Donald comes to U.S. Open as unusual world No. 1
Luke Donald hasnt won a whole lot, just two stroke play tournaments in the last five years. And he doesnt hit the ball that far.
Quite atypical for the No. 1 player in the world.
The 33-year-old Englishman, who is ranked 153rd on the PGA Tour in driving distance, does indeed carry the mantle of the planets top golfer into this weeks U.S. Open.
Some might call it a quirk of the system. Others consider it a victory for consistency over streakiness, and a triumph of precision over power.
“Its refreshing to see that the game is not being out-powered,” defending champion Graeme McDowell said Tuesday. “His iron play has always been unbelievable, and I think thats one of the keys. I always knew he had a great wedge game and a great short game and a putting stroke to die for, so hes really got his game polished up and driving it a lot better, and hes really got the whole package now.”
Donald is the fourth player to hold the top spot in the last 12 months, a revolving door made possible by Tiger Woods personal problems and injuries. He vaulted ahead of Lee Westwood two weeks ago by beating his countryman in a playoff at the BMW PGA Championship in considered a possibility some five years ago.
“It probably wasnt the right mindset, in a way,” Donald said. “I pressed too hard and didnt let things happen and got upset at myself when things werent perfect. And in the last few years Ive just tried to go back to basics about just trying to improve every day, just trying to get a little bit better at every component in my game, just seeing that there are no limits at the margin of everything I do.
“I think thats really gotten me to No. 1. Its been less of a thought about trying to be there, just more about going through the processes.”
There are two ways to look at Donalds rise. He has remarkable run of top-10 finishes in 15 of his last 16 events, including stroke play and match play tournaments on both the U.S. and European tours. Does this count as a string of success, or a series of lost opportunities?
“Well, certainly if youre not in contention, you dont have a chance to win,” Donald said. “Thats the first goal, is to get in contention and have that chance. And Ive obviously done a great job of that. Certainly I could look back and think that I could have turned a couple of those seconds into victories, for sure. But overall its been a very satisfying few months.
“Ive played extremely well. Ive given myself lots of opportunities and I have taken a couple of them. If I was sitting here winless, yes, it would be a different story, but Ive picked up a couple of trophies.”
Besides the playoff win over Westwood, Donald also won the Accenture Match Play Championship in Marana, Ariz., in February, and last year captured the Madrid Masters. Before that, his last victory was the 2006 Honda Classic. And, of course, hes never won a major.
When Donald wins a tournament, he gets the customary trophy, the payday, the celebration on the 18th green. The No. 1 ranking comes with no pomp and circumstance whatsoever.
Given his druthers, hes take a lot more of the former over the latter.
“Theyre very different, obviously,” he said. “In simple terms, being No. 1 ranked means youve outperformed the rest of the golfers in a two-year period. Youve played more consistently. In that regards its very gratifying to know that youve been more consistent and better over a two-year period.
“Obviously you win a tournament, youre better over a four-day period. But winning is a big deal, and winning majors is a big deal. Certainly being No. 1 is a great achievement, but if you ask me if I would swap that for [Phil Mickelsons] record, sure, I would love to take his majors and the number of victories hes had. But Ill continue to feed off all the good things that have got me to No. 1, and hopefully I can add to my victories, too.”
Donalds game could be a nice fit for the setup at Congressional, even on a course set up to play as long as 7,574 yards.
The front nine has some shorter holes that suit his game, and players have emerged from practice rounds saying that fairways are contoured to reward straight drives.
“Someone asked me yesterday, What type of player does this favor?” McDowell said. “Im still trying to work that out, but its certainly not a bomber.
“It is great to see that the game is not all about par,” McDowell said. “You can still have a finesse player like Luke, but youve still got to be able to move it at least 280, 290 [yards] nowadays to have a chance to compete. Hes got the all-around game, and I think hes very deserving of his No. 1 spot right now.”
