Defending US Open champion Graeme McDowell lauds Luke Donald’s consistent form
After Luke Donald’s impressive run in last week’s BMW PGA Championship, Graeme McDowell is one man who will be more than concerned with Donald’s consistent performance. The US Open defending champion, McDowell will be eager to defend the title from the rampage
of seasoned top ranking players like Donald and former world number one Lee Westwood as well as the young guns of the sport but at the same time, the Northern Irishman lauded Donald’s efforts to reach the top in Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) and coined
him as “the full package”.
"It gives me a lot of confidence seeing a guy like Luke having his game as polished as it is right now," said McDowell. "When you play with guys like maybe Bubba Watson, Dustin Johnson or Rory McIlroy, they do things with a golf ball I am not sure I could
do."
McDowell is also the winner of last year’s Wales Open title which he will be defending this week at the Celtic Manor Resort and will be pitched in a tough battle to retain the coveted title. Currently ranked at number five in world rankings, McDowell has
nine professional wins and bagged his first major title last year at the Congressional when he got the better of Frenchman Grégory Havret, with a one-stroke lead.
Donald started his winning spree earlier this season when he overtook the then-world number one Martin Kaymer in the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship and finished for the second spot in last month’s Heritage. He had an unfortunate habit of giving into
the final round pressures and lost many of the titles on the final holes.
For the same reason, he is often dubbed by the American critics as the “Luke Donald Disease”. The 31-year-old Englishman however, proved them wrong when he overtook Westwood on the first playoff hole last week at Wentworth to summit the OWGR. Although considerably
short off the tee, Donald did well to improve his approach shots and putting to fill in for the weakness, later to emerge on top of the world.
"I am never going to be able to fly it 350 yards, but when I look at Luke, who has a type of game like I have which is not a power game, it's a controlled game with a great short game and a great putter. I know I can get that good." added McDowell. "It is
Luke's level of consistency that has blown me away at the minute."
US Open at the Congressional, the second major of the season is scheduled to start off from June 16-19 where the top players from around the world will contend for the top slot. Top 50 players from the OWGR will automatically qualify for event while the
rest of the field will be selected after the completion of qualifying rounds and players recommended by the sponsors.
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