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THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

May 10, 2011

Luke Donald

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA

DOUG MILNE: Luke, thanks for joining us for a few minutes here at THE PLAYERS Championship 2011. Obviously enjoying a great year, making your eighth start this year, and aside from a missed cut at Northern Trust, you haven't finished out of the top 10, obviously highlighted by the World Golf Championships Accenture Match Play title. That being said, just some comments about your health and how you're feeling as you're heading into the week here.
LUKE DONALD: Yeah, I'm feeling good. Obviously it's been a great start to the year, very consistent. Winning at Tucson was a big step for me. I think I gained a lot of confidence from that, and I've kind of kept the ball rolling.
I had a good chance at Hilton Head, let that one slip away a little bit, but I'm knocking on the door every week, and hopefully I can be in contention again for this week.

Q. Was there ever a point during this stretch where you just became kind of expected to be around the top? I guess I'll go back to late last year.
LUKE DONALD: Yeah, again, obviously top 10s aren't the goal, but being in contention, having chances to win is. It's just nice to kind of get to an event and feel pretty confident about where you're hitting the ball. Tee to green I feel like I've been a lot more solid this year, and you know, my short game has been pretty stellar.
I guess I haven't been going there expecting to do well, but it certainly helps when you feel like you know where the ball is going. I've been on a good little run so far.

Q. Was there any point during this stretch where you had a sort of aha moment or things just really started to click that you could pinpoint?
LUKE DONALD: Certainly, you know, coming off the poor round on Friday at Riviera, I went a day early to the Match Play. And I practiced Sunday and Monday, and I still wasn't really feeling much in my swing. I just found something on Tuesday in the morning, just a little key in my swing, just trying to tuck my right elbow a little bit more on the takeaway, and everything seemed to fall into place from that point on.
That was obviously a big key for that week, and I think obviously having the success of going on and winning kind of spurred me on for the rest of the season.

Q. Where would this venue stand among courses where you look at what it demands of a player and think to yourself, I must have a good chance there?
LUKE DONALD: Pretty high up. I think it's a course you really have to be in control of, of your golf ball. There's a lot of holes that deserve some shaping. You have to shape the ball pretty well around here. I'd say a little bit, in general, a little more right to left shots.
But it's a tricky place. You miss it on certain wrong sides, you have to be good around the greens. I think there's a few more shaved areas now than there were when this tournament was back in March, I believe, so there's a little bit more variety around the greens. And I like the fact that you have to shape the ball off the tee. You have to be a little bit -- have a good imagination around this course.
You know, my record around here is decent, but it's definitely a place I come and I look forward to coming to.

Q. 2005 you were in contention going into the final day. What's the difference between Luke Donald of 2005 and Luke Donald of 2011 as a player?
LUKE DONALD: About six years of experience, I suppose. But, yeah, you just learn. You learn every year. You learn about yourself, about your game, how to manage your emotions. You know, I think I know my swing a little bit better now. I trust myself more. Those are the main differences.

Q. So the Luke Donald of today would beat the Luke Donald of 2005 in the Match Play?
LUKE DONALD: I would think so. I would hope so, yeah. The goal is to continually improve, to get better at every facet of the game. If I'm behind now than what I was in 2005, then my practice is going to waste.

Q. Do you like this tournament better in March or May?
LUKE DONALD: I think it's harder in March. I think when they had the bent greens, they were extremely quick. I think firm, fast greens -- they can get these firm, but they can't get them quite as fast as they did in March.
Again, I suppose playing a lot more of my golf up north, I'm not as used to Bermudagrass as I am bentgrass and ryegrass. I kind of preferred it in March. I think the weather wasn't quite as hot. But it's a toss-up, really.
This year it seems different to last year. They seem to have grown the rough up. I just played the front nine this morning, but last year it seemed -- the ball was sitting on top of the rough, and this year it's sitting at the bottom of it.

Q. Does it seem very fast out there in the nine you played?
LUKE DONALD: No.

Q. Does that surprise you given the weather?
LUKE DONALD: Yeah, probably, but I think they can turn that on pretty quickly. I mean, the forecast is in the 90s every day, isn't it? So that's probably one more reason why maybe you can go to March, because they have to be careful. It's so hot that they have to pour a lot of water on this course just to keep it going.
But like the last previous years, those greens will be a different color come Sunday.

