Left field
The Reuters global sports blog
“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.
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.
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.
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.
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