Donald reaches potential, silences critics with Match Play win
By Mike McAllister, PGATOUR.COM Managing Editor
MARANA, Ariz. -- The five-year journey between PGA TOUR victories, the one that ended Sunday on the chilly, snow-surrounded mountains outside Tucson, was not an easy one for Luke Donald. His frustration reached dangerous levels, when self-doubt threatens to replace confidence. The critics kept sniping, wondering if he enjoyed money more than titles. And the youngsters were leaving him in the dust off the tee.
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Feeling the inadequacy of that disadvantage, the Englishman backed himself into a corner. He wanted more distance, so he changed his swing. It was all in keeping up with what he calls the "modern player."
It was a bad move. It made things worse. His odds of winning didn't improve but were reduced. He was not playing his game, he was playing theirs.
He soon returned to his normal swing, but the damage was severe. It took two, maybe three years to truly get back to his comfort zone.
Meanwhile, the drought continued. So did the critics. He just knew they were wrong about him, unfairly criticizing his work ethic, maintaining he lacked the hunger to win. Didn't they see all those top-10 finishes, 28 of them to be exact? Alas, without a resume-worthy victory to shut them up, their voices were louder than his. "The media," Donald said, "is hard to escape."
Then the first positive sign -- a win at the Madrid Masters last May on the European Tour. It wasn't the deepest of fields, but it was a start. Still, it wasn't enough. Having spent the last decade on the PGA TOUR, in his adopted home of America, he knew this was where he needed to make his statement.
That statement came Sunday in the form of a 3 and 2 win over top-ranked Martin Kaymer in the finals of the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship. It came by winning a tournament with all of golf's best players in the 64-man field. It came because his performance in the past five days was so dominant, so thorough, so impressive that he left no doubt as to who most deserved the Walter Hagen trophy.
"To come here and compete against the best players in the world and win the trophy," Donald said, "is very gratifying."
Donald played 89 holes during his six matches this week. He never trailed at any time. He never had to play the 18th hole -- and he only had to play the 17th once. He produced 32 birdies, seven more than anybody else. He was rarely threatened. He rarely faced moments of true adversity.
But when he did, like on Sunday after he had completely blown a 3-up lead on the front nine -- giving Kaymer all the momentum as the matched headed into crunch time -- Donald found the strength to respond.
Having double bogeyed the previous hole, Donald hit two less-than-desirable shots at the par-4 10th that left him in the waste area short of the green, a small bush just behind his ball. Meanwhile, Kaymer was safely on in two, facing a lengthy but makeable putt for birdie.
The one thing, though, that has never left Donald is his short game. It's his forte, the greatest weapon in his arsenal. Now he called upon it one more time.
His delicate chip from 70 feet away was nearly holed. A tap-in par. Kaymer then missed his birdie putt. The hole was halved, the German's momentum stalled.
One hole later, it was gone for good. Both players laid up at the par-5 11th, and each hit excellent third shots, Kaymer inside six feet, Donald inside eight. Donald stepped in and drilled his birdie putt. Kaymer stepped up ... and didn't. Donald regained the lead and would never relinquish it, winning two of the next four holes.
Who knows if things would have turned out differently had Kaymer been able to wrestle the lead away from Donald? Would the Englishman panic, having felt the discomfort of playing behind for the first time all week?
"That up-and-down on 10 was a huge point for me," Donald said. "If I had gotten 1 down, I think that changes my mindset a little bit, my psyche."
Instead, it left Kaymer in awe. He's soon to be the world's No. 1 player, but he would not be beating Donald on this day.
"He's probably the best in the world in the short game at the moment," the reigning PGA champ said. "I played with Phil Mickelson a few times and it is unbelievable. But what Luke is doing at the moment is a joke."
What isn't a joke are the latest Official World Golf Rankings. Behind Kaymer is the former top dog, Lee Westwood. And behind Westwood in the third spot is Luke Donald, having leapt to that position from No. 9 a week ago.
During his news conference Sunday, Donald said he wasn't sure whether he deserved that high of a spot. Hmmm, you wondered -- was Donald having a tough time shaking the past five years, shaking the accumulation of frustration that had been built up? Was he, gulp!, doubting himself?
No, he explained, he just thought a jump of six spots inside the world's top 10 seemed a bit broad, especially for someone who had gone five years between TOUR wins. "I know winning is a big deal and it's the biggest deal, but being consistent is also important," he argued in defense.
Now he's both, a winner and a consistent performer. More importantly, his frustration has been erased. Only good, positive vibes remain now, and he'll tee it up at the Honda Classic -- incidentally, the site of that previous win five years ago -- feeling better about his game than in recent memory.
"The beginning of every year, I sit down and really try and think of ways I can create more opportunities and get more victories," Donald said. "But it didn't happen so much in the last few years.
"Hopefully getting past that stage of going a number of years without winning will open up the flood gates, as they say."
If the waters indeed continue to rise for Luke Donald, so will his world ranking. Hopefully, he'll think he's worthy of it.
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