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BMW PGA CHAMPIONSHIPMay 19, 2015Luke DonaldVIRGINIA WATER, ENGLAND STEVE TODD: Welcome back to Wentworth. I know it's a place which held some very special memories for you. Just give us a sense of how good it is to come back here each year and this week in particular. LUKE DONALD: Well, yeah, of course, you always enjoy coming back to a place where you've had a lot of successes, and obviously some of my best successes on the golf course have been here. 2011 obviously was a playoff against Lee and then winning again in 2012, and having a pretty good chance to win last year, as well. So hopefully it's a place that will spark me to kind of get this season started a little bit. Obviously coming back to a place where you play well always helps. Q. Some players say they don't like this course. In particular what is it about the West Course that you like that you enjoy that fits your game so well? LUKE DONALD: I think there's a few things. I think even though it's a course that has some length, 7,300 yards and usually not that warm conditions, the course plays long but some holes takes driver out of your hands. It squeezes in at certain holes, even the first hole, 470, a lot of guys are not hitting driver because you hit it over the hill. Another hole would be 6 or 7; 8 is another hole. There's holes where you can't just stand up there and hit driver. So it's a positioning golf course in that respect for half the course, and then I think since the re‑design and redoing the greens, the greens condition have gone back a little bit to how they were five years ago with the poa annua coming back in. But good putting surfaces, deep bunkers. Any times you need to have good short game around the green and hole some putts, then that's obviously in my favour, as well. Q. In terms of your game, how do you feel coming into this week? LUKE DONALD: Well, the last few weeks and month or so, I've gotten in some really good, focused practise. I feel like I'm on the right path again. You know, it's obviously not been a great run for me the last year. It's a little bit how golf is, a little bit ebbs and flows, from going through a swing change and going back, it's been a little bit tough at times. I feel like my focus is in the right position right now, what I've been working on, and you know, hopefully that will transpire into some good results. Q. And coming back competitive, how do you compete with a world No. 1 who has played like he just did at Quail Hollow? LUKE DONALD: Yeah, that's tough. He obviously dominated the field there, dominated it off the tee. His results here, other than last year, haven't been that great. So hopefully I have more of a chance on a course like this than I would like a course like last week. But certainly, when he's playing well and firing all cylinders, he's very, very tough to beat. Q. And as the Flagship Event on The European Tour, is it important for you to be here to support your tour? LUKE DONALD: It is. You know, I think obviously when I set my schedule, I set my schedule around tournaments I think I'm going to do well and be successful at. So I understand a little bit some of the guys that aren't here. But you know, on the flipside, yeah, it is an important event for The European Tour and certainly important for me to be here. But I like being here because I have success. Q. What does it say about the strength of The European Tour when you look at the field here; where does The European Tour stands in things? LUKE DONALD: Well, I think having the No. 1 player in the world and the success we've had in Ryder Cups and so forth, the Tour is in a good position. It certainly seems to be moving forward. It's always very hard to compete with the U.S. Tour and the tournaments and the purses that they have and the golf courses they get to play week‑in, week‑out. But certainly I feel like The European Tour can't be too focused on the PGA Tour. They have to be focused on themselves and they seem to be moving forward and improving every year. Q. Is that still a difficult decision, the PGA Tour, European Tour thing, in terms of setting a schedule and finding the right mix, the right balance between the two, because clearly you want to be loyal to tournaments back here and your home, if you like, but there is that ongoing. LUKE DONALD: Yeah, it's always tough to be a member of both tours to start with. I mean, playing the number of European Tour events we need to play in has continued to rise over the years and has made it tough scheduling‑wise. But as a player you want to play against the best and you want to improve your game and that means being a world player, not just playing on one tour. For me, I've always enjoyed the challenges of playing both tours. Q. There was a lot of chat around Rory's win at Quail Hollow and about how well the bombers are faring at the moment and even at a 7,500‑yard golf course was reduced to a 9‑iron or less in the approaches. Is the golf ball out of control? Is there too much emphasis on length off the tee and that kind of thing? LUKE DONALD: Well, it appears like ‑‑ and this might be just me, but it appears that over the last few years, that, yeah, the guys that create a lot of speed in their swing seem to be gaining a lot out of the ball.  The guys like me aren't gaining as much. They say one‑mile‑an‑hour is three yards, but it feels like exponentially it gets more. I'm not sure, I think statistics will probably deny that, but that's just the feeling I get. Yeah, certainly there's been lots of studies on the golf ball. Ten years ago, the old Balata ball wasn't producing anywhere near the speeds the guys were hitting it and the distances they are hitting it now. I've heard rumours that the governing bodies are really thinking about the golf ball and whether to try to bring it back a little bit. But I guess in the end, I would like to see a mixture of golf courses. You can't change all golf courses. Some golf courses should favour the long hitters, but there should be a mixture of golf courses that are favourable to the guys that shape shots, as well. I'd love to see more architects thinking about that, creating doglegs at 290 and narrowing some fairways and all that goes with it. But certainly, the game has changed over the last few years. It's become very much a power player's game. Q. And just one other thing. At the end of the Masters, Peter Alliss at the end saw Jordan Spieth winning and then said, which we found rather curious, but said something along the lines of, "And Luke Donald could learn a lot from this." Have you heard about that and if you have, did you have any reaction to that? LUKE DONALD: I didn't hear about that, no. Obviously I was watching the feed in the US so I didn't get to listen to Peter Alliss's sweet voice (smiling). I guess I'll take it as a compliment that he still thinks that I have the ability to do that. You know, I feel like it's probably a commentary on me changing back in 2013 and changing swing coach and not needing to do that, just carrying on with what I had. I guess hindsight is a lovely thing, I probably would have done that, as well, if I had known I had gone through some of the struggles I've been through this last year. As players, we always want to grow. We always want to improve, and I certainly don't regret the decisions I made. They didn't work out, but I feel like I'm back on a good path now of what I'm trying to accomplish and hopefully the results will turn around. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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