Donald focused more on win than being No. 1

Donald focused more on win than being No. 1












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Luke Donald, ranked sixth at the U.S. Open, says the pressure to win his first major hasn't gone away just because No. 1 has slipped away.(Getty Images)

PGA.COM June 11, 2013 6:44 PM


By Dan Gelston, Associated Press

ARDMORE, Pa. - Luke Donald enters the U.S. Open more focused on a different No. 1 than reclaiming his old ranking.

Like winning major No. 1.

Donald heads into his 10th U.S. Open, starting on Thursday at Merion Golf Club.

He's had big wins over an 11-year pro career. He's even been No. 1 for a total of 56 weeks until the run ended late last year. Tiger Woods, Greg Norman, Nick Faldo and Seve Ballesteros are the only other players who have been No. 1 longer since the ranking began in 1986.

Some viewed Donald's top spot without a major as a flaw in the system. That wasn't his concern. Hoisting that U.S. Open trophy on Sunday is his lone goal this week.

"It always crosses your mind when it's going to happen," he said. "You always go back to the successes you had. The fact I was able to get to No. 1, win seven times the last couple of years, you just keep going back to those things and try and focus on that. You try and focus not on, if I can, but, when is it going to happen. Just be comfortable that what I'm doing is the right thing."

Ranked sixth, Donald said the pressure to win his first major hasn't gone away just because No. 1 has slipped away.


"There's always more attention, more requests of your time and that takes management, and that's tough," Donald said. "But within myself, the pressures are just the same. I want to win a major championship just as badly this year as when I was No. 1. It's about managing those expectations, managing those feelings and knowing what you have is good enough."

Donald played two practice rounds last week at Merion. He arrived for the tournament late Monday and skipped the day of rain that soaked the course.

"It's a real shame that we've had so much rain," he said. "I think that most people would really like to see this course play firm and fast. And I don't think we're going to get that this week. But it's a good challenge, this course. I think if it was firm and fast, this course, even despite the length, would hold up just as well as any other U.S. Open course."

The 35-year-old Donald failed to make the cut at last year's U.S. Open at the Olympic Club in San Francisco because of putting failures. He has never finished better than 12th in an Open (2006) and missed the cut three times since his 2002 debut. He was 45th in 2011 and 47th in 2010.

"I think in U.S. Opens, usually success comes from hitting a lot of fairways and hitting a lot of greens. And I think my game is more from the hole backward," he said. "I've always kind of worked that way. This year I've made a little bit more of a conscious effort to try and change that, to get a little bit more control, to work some things around, spending a little bit more time on the range working on really solidifying a few things. And it hasn't happened yet, but statistics will show I've improved in those areas."

Donald and Lee Westwood are the only players to be No. 1 without having won a major. Donald was No. 1 entering the 2011 U.S. Open and held it going into the 2012 PGA Championship. He lost the ranking after Rory McIlroy won last year's PGA Championship title.

Regarded as a mild-mannered Englishman, Donald is ready to show some ruthlessness at Merion as he chases that elusive win.

"It has a lot of tradition, this course, and I'm excited to see what it has to offer," he said.

Woods and Garcia say their case is closed

Woods and Garcia say their case is closed












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Sergio Garcia is trying to focus on his golf game now that he has met with Tiger Woods.(Getty Images)

PGA.COM June 11, 2013 6:53 PM


By Doug Ferguson, Associated Press

ARDMORE, Pa. - Unable to arrange a private meeting, Sergio Garcia left Tiger Woods a note in his locker Tuesday at the U.S. Open with hopes of moving on from his racially charged comment and getting back to playing golf.

"I did leave him a note - a handwritten note," Garcia said. "And hopefully, he can take a look at it. It's a big week and I understand that it's difficult to meet up and stuff. So hopefully, I'll be able to do it. If not, at least he has read the note and he's happy with that."

The note presumably was an apology. Garcia said it would be up to Woods to share the contents.

It was the latest - and perhaps final - chapter in a messy feud that ended badly for the Spaniard when he jokingly said at awards dinner in England that he would invite Woods over for dinner during the U.S. Open. "We will serve fried chicken," Garcia said.

He apologized to Woods and everyone he offended in a news conference the next day and said he left a message for Woods through his agent.

Garcia approached him on the practice range Monday at Merion for a handshake, and little more.

"We didn't discuss anything," Woods said. "Just came up and said, `Hi,' and that was it."

Asked if Garcia apologized, Woods said, "No. It's already done. We've already gone through it all. It's time for the U.S. Open, and we tee it up in two days."


That handshake might be their only meeting this week.

Garcia said the range on Monday was not the right time to apologize to Woods, but that the world's No. 1 player was gone when Garcia was done practicing, and the opening day of U.S. Open practice was delayed three times by rain.

