Donald Ducks his way to world number 1
Ranked #16,800 in Sports & Recreation, #409,087 overall
How Luke became world number 1
If there has been a male golfer that many handicap golfers could relate to in world golf of late, it's Luke Donald. At today's BMW PGA Championship, Donald secured his place as the No1 golfer in the world with a birdie on the first extra hole, ironically beating the current world No1 Lee Westwood in a play-off.
Luke has been the main man of late, basically out maneuvering his 2 European compatriots at their own game%u2026.and that game is consistency. Westwood and Kaymer have been hugely consistent over the last 6 months but Mr. Donald has found a secret to beat them at their own game.
And that secret is, make the most of what you've got!
The fact that Luke has finished in the top 10 in 14 of his last 15 starts worldwide and finished runner up last week in the World Matchplay in Spain having already won the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship in Arizona earlier in the year. Added to the fact that he was leading points scorer at the 2010 Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor proves that golf is far more than the power game that many critics of the vastly improved golf balls and drivers assumed would naturally take over and dominate the game.
Most handicap players that get the chance to follow Luke in person at a tournament or even from the couch will probably forget or at best only begin to slightly appreciate the way this young Englishman plays the game. Here is a modern guy, that plays modern golf, in an old fashioned way and although it may seem strange to say, but his game is not that far out of reach of all of you amateurs, even all you 18 handicap swishers.
Luke has been the main man of late, basically out maneuvering his 2 European compatriots at their own game%u2026.and that game is consistency. Westwood and Kaymer have been hugely consistent over the last 6 months but Mr. Donald has found a secret to beat them at their own game.
And that secret is, make the most of what you've got!
The fact that Luke has finished in the top 10 in 14 of his last 15 starts worldwide and finished runner up last week in the World Matchplay in Spain having already won the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship in Arizona earlier in the year. Added to the fact that he was leading points scorer at the 2010 Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor proves that golf is far more than the power game that many critics of the vastly improved golf balls and drivers assumed would naturally take over and dominate the game.
Most handicap players that get the chance to follow Luke in person at a tournament or even from the couch will probably forget or at best only begin to slightly appreciate the way this young Englishman plays the game. Here is a modern guy, that plays modern golf, in an old fashioned way and although it may seem strange to say, but his game is not that far out of reach of all of you amateurs, even all you 18 handicap swishers.
PGA Tour Statistics
As of May the 22nd 2011 according to the very reliable stats from the PGA Tour http://www.pgatour.com/r/stats Luke sits outside the top 150 players on tour when it comes to driving distance, he's also outside the top 100 in total driving (that's distance and accuracy combined) it reads an unimpressive 148th in eagles made (Luke's not going for many par 5's in two shots) and only just sneaks inside the top 50 on tour when it comes to greens in regulation.
Master Donald only just scrapes inside the top 100 in greens in regulation from outside 200 yards and believe it or not, his ranking drops to outside the top 120 between 175-200 yards. Add that to the fact that Luke rolls in at 72nd spot in ball striking and we could be discussing a player that many of you may think would be struggling to keep his card not topping the official world rankings.
However%u2026.. and it's a big and bold however that should be covered in lights and playing the tune "Money Money Money" from Swedish pop group Abba. Mr. Donald understood the fact from an early age that power was not his strength and contrary to popular belief nor was his accuracy from the tee, players that are medium to short from the tee often get a rep for being straight hitters, people just assume "well if he's not long, he must be straight", but actually he only ranks 33rd on tour when it comes to finding the short grass from the tee, which certainly isn't bad, make no bones about it, Luke isn't going to ruffle Fredy Funk's feathers with that kind of stat.
Master Donald only just scrapes inside the top 100 in greens in regulation from outside 200 yards and believe it or not, his ranking drops to outside the top 120 between 175-200 yards. Add that to the fact that Luke rolls in at 72nd spot in ball striking and we could be discussing a player that many of you may think would be struggling to keep his card not topping the official world rankings.
However%u2026.. and it's a big and bold however that should be covered in lights and playing the tune "Money Money Money" from Swedish pop group Abba. Mr. Donald understood the fact from an early age that power was not his strength and contrary to popular belief nor was his accuracy from the tee, players that are medium to short from the tee often get a rep for being straight hitters, people just assume "well if he's not long, he must be straight", but actually he only ranks 33rd on tour when it comes to finding the short grass from the tee, which certainly isn't bad, make no bones about it, Luke isn't going to ruffle Fredy Funk's feathers with that kind of stat.
Luke Donald Slow Motion
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Here comes the magic
But then comes the magic, the stuff I want every single one of you reading this to fully appreciate, in fact anyone can just appreciate it, I actually want you to do more than that.. I want you to understand it first, then I want you to live it. Just imagine for a second if your game had more of these characteristics, how low could consistently score. Finally next time your at the range I want you to make a promise to yourself to practice smart and also to smile every time you see your friends, acquaintances or other golfing chumps smashing driver after driver because they were not privy to this golden and it is golden, INFORMATION!
Luke dominates in the area's that really matter, check out these super stats
150-175 yards 10th
125-150 yards 7th
100-125 yards 7th
Approach shots from 75-100 1st
Approach shots from 50-125 2nd
Total putting 5th
Par 5 birdie leaders 3rd
(Remember what we said above,
Luke's not going for many par 5's in two shots)
Par 3 performance 7th
Par breaker (rounds under par) 10th
Scrambling around the green 3rd
Scrambling from the rough 1st
Bounce back 1st
(after making bogey hits right back with a birdie at the next)
Top 10 finishes 1st
Scoring average 1st
Fed-ex Cup points 2nd
Money leaders 1st
Conclusion
Now in all honesty, after reading and understanding these statistics my work here should be done, well for today anyway.
Distance and power are like your best frock, pin stripe suit, or like the car you keep covered in the garage, they are for special occasions, not for everyday use, however your scoring clubs, your wedge play, short game and putter should be like an old pair of sweat pants or your favorite pair of slippers, well worn in and comfy as heck.
If you can learn from the game of Luke Donald then you'll definitely be on the path to success and if you can't, then I'm afraid you should be taking up kite surfing because your lack of understanding is blowing us both away!
Over & out for now..DM
Luke dominates in the area's that really matter, check out these super stats
150-175 yards 10th
125-150 yards 7th
100-125 yards 7th
Approach shots from 75-100 1st
Approach shots from 50-125 2nd
Total putting 5th
Par 5 birdie leaders 3rd
(Remember what we said above,
Luke's not going for many par 5's in two shots)
Par 3 performance 7th
Par breaker (rounds under par) 10th
Scrambling around the green 3rd
Scrambling from the rough 1st
Bounce back 1st
(after making bogey hits right back with a birdie at the next)
Top 10 finishes 1st
Scoring average 1st
Fed-ex Cup points 2nd
Money leaders 1st
Conclusion
Now in all honesty, after reading and understanding these statistics my work here should be done, well for today anyway.
Distance and power are like your best frock, pin stripe suit, or like the car you keep covered in the garage, they are for special occasions, not for everyday use, however your scoring clubs, your wedge play, short game and putter should be like an old pair of sweat pants or your favorite pair of slippers, well worn in and comfy as heck.
If you can learn from the game of Luke Donald then you'll definitely be on the path to success and if you can't, then I'm afraid you should be taking up kite surfing because your lack of understanding is blowing us both away!
Over & out for now..DM
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