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Luke Donald: A consistent money winner

When I look at Donald, I find his record disappointing because I know what a supreme iron player he is.

Mark Roe
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The 37th Ryder Cup
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September 16-21 2008
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Viewers of our live coverage of the Abu Dhabi Championship last week may have heard Luke Donald in the commentary box, talking to Ewen Murray after his third round on the first leg of the Gulf Swing.

Donald talked about the work he has been putting in this off-season and certainly an 11th place finish in Abu Dhabi shows that some of that work is already beginning to pay off.

It was another good finish for Luke but not the win he said he feels is coming and it set me thinking about Donald's career, because having turned 30 last year, he is moving from the sphere of promising young golfers to those who should be approaching their prime.

Luke Donald is a very consistent money winner with six victories in his career to date - two on the PGA Tour, two in Europe, a World Cup win and a Target World Challenge title.

But you wouldn't say he is a prolific winner and when you talk about guys who might be major champions, you have to look to guys who are prolific winners, like Lee Westwood, people who close out tournaments really well.

Considering the purity of his iron play and the standard of his play, Donald doesn't finish the job off for me enough and I think there is maybe a little difference in the psyche between Donald and Westwood. Give Westwood half a sniff and most likely he will close it out - look at 28 tournament wins and numerous seconds. When he gets a chance, normally he does the job.

In essence that has got to come down to mental strength and the desire to do it. Sometimes there is a desire factor to win no matter what the situation and Westwood always seems to come up with something special at the right moment. That is the sign of a great champion, the ability to find a different gear when under pressure, coming down the last few holes and being able to find an amazing golf shot. Westwood he does it so often.

That is why you win six tournaments in a calendar year and I just don't see Donald winning six in a year. He has all the ability in the world, all the talent in the world and he should be doing it now. He should be starting to move towards the prime of his career.

But he is earning still and all of this is not to say that he might not surprise us, turn it up a notch and accelerate and go on and win a major championship and win more prolifically than he does now.

It is just that historically, to this point his career, he hasn't really proved that something like that is about to happen. He makes a huge amount of money, has a wonderful lifestyle and he may be happy with that - and who is anyone to criticise him if that is the case.

Rankings

He is currently World No.18 and he was right up there in the top ten until recently - he could even get back in there without actually winning.

Take Steve Stricker for a prime example, he was nowhere but all of sudden he had three or four good weeks, particularly through the Fedex Series, but he didn't win anything, and now he is No.3 in the world.

I think the World Rankings should be a reflection of winning and I don't think you should be able to get anywhere near the top of the rankings without winning. I am no mathematical genius but there has to be a better system than this one because you should not be able to be No.3 in the world without winning golf tournaments - or only once, as Stricker did at the Barclays last year.

Donald's last win was the Honda Classic in 2006 and in Europe he last won at the Scandinavian Masters in 2004. When I look at Donald, I find his record disappointing because I know what a supreme iron player he is. He has such control, such great rhythm, such great technique, balance and what a great swing. All the components of his game seem excellent.

Maybe there is a little bit of tweaking needed for his short game and maybe he needs a little more confidence on the greens but that only comes from winning.

The one thing about being 30 in golf is that while you should be approaching your prime, guys like Mark O'Meara won his first major championships in his 40s. You can continue to improve. It can still happen for Donald, it just depends on how comfortable he is with winning lots of money and being in the position he is in, or whether deep, deep down in his heart, he wants to be great.

Great Dane

In his commentary stint last week Donald talked about Henrik Stenson has the drive to be "as good as he can be" and that he might be the guy to challenge Tiger Woods, if anyone can.

But I wouldn't separate Donald and Stenson too much in all honesty. Stenson had a good start to last year winning in Dubai and the Accenture but it was not a great season after that for him, from July onwards. He will be trying to recapture that form of early last year.

The one thing that Stenson has, that Donald will never have, is monster power. It can be his nemesis at times because he can be wayward but when he is striking the ball, and I have played with him when his striking the ball well, he is a classy golfer and he makes the course look easy.

Pete Cowan has done an awesome job with him, in terms of where he has taken him to, and his short game and putting have got better too.

Luke is right, Stenson can win a major if all the components come together on the right week, especially with that awesome power which can be such an asset when it is working for you but he might have a way to go yet before he is tackling Tiger.

You can watch Luke Donald, Lee Westwood and Henrik Stenson competing in the Qatar Masters, live on Sky Sports, from Jan 24-27.

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