Can Luke Donald be the first Englishman to win The Open?
One of the greatest golfing events, the Championship Open is about to start. The venue for this prestigious event is Royal Lytham & St. Anne’s Golf club.
Before this year, the event has taken place twice on this course. Golfers exhibited tremendous performances on this course in the previous years.
This year some changes have been made, which combined with the windy conditions, can prove to be a difficult course for the players.
The last time an Englishman won this tournament was when Prince Charles and Princess Diana announced their separation. This happened 20 years ago. The last Englishman to win this trophy was Sir Nick Faldo in the year 1992.
At that time, the world’s number one golfer Luke Donald was only 14 years old and already in love with the game.
Now Luke Donald is setting out to win the Championship Open at the Royal Lytham & St. Anne’s Golf club.
In an interview Donald said, "The Open is special. It has a certain buzz about it. Walking up that 18th fairway with the grandstands packed, with the giant yellow scoreboards and the clock. There's nothing like it".
“I feel the same way about it now as I did in 1999 when I played in The Open for the first time. I was probably a bit like a kid in a sweetshop back then. I was excited and nervous just to be at The Open”.
"Now it's all about trying to win it. It's been a while since an Englishman won The Open," he said. "We have been keeping the country waiting," he added.
The English professional golfer knows that it has been quite a while since an Englishman has won it for his country and he owes them at least one win in his hometown. They all are expecting this from him.
The other top contenders for the tournament are Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood. They are the favourites for the title. Another player joining them in the list of top contenders for the title is Padraig Harrington.
This does not at all mean that the Englishman has a disadvantage of any sort. On the contrary, he has a slight advantage over the others, being the home crowd favourite.
He just needs to use the support to his advantage and he should make sure that he does not get pressurised.
Before the Open Championship, the number one in the world ranking will be participating in the Scottish Open, which is taking place at the Castle Stuart golf course.
In the last year’s Scottish Open, Donald claimed the victory and this year he has to defend his title.
If the 34-year-old manages to perform well in the Scottish Open, he can use that form in the Championship Open to win it.
So in this sense, it is very vital for him to perform well in the Scottish Open. In one way or another, it is going to affect his game at the Championship Open.
The other Englishman who has a chance to win it for his nation is Lee Westwood. He is one of the top contenders for the trophy. Unfortunately for him, he got injured in the French Open which took place in the Le Golf National.
"I strained something in my groin in the right leg and just tweaked my right knee as well. I didn't really have a lot of confidence in it," Westwood told the reporters. This may prove to be a serious injury for the Englishman. It can highly affect his game
Now it is just a matter of time before one of the top golf players in the world picks up the Open Championship trophy.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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