Q. Do you have a special strategy when you play this golf course versus some of the other ones just because it's so demanding on every shot?
LUKE DONALD: Well, we play a lot of demanding golf courses, but every course deserves a different strategy, and every hole is a different strategy. There's no real one set plan for every week. You can't ever approach it day-to-day.
You try and look at a shot and try and figure out what's the -- whether it's a right to left or left to right shot is best, and you kind of go from there. If the greens and fairways stay as soft as they are, then the strategy is to attack a little bit more. If it gets a little firmer and faster, you've got to play to certain spots.

Q. I don't know how much you've played with Matteo beyond the Match Play, but I was wondering if I could get your impressions of him.
LUKE DONALD: That was the first time playing with him, but my impressions were good. I mean, for 17, extremely impressive. And from what I've heard, I'm not sure if this is true, but he's got a good group of people around him. He's got a plan in place. He knows he doesn't hit the ball that far, but he's working on certain things in the gym. He's working on -- constantly working on his swing.
I mean, he seems -- he's way ahead of where I was when I was 17. And a great talent and a good kid, too. He's very amiable, and I hope he does well.

Q. The absence of Rory and Lee, how does that impact the field at all, and is that something that because of the scheduling it's just hard for some of the European players to kind of juggle?
LUKE DONALD: Well, I think any time you don't have the No. 1 ranked player it's going to weaken the field. And Rory is -- I'm not sure, is he top 10 still? You know, you miss a couple top 10 players and the No. 1 player, it's going to weaken the field. But it's still an extremely strong event.
You know, why they're not here, I think from talking to them briefly, I think they've played here a few times, and I know Lee has played here a few times. But he just doesn't feel like it suits his game very well so why play an event when you don't feel like you're going to get to it having a chance to win or feel comfortable in it. I mean, I can't speak for him, but I guess that's his reasons.

Q. We'll be streaming live coverage from 13 and 17, so two-part question. First is on No. 13, the par-3 on the back next to the Marriott, what's your strategy as you approach that hole? Sort of take us tee to green. Is it a birdie hole or are you just trying to go for the middle of the green?
LUKE DONALD: Well, it's a tricky hole because it's the most undulating green on the golf course. You know, I've often joked with people that I think they've buried an elephant under the middle of that green because it's got a huge hump in the middle of the green, and the flag is -- you have to be quite precise with your tee shot. It's only a mid iron, 7, 6-iron at most, but the green is what makes it difficult.
Certainly with a 7-iron in your hand you feel like you should have a chance at birdie, but it's still a tricky shot, especially when that green gets firm.

Q. Then the par-3, 17th, what's your strategy when you get to that tee box, and how different is it in tournament play with the atmosphere and the pressure than it might be in a casual round?
LUKE DONALD: Yeah, it's a lot different. There's a lot of pressure. It's a nerve-wracking hole. It's only a short iron, but the margin for error is small. Even though it's a decent-sized green for that short of a shot, in reality it's only a small portion that you're trying to land it on, especially when it gets firm. You're talking about five yards or so where you can land the ball.
The strategy there really, unless you have a great yardage and feel very comfortable over the shot, is to pretty much play it to the middle of the green and have a chance from there. It's not a huge green, so you're going to have a chance for birdie from the middle no matter what.

Q. Knowing the course as you do, if you were a spectator and didn't play golf and came to this tournament, walked in the gates and were going to sit and watch a hole, where do you go?
LUKE DONALD: Well, the most fun is probably 17. I mean, it's do or die, and I think spectators love that. Most of the other holes are pretty regular holes that you see week in and week out, but 17 is unique.
But I don't know. It would be nice -- if I was a spectator I would like to -- I'm not sure if it's possible, but to sit behind 17 but be able to see people tee off 18, as well. I think those are the most demanding shots, or even behind 18 tee.
I think just watching people stand up on that tee and seeing how narrow it is and how the golfers are able to maneuver the ball right to left and kind of make their way down there, I think that would be fun to watch, too.

