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BMW PGA CHAMPIONSHIPMay 23, 2014Luke DonaldVIRGINIA WATER, ENGLAND Q. Are you a happy man? LUKE DONALD: Obviously when we were warming up this afternoon, it was coming down pretty heavy. The wind was blowing pretty hard, and you know, it was wet for the first six, seven holes. But then the rest of the day was actually pretty nice. Obviously happy the way I played and obviously made a few long putts, which is always a bonus. Q. We marveled at some of the scores on the first day, but this is more like Wentworth and what we normally play around here? LUKE DONALD: It's never an easy course. Obviously I was as amazed as you guys with Thomas Björn's score. 10‑under is pretty good. I think a few more feeder pins yesterday and some accessible pins; today a few more difficult ones. Obviously scoring was a bit tougher today. Q. I take it that makes the evening meal very tasty, the way you finished the last? LUKE DONALD: I might enjoy a little curry. Hard to find a good curry back in the States, so there's always some good ones around here. Q. Delighted with your position an the board? LUKE DONALD: Yeah, obviously being nine behind after the first day seems a long mountain to climb. But obviously now only four back, and back in position to have a chance to win this championship again. Q. I take it it's obvious but what is it that really makes you click around Wentworth? LUKE DONALD: Well, I didn't play that great yesterday. I short‑gamed it very well. Today I started hitting the ball a little bit better, hitting more greens and obviously then I can kind of get my putter to do the work. Obviously holed some long putts today which is a bonus, but I was happy with the progress of my long game, as well. Q. Did you enjoy yourself today? LUKE DONALD: Yeah, I enjoyed myself. Obviously when we first went out, it was raining and windy and it wasn't very nice. I think we all thought we were going to struggle with the conditions. But the wind actually dissipated and it became a decent day out there, especially the last back nine that I played. The sun came out and the wind dropped and the greens were soft. It was a good opportunity to take advantage. Q. What was the key to your round of golf today? LUKE DONALD: Well, I hit more greens today which was nice. Yesterday I didn't hit enough fairways and greens and I'm scrambling. 1‑under was a pretty solid score with the way I hit it. But today I hit more greens. They weren't‑‑ I didn't hit it that close but I made a lot of putts today, and made some long putts out there which was great for the momentum. It was nice to have given myself lots of opportunities. Q. Tough pin positions we've heard from some of the players; is that correct? LUKE DONALD: Yeah, I think yesterday's pins were those pins where you feel like you can make some birdies, and obviously Thomas, amazing score. But the pins were‑‑ if you were going to have control of your golf ball, that was a day to shoot 10‑under. Obviously he blew the field away. Today they are a little bit tougher, and obviously this afternoon, they always get a little bit more‑‑ a little bit more bumpy and fortunately it didn't affect my putts too much. Q. Do you feel like you can go low over the weekend? LUKE DONALD: I hope so. The weather forecast tomorrow is to the going to be great from what I've heard; Sunday, better. Obviously I'm in a good position. I was nine back after the first day and now I'm only four, so game on. Q. Best round of the day sort of crept up on us almost. Did it sort of creep up on you? Did it feel like that? LUKE DONALD: It did a little bit. Obviously hit a good tee shot on one and pulled my second shot and made bogey on 1. It's raining and it's windy and you're thinking, I'm going to have to grind this out to try and make the cut. You know, obviously made a few putts. Obviously 6 onwards, the long game started to feel a lot more comfortable. Had good chances on 6,7, and then really only missed one green on 15 from a couple feet short of the green there. So, obviously I feel comfortable with my short game and putting, and if I can hit more greens, that's always a good sign for me. Q. And putting was happening for you, some good ones, particularly again at the 18th, just to sort of seal the deal for the round? LUKE DONALD: Yeah, that was certainly the key to my scoring. For me that tends to be the case. I always try and let my short game do the scoring for me. If I can hit more fairways and more greens, let the short game do its thing and obviously I was able to do that today. Q. This is a plotter's course and tomorrow the weather forecast, you have to plot your way and grind your way over the next two days by the sound of things? LUKE DONALD: Sounds that way. I would obviously like it to be like this tomorrow. But, you know, who knows. We were on the first tee today and the forecast came through that it was going to get really heavy and nasty for the rest of the day and turned out okay for the back nine. Hopefully the weather man's wrong and it's not terrible out there and we can all go out and have a good day. Q. And with the changes you've made to your game, you feel now you're in the place that all that work is ready to kick on and win this title again? LUKE DONALD: I'm close. I certainly feel I'm closer. Certainly didn't play very well yesterday, and there's times that you think that you still have some time, have a little bit of work to do. But today I felt more comfortable. Hit a lot of good shots, and obviously made a bunch of putts. Q. You've won here twice in the last few years. Does that reinvigorate you when you arrive at the start of the week and now going into the weekend? LUKE DONALD: Well, it can't hurt. Certainly for me, most. Time, I've got to have a personal comfort level about how I feel about my game and how I'm swinging to be confident for the week. Certainly coming to a place you've won, you know that the course sets up pretty well for you; you know, this place, Hilton Head, Tampa, there's certain courses where even despite not having my best, which I didn't yesterday, and the first few holes today, I'm able to get into contention somehow. Q. Does it make a big over the weekend, playing in front of 25,000, 30,000 home spectators? LUKE DONALD: It's nice, I always seem to have the home support behind me and we have great crowds this week which makes it a lot of fun to play in front of them and hopefully give them something to cheer on, and certainly I holed enough putts today to keep them smiling, and even in bad weather. So it's always great to play in front of these crowds. They are great and it's nice. I really do appreciate all the support they give me. Q. It's a select band of people that have won the title three times. But you can't look that far ahead right now? LUKE DONALD: It's still early. I've got to play a solid round tomorrow and get into contention and just hopefully claw back a few more shots towards Thomas's lead. You know, we'll see what the weather plays like tomorrow. Level par could be a good round and get me right where I need to be, or maybe the weather is better and I need to go low. Q. Can you tell us what it feels like when you're putting like that and you obviously know it's going to go in? LUKE DONALD: Well, I just have‑‑ I seem to hole more putts at this place than any other course. The greens in the last couple of years have changed and the poa is starting to creep back and they are not as good‑looking to the eye as they were a couple years ago. I have a good feel for them and I seem to read them very well. Yeah, I don't really know how to explain it. On Tour, I'm obviously a great putter, but that's really from 15 feet and in. I don't hold that many long putts, but here I seem to hole my fair share of them. Q. Does the hole look bigger? LUKE DONALD: Well, any time you get a little bit of momentum and hole a few, and certainly, yeah, you start really thinking that every one is going to go in. So that helps obviously. Q. Nice response from the crowd at 18. LUKE DONALD: Yeah, nice, they have always been great to me. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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