by all the English and all of the fans who are here from the U.K. Q. On the same note, just what do you make of the whole sort of "Luuuuke" thing? LUKE DONALD: Well, it originated a long time ago at Bethpage Black. The New Yorkers came up with it, a play on Luke Skywalker obviously. It's nice to have your own chant. Sometimes I get confused playing with guys like Boo Weekley and Matt Kuchar; we all have kind of the same chant. It's fun. MICHAEL GIBBONS: I'm sure they will be chanting your name tomorrow. Good luck. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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