Luke Donald rolls back the years and sits one of the lead at the half way point in the Valspar Championship at Copperhead Florida. It's just a pity that we couldn't roll in the short putts. I watched his round yesterday from the 4th hole onward, and some of his ball striking was sensational, especially with his irons. He found trouble with a few tee shots, but his recovery with his five iron, six iron, seven iron and other irons had me thinking that he had morphed into Ironman! The trouble is though he missed a bunch of putts from inside eight feet. I can remember at least four very make-able putts that could have easily hit the back of the cup and dropped in on another day, especially considering the Luke is usually so good with the short stick. That would have given him a three-shot cushion after 36 holes of golf. Instead, he sees himself sitting in a tie for third spot on five under par. It could have been so much better for the Englishman, and his approach shots certainly deserved better.
Would he have taken it before a ball was hit? You better believe it, he'd have taken your hand off to sit one behind the lead at the halfway stage. It's going to be very interesting to see where his tournament goes from here though, and his putter is going to have to heat up dramatically if the former world number one wants to be in contention come Sunday evening in Florida. It's hard to believe that Luke was the world number one, this time seven years ago. Now with the game of golf speckled with precocious youngsters like Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas and Brooks Koepka, it does seem like many moons ago, but it's just seven years ago, and in golfing terms Luke is still a relatively young man at 41 years of age. He is naturally athletic and looks after himself very well, and will therefore enjoy more longevity in his career than some of his more rotund competitors like Patrick Reed and Shane Lowry for example. These two are two smashing golfers, but will they still be competing at the very top when they hit their fifties? I doubt it. Will Luke? I'd give him as good a chance as any.
There is a word beginning with I which every sports man in the world fears like the bogey-man and that is Injury. Whether you are Lionel Messi or Roger Federer, the last thing you want is any kind of injury, where you have to sit out watching others play the sport you love so dearly. Golf is no different and having come through the best part of his career, with very few injuries, this past year will have been very difficult and frustrating for the Englishman. His back problems started last Spring and he needed to take the best part of a year out of golf to try and get himself right again. This year he is playing under a special medical exemption, which means that he has 15 golf tournaments to reach his target of 336 FedEx points to retain his full-time status. He had almost fallen out of the top 1000 golfers in the world rankings before Valspar, which is hardly surprising considering that was not getting a chance to even play. So, although Luke may be thinking about the big prize this weekend, I think even a top ten finish will have him smiling after the curtain comes down on this golf tournament.
Thanks as always for reading.
Peace Out.
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