- Sep 1, 2004
- 6,542
- 4,976
So Donald overtook Westwood as World #1 this weekend. At the BMW tournamant being played in Wentworth, the top two players in the field both came out on top of the pack, with Donald prevailing in the play-off.
So Westwood for the second time relinguishes the top slot, this time to Donald. But I am wondering if people are as quick to write him off again, as they did the last time. I got the feeling that people don't see him as genuine #1 material.
As for Donald, there is no doubting his consistency, in fact it is incredible. But neither Donald nor Westwood have yet won a Major, so do they merit their top two berths?
Here's a good peice I came across about Donald.
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All those who’ve had sand kicked in their faces must be standing tall this morning. All those golfing traditionalists who thought the classic swing had gone the way of the persimmon wood must have a song in their hearts.
Let’s hear it for England’s veritable David in the land of the big-hitting Goliaths. Let’s hear it for Luke Donald, who finds himself perched this morning on the shoulders of giants, the game’s latest No 1.
Who saw this coming? Certainly not those golf coaches who teach youngsters to swing the club as fast as they can and don’t worry about where it’s going — we’ll sort that out later.
It’s five years now since I had dinner with Tiger Woods’s then coach Hank Haney and he couldn’t have been more disparaging about Donald. Here was the gist: how can he expect to compete against players like Tiger who belt the ball 30 yards past him on every hole?
Multiply that by 14 and add about 10 yards for each of the four short holes and that effectively makes each course over 450 yards longer for Donald. To be fair to Hank: how do you compete?
Donald not only competes but overcomes by adopting the philosophy of the European he most resembles. Bernhard Langer punched miles above his weight because he never understood the meaning of not being able to compete. Countless times, he said: you find a way, you find a way.
Donald found a way by toughening up mentally. A wife and baby daughter stopped him obsessing about what he didn’t have and added perspective. He found a way by becoming the best bunker player since Ernie Els in his prime. He found a way by becoming the best putter since Woods used to hole everything. Have I mentioned what he’s like from 100 yards? Yes, he’s as good as anyone at that shot as well.
When John McLaren took over as his caddie 18 months ago I asked him what was the first thing that struck him about Donald. ‘God, he works hard,’ he said.
By my rough calculations, Donald (right) has earned close to £1million a month over the last seven months in finishing only once outside the top 10 in his last 15 tournaments.
Think about that for a moment: he’s played in Asia, America and Europe but it’s made no difference. Whatever the place, whatever the length of the course, he has been in contention in every event he has played bar one.
It’s the two wins in the Accenture Match Play and at Wentworth on Sunday that are priceless, of course, and leave all England thinking about him, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter and the rest and wondering whether this is the summer when it finally gets to see a major champion again, after 15 years of waiting.
Still, this isn’t the morning to ruminate on the only thing missing. This is about celebrating an old-fashioned sporting hero, a man who swings the club with an elegance and grace we thought belonged to the past. A man who was supposed to be out of time, with a game that had no place in the broad-shouldered, gorilla-bashing version of the sport in the 21st century.
Now we know. There’s always a place for the man who finds a way. There’s always a place for a man with a picture-perfect technique, and that’s on the leaderboard every week, not every now and then. Now a new chant has made its way to the forefront of the lexicon of British sport: ‘Luuuuke.’
Congratulations, No 1.
So Westwood for the second time relinguishes the top slot, this time to Donald. But I am wondering if people are as quick to write him off again, as they did the last time. I got the feeling that people don't see him as genuine #1 material.
As for Donald, there is no doubting his consistency, in fact it is incredible. But neither Donald nor Westwood have yet won a Major, so do they merit their top two berths?
Here's a good peice I came across about Donald.
======
All those who’ve had sand kicked in their faces must be standing tall this morning. All those golfing traditionalists who thought the classic swing had gone the way of the persimmon wood must have a song in their hearts.
Let’s hear it for England’s veritable David in the land of the big-hitting Goliaths. Let’s hear it for Luke Donald, who finds himself perched this morning on the shoulders of giants, the game’s latest No 1.
Who saw this coming? Certainly not those golf coaches who teach youngsters to swing the club as fast as they can and don’t worry about where it’s going — we’ll sort that out later.
It’s five years now since I had dinner with Tiger Woods’s then coach Hank Haney and he couldn’t have been more disparaging about Donald. Here was the gist: how can he expect to compete against players like Tiger who belt the ball 30 yards past him on every hole?
Multiply that by 14 and add about 10 yards for each of the four short holes and that effectively makes each course over 450 yards longer for Donald. To be fair to Hank: how do you compete?
Donald not only competes but overcomes by adopting the philosophy of the European he most resembles. Bernhard Langer punched miles above his weight because he never understood the meaning of not being able to compete. Countless times, he said: you find a way, you find a way.
Donald found a way by toughening up mentally. A wife and baby daughter stopped him obsessing about what he didn’t have and added perspective. He found a way by becoming the best bunker player since Ernie Els in his prime. He found a way by becoming the best putter since Woods used to hole everything. Have I mentioned what he’s like from 100 yards? Yes, he’s as good as anyone at that shot as well.
When John McLaren took over as his caddie 18 months ago I asked him what was the first thing that struck him about Donald. ‘God, he works hard,’ he said.
By my rough calculations, Donald (right) has earned close to £1million a month over the last seven months in finishing only once outside the top 10 in his last 15 tournaments.
Think about that for a moment: he’s played in Asia, America and Europe but it’s made no difference. Whatever the place, whatever the length of the course, he has been in contention in every event he has played bar one.
It’s the two wins in the Accenture Match Play and at Wentworth on Sunday that are priceless, of course, and leave all England thinking about him, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter and the rest and wondering whether this is the summer when it finally gets to see a major champion again, after 15 years of waiting.
Still, this isn’t the morning to ruminate on the only thing missing. This is about celebrating an old-fashioned sporting hero, a man who swings the club with an elegance and grace we thought belonged to the past. A man who was supposed to be out of time, with a game that had no place in the broad-shouldered, gorilla-bashing version of the sport in the 21st century.
Now we know. There’s always a place for the man who finds a way. There’s always a place for a man with a picture-perfect technique, and that’s on the leaderboard every week, not every now and then. Now a new chant has made its way to the forefront of the lexicon of British sport: ‘Luuuuke.’
Congratulations, No 1.