They are on opposite sides of the draw - Garcia plays Thursday morning and Friday afternoon, Woods tees off Thursday afternoon and Friday morning. Unless they are near each other on the leaderboard on the weekend, they might not see each other again.

And there is some question whether Woods will even see the note.

Woods rarely goes into the locker room at the majors, except for the Masters. Through the years, his locker has been filled with requests for him to autograph various items, and outside vendors try to leave messages for him.

The dispute with Woods began during a rain delay at The Players Championship. Garcia implied in a TV interview that Woods purposely riled up the gallery by pulling a 5-wood from his bag to play a risky shot out of the trees, and that Woods should have been paying enough attention to realize the Spaniard was about to hit.

Woods, who typically prefers to avoid confrontations, denied that was the case. But then he added, "Not real surprising that he's complaining about something."

Woods won The Players, and the needling continued for a week until Garcia made the "fried chicken" remark in a light moment with the emcee at a dinner honoring Europe's winning Ryder Cup team.

The Spaniard appeared contrite in his news conference, and he said Tuesday he remained "a little bit nervous."

"But like he (Woods) said, with him taking the step forward and saying that he considers it closed, a closed deal, that obviously means a lot to me," Garcia said.

Rickie Fowler Seeks to Rekindle Merion Magic

Rickie Fowler Seeks to Rekindle Merion Magic
Contender at This Week’s U.S. Open Dominated as Amateur in 2009 Walker Cup at Storied Course











Mark McLaughlin June 11, 2013 9:29 PM




COMMENTARY | Rickie Fowler will carry some fond memories into the U.S. Open this week at Merion Golf Club.

Fowler was a star of the 2009 U.S. Walker Cup


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hat beat Great Britain & Ireland 16-1/2 to 9-1/2 in the last USGA competition to be hosted at the historic course outside Philadelphia. The then 20-year-old amateur compiled a perfect 4-0 record to lead a team captained byMerion member Buddy Marucci.



So what did Fowler pick up from that September weekend nearly four years ago that he can put to use as he chases his first major title on the 6,996-yard par 70 Hugh Wilson gem?

"My best memory is after we won it, standing on the 18th green with two of my teammates from Oklahoma State,Peter Uihlein and Morgan Hoffmann. Peter and I both went 4-0 and Morgan didn't lose a match (2-0-1)," Fowler told the Philadelphia Inquirer last week. "And playing for Buddy [Marucci] in the two years I got to play the Walker Cup was awesome. Those are pretty cool memories to be able to draw off."

Fowler and Hoffman are two of a handful of players in the U.S. Open field who have played Merion in competition. No one in the field has played a professional tournament at Merion.

Hoffman, making his third Open start, also competed in the 2005 U.S. Amateur at the Ardmore, Pennsylvania course. He was one of 64 players to qualify for match play before losing in the first round. Others in the 2005 U.S. Amateur field included:

Webb Simpson: The defending U.S. Open champion shot a 3-over-par 143 to qualify for match play before losing in the second round.

Kevin Chappell: If's there a favorite among the Merion veterans, it's Chappell. In addition to the local knowledge gleaned from making it to the third round of match play in the 2005 Amateur, Chappell tied for third in the 2011 U.S. Open at a soggy Congressional and finished tied for 10th in last year's Open at Olympic. And don't forget his late charge two weeks ago at the Memorial Tournament where he finished a close second to Matt Kuchar.

Billy Horschel: Horschel didn't qualify for match play in 2005 but he comes into Merion riding the high of his first PGA Tour win and a career year in the making.

Kyle Stanley: Stanley also missed the match play segment in 2005 but like Chappell, he's coming off a strong third-place showing in his final tune-up at Memorial.

Nicholas Thompson: Thompson, who lost in the second round of match play at Merion, is making his third U.S. Open appearance.

The remaining Merion vets competed in the 1989 U.S. Amateur and include:

Phil Mickelson: Lefty made it into match play on a Merion course that played quite differently 24 years ago due to poor maintenance. Mickelson has proven to be a good mudder - witness his 2012 win at Pebble Beach - so he's got that going for him on what should be a soggy track.

Steve Stricker: The plethora of short approaches should suit Stricker's precision wedge game. He's second in greens in regulation on the PGA Tour this year and 13th in putting -- a powerful combination if he can find enough fairways.

Jim Furyk: The 2003 U.S. Open champion grew up just 20 miles from Merion. Winning on his home turf on the 10th anniversary of his only major would be something special for Furyk. And it would provide a measure of redemption after his back-nine collapse at Olympic.

Mark McLaughlin has reported on the PGA Tour for the New York Post, FoxSports.com, Greensboro News & Record, and Burlington (N.C.) Times-News. He is a past member of the Metropolitan Golf Writers Association. Follow him on Twitter @markmacduke.