Luke Donald cards 4-under 68, needs to shoot low scores to topple Rory McIlroy in Race to Dubai
Former number one golfer of the world, Luke Donald carded 4-under 68 in the first round at WGC-HSBC Champions. Currently the Englishman is only three strokes behind the co-leaders, Adam Scott and Louis Oosthuizen.
However, he is standing at T9 after the first round, which means he has a lot of ground to cover.
Donald started of brilliantly at the Mission Hills, birdying the first hole, which was followed by an eagle on the par-5 second. However, his back nine was of a very low standard, as he bogeyed the 12th and the 18th hole.
Shooting a solid round first up is always a nice thing. It not only gives the players the required confidence but they can carry forward the momentum in the proceeding rounds.
However, more is still to come for the Englishman at the Olazabal Course. He is only three strokes back. A good second and third round will surely make things interesting on Sunday.
Tough times lay ahead for Luke Donald, as he needs to register big wins on the European Tour to topple Rory McIlroy from the top of The Race to Dubai standings.
Moreover, his daughter has to undergo a very delicate operation, which is another stressful factor in itself.
Donald knows he needs to win the WGC-HSBC Champions if he wants to close the gap between Rory and himself.
"Rory is making it tough on us. He's playing very consistently every week," Donald said before the WGC-HSBC Champions.
"He's won some big events that count on both tours and hence, he's in a very similar position that I was last year where he has a chance to win both money titles".
"He's got a pretty big lead. I'm going to need to pretty much win out. I'm going to need to win this event and win Dubai for any chance," he concluded.
Meanwhile, the defending champion Martin Kaymer and American Jason Dufner are tied with Donald at T9, after the duo shot average rounds of 4-under 68 at the Olazabal Course.
The key to success at the Olazabal Course lies in the five par-5s. Donald must capitalise on these holes if he wants to win WGC-HSBC Champions.
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