Accenture Match Play Championship: Luke Donald eyes big goals in the new season – Golf Feature
The world number one, Luke Donald, is again standing at the same point where he was a year before. He had been winless for a long time, as he barely recorded top-10 finishes in most of the events he played.
This year too has witnessed him make a slow start to his campaign, as he is currently preparing to defend his title at the World Golf Championships – Accenture Match Play Championship.
The event is slated to be held at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, Dove Mountain – Marana, Arizona starting from Wednesday, February 22, 2012.
When Donald appeared in last year’s edition of the event, he was not much known among the golf fans. He was a player who failed to register a PGA Tour win since his last victory in the 2006 Honda Classic.
Moreover, his victory in the 2010 Madrid Masters was the last one he achieved anywhere in the world. Therefore, he was nowhere among the top seeds in the tournament and least likely to win the tournament.
A week after when the tournament finished, it was a different scenario. Donald was all over the news, holding the prestigious Accenture Match Play Championship trophy in his hands.
He outclassed his opponents with his consistent approach towards the game of golf. Moreover, his accuracy in the short-game also stunned his opponents on the course.
The same year saw him surging to the top in the Official World Golf Rankings, which he still retains because of a great margin over the second and third listed players.
In 2011, he managed to record a total of 14 top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour including two wins, two runner-up finishes and two third-place finishes.
“To come here and play against the best players in the world and to win in the fashion I did, it gave me a huge amount of confidence,” Donald said.
“Usually in match play you have to dig out a few matches. It just seemed that last year, that week, everything went smoothly. I was able to control every match, never getting behind. I think because of that, it led up to a lot of the successes I had after
the win,” he added.
In addition to reaching the top in OWGR, he also won the PGA Tour Player of the Year award, along with money titles on both the PGA and European Tours. It was a feat that no one else has ever achieved in the history of golf.
Donald said that winning the money titles and recording a win in season-ending Children's Miracle Network Classic when he needed the most, is something that every one aspires to do in order to create a history.
This year, he does not have a different situation. He has not managed to record a top-10 finish yet.
He was placed 56th in last week’s Northern Trust Open, which makes him a weak contender at the Accenture Match play event.
Donald admits that it will be a tough competition against the three-time major winner, Ernie Els.
However, he will give his best shot in the tournament, as his fans do expect something extra because of his last year’s high-note ending.
He said that it is a difficult task to follow a successful year with similar performances throughout the year. He has a new set of goals and opportunities in front of him to achieve.
The confidence he gained through last year's performances can only work as an advantage. "But, again, I'm starting fresh this year," he said.
The golf fans are now waiting for Donald to perform in a similar way as he did in almost every event he played in 2011.
He is not a favourite to defend his title at Ritz-Carlton, but he has the ability to astound his opponents anytime he wants to.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
Tags: