Tag Archives: Luke Donald

Top players fight it out in Arizona

Posted on February 20, 2012 by | Comments Off on Top players fight it out in Arizona

Luke Donald the world’s number one starts his defence of the Accenture Match Play Championship with a tough but exciting first round tie against three-time Major Champion Ernie Els, as European Tour Members aim to continue their fine recent record in the first World Golf Championship event of the season.

The last two finals in Dove Mountain, Arizona, have both been all-European Tour affairs, with Donald defeating Martin Kaymer 3&2 last year, 12 months after Ian Poulter defeated Paul Casey 4&2 in the all English Affair.

With nearly half the field teeing it up this week being European Tour Members –there is another formidable looking challenge crossing the Atlantic looking to add to that sequence, with the European Tour providing the top four seeds in each bracket.

Some of the ties I’ve noted to keep an eye on are  Rory McIlroy V George Coetzee and the ever consistent Lee Westwood V Nicolas Colsaerts the man who seems to be challenging every week at this year.

I’m going for a Donald win this week, he is a tough man to beat in this format because he never gives anything away and is a great clutch putter.

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My Tips For The Four Majors This Year

Posted on February 8, 2012 by | Comments Off on My Tips For The Four Majors This Year

Well golfers, this year is flying already and it’s great to see so many of you braving the cold weather and getting down to the range to hone your skills for the coming season.

It’s not the same for the tour players of course, as they are out in the desert sunning themselves up and only having to play 54 holes to win a tournament and a shed load of money! lol. Not that I’m bitter.

The players will have it in the back of their mind that the first major of the year is fast approaching and will be preparing harder than ever to qualify for The Masters if they haven’t done so already.

I’m sure some of you will be having a bet on one, if not all four major’s? So if your struggling to pick someone who you think has a chance of winning then have a look at my picks and see the top 4 players I think can win in all four majors. Good luck and enjoy watching them!

The Masters –  Tiger Woods                                                                                                                                            Steve Stricker                                                                                                                                          Luke Donald                                                                                                                                            Rory McIlroy

The US Open –  Jason Day                                                                                                                                                 Webb Simpson                                                                                                                                       Steve Stricker                                                                                                                                          Sergio Garcia

The Open –   Sergio Gacria                                                                                                                                          M. Mannasero                                                                                                                                        Rory McIlroy                                                                                                                                          Lee Westwood

The US PGA – Sergio Garcia                                                                                                                                           Luke Donald                                                                                                                                             Bubba Watson                                                                                                                                         Ricky Fowler

 

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Donald receives two PGA awards from the US

Posted on February 2, 2012 by | Comments Off on Donald receives two PGA awards from the US

Luke Donald’s run of awards continued when he returned to his winter home in the US earlier this week for a reception at the PGA of America Headquarters, where he received two more awards from his stunning 2011 season.

Luke spends his winters in Palm Beach Gardens ( sounds cold and horrible doesn’t it! ), and was honoured by PGA staff as he picked up his first PGA of America Player of the Year Award and Vardon Trophy. Donald won both awards last season, becoming the first Englishman ever to win both in the same golfing year. Donald is just the second Briton to earn the Vardon Trophy, based upon lowest adjusted scoring average. The trophy was first presented to “Lighthorse” Harry Cooper in 1937.

The PGA Player of the Year, first presented in 1948, was last presented to an Englishman called Nick Faldo, it was back in 1990 when he took the honour.

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McIlroy blunder costs him the lead

Posted on January 27, 2012 by | Comments Off on McIlroy blunder costs him the lead

Thorbjørn Olesen overtook round one leader Rory McIlroy as the Northern Irishman incurred a two stroke penalty at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.

Just off the green in two, McIlroy made the mistake of brushing away sand that was not on the putting surface and the penalty was imposed. ( You can brush away sand that is on the green but not off it. )

Joint overnight leader with Swede Robert Karlsson, the US Open Champion had come back from a bad start with three birdies when his rules error came on the ninth hole.

The World Number Three also had a double bogey on the third and did well to avoid another on the 11th, but six birdies kept him in the chase for the title going into the weekend.

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McIlroy outshines Woods and Donald

Posted on January 26, 2012 by | Comments Off on McIlroy outshines Woods and Donald

Tiger Woods and Luke Donald were out-shone today by Rory McIlroy who shot a five under par opening round of 67 at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.

The US Open Champion is sharing  the lead with  Robert Karlsson, while Woods shot a bogey-free round of 70 and World Number One Donald a 71.

German Martin Kaymer shot a surprising 77 , he has been the winner at this event the last two years and three of the last four.

He was playing with Lee Westwood (72) and Sergio Garcia, whose 71 included the first hole-in-one of his career on the European Tour.

McIlroy’s wasn’t at the top of his game, but like Karlsson he scrambled excellently in his first tournament since recovering from suspected Dengue fever.

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Kaymer hopes he can continue Abu Dhabi success

Posted on January 25, 2012 by | Comments Off on Kaymer hopes he can continue Abu Dhabi success

Martin Kaymer goes into the HSBC Golf Championship this week believing he is under the radar as he looks to continue his phenomenal record in the Abu Dhabi Tournament.

