Left field

“Luuuke” golf beginning to win over fans

Luke Donald’s complete dominance of Wentworth’s brutal West Course has led the world to sit up and take notice, while his chanting fans have also made their mark.

Not that people were not aware of Donald before, just that his latest victory and the fashion in which he won Europe´s PGA have raised his profile in his native England and made him the golfer to beat again.

“Luuuke” screamed the crowds during the hustle and bustle of a weekend at Wentworth. For good reason. Donald was showing the galleries, TV viewers and his fellow professionals how to play the game.

Methodical rhythm in mind, I took to the course then range on a hot summer’s Monday and tried to replicate it, much like over a month ago, when, inspired by Bubba Watson’s US Masters win, I thought it best to go and swipe at the ball paying little attention to technique. That didn’t work.

The result of Donald golf? Try it. Slow everything down. Get everything flowing as one and….ball into ditch. OK that was me. And I got better until for a five minute period or so the ball was actually doing as I wanted.

‘With more practice I can better’ I thought, encouraged at my progress. I persevered and got worse. But I left with a positive feeling. Donald has always spoken of how hard he has worked at his game and it is now paying dividends.

“Just got back to Chi town, quick sweat in the gym to get the last of the Moët out! then off to The Memorial tomorrow to do it all over again,” tweeted the Englishman after leaving his home country for Chicago, his base.

Woods wins at last but is Tiger “back” this time round?

“That was a huge win for Tiger Woods today. Our game just got a whole lot more interesting,” scribed world number 11 Dustin Johnson on Twitter on Sunday after his fellow American dominated the field at Bay Hill to clinch the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

This theme is already being discussed just hours after former world number one Woods won his first PGA Tour event since September 2009 after a much publicised fall from grace towards the end of that year and at the beginning of 2010.

Like him or loathe him, there is no doubt the 14-times major champion does wonders for the game of golf. You only had to listen to the raucous crowd chanting his name around the 18th green a few hours ago to appreciate that.

So, will this yield a new era of dominance by Woods? Commentators and experts were abuzz during his final round on Sunday, some saying he is now swinging the club better than when he was winning majors back in the middle of the last decade.

There’s a way to go however to match the relentless streak Woods set off on in 2000-01, when he held all four major tournaments at the same time and looked unstoppable. Those days are long gone.

Nonetheless, with the American hitting shots like his towering 267-yard three iron to within 15 feet on the par-five 6th during his final round and more importantly wielding a red hot putter, who is to say this is not the start of another era of dominance?

One thing is for sure. The year’s first major at Augusta National cannot come quickly enough. Woods to be paired with the top two ranked players Luke Donald and Rory McIlroy in rounds one and two? No doubt the Augusta committee are busy thinking up some star-billed trios as we speak.

McIlroy top of the world, Woods firing…Florida serves up a classic

Rory McIlroy became the second youngest number one golfer on Sunday after Tiger Woods when the Northern Irishman survived a final-round special from the 14-times major winner at the Honda Classic in Florida.

Golf is in fine fettle. 22-year-old McIlroy can do no wrong, Woods is showing signs of a resurgence and the pair will meet again at next week’s WGC-Cadillac Championship in nearby Doral for another elite-field event.

World number three Lee Westwood also shone on Sunday with a seven-under-par final-round 63 and by the tournament’s conclusion the leaderboard was a feast of talent.

The critics who had circled for 40 weeks since England’s Luke Donald reached top spot last May can now be silent again.

Some argued a major-winner should be at the top of the rankings, with Donald, despite a prolific 2011 in which he became the first player to win both the PGA Tour and European Tour money list titles, not yet on that list.

Now they not only have a major winner. They have the game’s brightest young player who could possibly go on to much greater heights. Stay tuned to golf in 2012.

Picture: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland holds the winner’s trophy after becoming golf’s new world number one player on the 18th green with his win in the Honda Classic PGA golf tournament at PGA National Golf Club in Palm Beach Gardens

from Tom Pilcher:

Two money list titles or a major? Opinion divided over Donald’s 2011

A quick glimpse at the statistics of Luke Donald’s season and you can’t fail to be impressed, though despite a record-breaking 2011 the world number one still has his doubters.

So, those statistics. 25 tournaments entered, two money list titles (he became the first person to win both the PGA Tour and European Tour order of merit honours in the same season), four victories, 19 top 10s (including wins), and three top 20s. Crucially however, no major title.

Does this make Donald’s season less successful? Certainly, but by no means should his phenomenal consistency be mocked, Australian golfer Aaron Baddeley said earlier this year.

Golf, after all, is a difficult sport to be consistent in, and while Donald might lack the big-hitting explosive talent of Tiger Woods or Rory McIlroy, his ability to keep turning in good results even when off form has been remarkable this past season.

Like any sportsman at the top of their game, Donald knows winning the big titles matters most and the 34-year-old will want to land one of golf's four most treasured prizes in 2012.

Around a year ago Donald was answering to critics, such as one American writer who had coined the phrase "Luke Donald disease" in an article about under-achievers in golf.

"The critics will always be there and they make me stronger to be honest," Donald said. "Every time someone says I can't do a thing it just makes me work harder."