Q. Do you think this course would be a better test if 17 wasn't the 17th hole?
LUKE DONALD: Better test? You mean more fair?

Q. Yeah, I mean, there's been some criticism over the years that it's obviously a little bit quirky sometimes and some people really, really like it a lot, others don't, and some people have complained that to come to the 71st hole in a big event like this --
LUKE DONALD: Yeah, it's also the 17th hole, the 35th hole. I know it's late in the round, but I quite like it. I think you have to control your shot. It's not a long shot, but as I said, the margin for error is small. I really have no issues with it. Even come Sunday, if I'm in the lead, I hope I have the same opinions. (Laughter.)
But yeah, it makes you think, you know, and I think any time you have to step up on to a tee and have some thought, then that's a good hole.

Q. Chance to become world No. 1 this week. Is that in the back of your mind or do you block it out altogether?
LUKE DONALD: It's not really -- I've said this a few times since Hilton Head, that being No. 1 isn't really a goal of mine. That's really just an outcome of going through the right processes and hopefully the results coming. If I go out and continue to work on what I need to work on and give myself the chance to win this week, and if I pick up the trophy, then great; it's one of the spoils. But it's certainly nothing I'm really concentrating on.

Q. What does your caddie hit on 17?
LUKE DONALD: I'm guessing -- he hits it about the same distance as I do, so 9-iron, wedge.

Q. A few years ago would you have envisioned --
LUKE DONALD: Hopefully he hits the ball.

Q. A few years ago would you have thought that European golf and golfers would be in the situation that they and it are in now, and if so, when was the time approximately that you realized that that might come to pass?
LUKE DONALD: It's not something I've really thought about. I've always thought European golf has been strong. You know, we've shown it in the past in Ryder Cups, that we can compete, that our top players can compete under pressure situations like the Ryder Cup.
As I said, I think these things go in cycles, and it was only a matter of time before a little bit of the power in golf shifted towards Europe, which it has done to some extent. I mean, it's something I never really thought about.
But I think, you know, I've often said that I think Harrington's major wins probably had a little bit to do with it, that when he won three majors in a short period of time that it was a wake-up call for some of the other Europeans that if he can do it, so can we, and he spurned us on a little bit.

Q. What do you think of the USGA and R&A changing some rules, and is that maybe not that unusual but it doesn't make head lines like it is these days?
LUKE DONALD: I'm sure if they're changing rules that there's been some instances where they've had to look at rules. I think golf is a very traditional game, but it needs to evolve, too, at times. You know, I think the rule change they made was a good one.
I'm not sure if they'll look at any others, but it was probably time to change that rule. It might be a little bit late for those guys who got penalized this year, but hopefully it betters the game.

Q. You mean the one that was changed. What about the one they're seriously discussing changing at the tournament from a couple weeks ago?
LUKE DONALD: Oh, with Webb?

Q. Uh-huh.
LUKE DONALD: Again, it's not a great rule. As I said, these rules were made a long time ago when greens weren't very fast and the ball had no chance at rolling. But we play on very fast, firm greens most weeks where sometimes that can happen. And if there's no real intention of trying to make a shot and the ball rolls, then there might be some question for changing that rule.

Q. One other thing, on 17, when you said you like it, it makes you think, what exactly are you thinking about and how does that thinking differ than what you might think at say the 8th, another par-3?
LUKE DONALD: Well, I guess there's thought to every shot, but it's not like a very long par-3 where -- the 8th hole is a long par-3, and there is some thought to it, but it's grab your hybrid and swing away. Surely the miss there is not to be left; you've got to be a little bit further right.
But on 17 you really have to calculate the wind. You have to be very committed to the shot, and if you mess up, you're going to make probably 5. I just think you just can't stand up there and whack it. You just have to have a little bit of pre conceived thoughts before you go hit that shot.

Q. Recognition-wise, what's been the nicest thing that's happened to you during this long run of good form?
LUKE DONALD: Nicest thing? I don't know. Just maybe the recognition that the success has come from hard work, and that's the only thing I would ever want people to write about.

Q. Translation: Did you get invited to the wedding or not?
LUKE DONALD: I did not, no.
DOUG MILNE: Luke, thank you for your time, and best of luck this week.

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