The World Number Four has won the event two years running at  the Abu Dhabi Golf Club, having finished second in 2009 and first in 2008.

Such a great track record would usually make the former US PGA Championship winner a hot favourite, but an incredibly strong field has come together in the desert to the extent that Kaymer does not even consider his three-ball with Lee Westwood and Sergio Garcia the main attraction. ( I think he’s talking about Tiger! )

“I’m not playing in that group tomorrow, if you want to call it the best group to watch or the most entertaining. I know that people will want see Tiger, the Number One in the world [Luke Donald] and Rory McIlroy so that’s a great group to watch.

I for one can’t wait to see these great players battling it out around a truly superb golf course! Make sure you tune in tomorrow to get all the latest scores.

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European Tour Boost For Race To Dubai

Posted on January 10, 2012 by | Comments Off on European Tour Boost For Race To Dubai

In 2008, the European Tour were shouting from the hill tops about the news of a massive influx of cash from the Emirate that would bring a whole new dimension to their schedule.

This year, that most lavish of launches has been replaced by an email telling of a reduced bonus pot available for this year’s exciting Race to Dubai.

Unfortunately it’s a sign of the current economic times that the Tour’s top players will not be able to cash in this year to the extent they have done  in previous ones.

Three years ago, just as the “Race to Dubai” was being launched, the world’s economic crisis began.

An immediate re-Jig of the deal was required to keep the concept alive. Instead of $10m being split between the top 15 in the Order of Merit, the fund to finance the newly branded Race quickly became $7.5m. (Still not bad considering it’s only a game and world was in supposed economic melt down)

The purse for the new season-ending Dubai World Championship was similarly reduced.

Last month,  Luke Donald became the third world number one to win the Race, the Tour announced a three-year extension to the running of the championship, with its prize money rising to $8m .

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A Great Year For Golf In 2011

Posted on December 20, 2011 by | Comments Off on A Great Year For Golf In 2011

Well what a year it’s been, we’ve seen some great drama in the world of golf over 2011, we’ve seen four new major winners, we’ve seen European golf dominating the world, we’ve seen an Englishman win the money list on both sides of the Atlantic!

But most importantly for the world of golf we’ve seen the return of the worlds best golfer! I don’t need to mention his name.

Europe won the Solheim Cup and GB&I won the Walker Cup. We have two Englishmen at 1& 2 in the world. I find it amazing how the game of golf is being dominated by Europe.

I think the reason for this is the amount of work and money that has been put into junior golf over the past 10-15 years. It has really helped kids in the early teens develop into tremendous golfers which in past years may not have been the case. Long may this continue!

Well I hope you’ve all enjoyed the golfing year, and there’s plenty to look forward to in 2012 including the Ryder Cup, and who knows, we might see Tiger win all four majors to equal the Golden Bear’s record! Okay maybe that’s unlikely, but I wouldn’t put it past him!

 

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Luke Donald seals US & Europe money list wins

Posted on December 12, 2011 by | Comments Off on Luke Donald seals US & Europe money list wins

Luke Donald finally became the first player ever to win the money list both sides of the pond after finishing third in The Dubai World Championship.

Donald only needed a top nine finish to complete the job in Dubai despite what McIlroy did, the only way things could have been different was if McIlroy won and Donald finished 10th or worse. McIlroy finished ten shots off the lead in the end.

Spaniard Alvaro Quiros, the overnight leader, won the title by two shots after a 67 left him at 19 under par. Quiros played great golf all week and thoroughly deserved the win on a course that suited his long hitting.

After accumulating £4.19m in winning the US money list, Donald finished with earnings of £3,632,685 from the European Tour.

He won four tournaments this year, including the World Golf Championship Match Play event and the European Tour’s flagship event, the PGA Championship at Wentworth,  which also saw him crowned world number one after beating Lee Westwood in a play-off.

One more tournament left for Donald which is the Australian Masters starting on Thursday.

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The tension in Dubai is hotting up for the weekend

Posted on December 9, 2011 by | Comments Off on The tension in Dubai is hotting up for the weekend

An interesting day in Dubai today saw Alvaro Quiros hit the top of the leaderboard with an outstanding round of 64 following his round 0f 68 yesterday. An eagle on the last capped a bogey free round of brilliant ball striking.

Luke Donald found some form today and managed to finish with a flurry of birdies on the last three holes giving him a respectable round of 68 which keeps him right in the tournament and still in with a great chance of winning the money list.

Donald would have been slightly relieved watching McIlroy making a bit hash of the last two holes, bogeying the par 3 17th and then hitting his tee shot in the water at 18 also resulting in a bogey giving him a round of 71.

So the weekend is perfectly set up with McIlroy and Donald both in the top 12 of the leaderboard and playing a course that can offer a lot of birdies and a lot of bogeys which can see some big swings on the scoring.

Make sure your watching when the players tee it up again early tomorrow morning!

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