English
Patience
Luke Donald
Nike Putters On A Roll ( 4)
England’s Luke Donald was, according to his coach, gutted two Sundays ago
when he push-blocked his tee ball on the
71st hole at the BMW PGA Championship
at Wentworth and lost by one inglorious
shot to someone called Simon Khan.
From the what-a-difference-a-week-makes department, Donald –
thanks to a 12-foot eagle putt on the
70th hole – is now the newly minted
champion of the Madrid Masters. He
is restored to the top 10 in the Official
World Golf Ranking. And his place on
Colin Montgomerie’s European Ryder
Cup team is now virtually secured.
And to think, the great Tiger Woods
once called Donald a “plodder.”
Fact is the world’s top 10 is rapidly
becoming golf’s version of the All-Eng-
land Club. Four players – Donald, Lee
Westwood, Paul Casey and Ian Poulter
– have taken up residence there. And
Westwood’s agent, Chubby Chandler,
answered “absolutely” recently when
asked if he thought a GB&I team could
beat the Americans in the Ryder Cup
without help from the rest of Europe.
Meanwhile, the big news deep in the
heart of Texas was Phil Mickelson’s failure to make the cut at storied Colonial
when a victory would have moved him
past Woods atop the world rankings.
Another Englishman, Brian Davis, stole
the show there for much of the final day
before giving way to Zach Johnson.
So take that, Yanks. Or, as they say
in Old Blighty: Put that in your tea, and
steep it.
Zach Johnson
wins in Texas
