Luke Donald Falls Short at RBC Heritage: Will Former No. 1 Ever Be Elite Again?

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: April 21, 2014

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There once was a man named Luke Donald who was the darling of the golf world.

In 2011, he put together one of the greatest seasons in the history of the game and was rewarded with a No. 1 post in the Official World Golf Ranking. Donald played in 19 events, won twice, finished second twice and third twice.

The most remarkable of the numbers he posted, however, were these: In those 19 events, Donald finished in the top 10 a total of 14 times.

Eight of his first starts were top-10s, including the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play title. And he finished the year with six top-10s in his last eight starts, including a win in the Children's Miracle Network Hospital Classic.

He was No. 1 in strokes gained putting, No. 1 in scoring average, led the PGA Tour in money earned and was seventh in all-around ranking. And, oh yeah, he became the first player to win the money titles on both the PGA and European Tours in the same season.

That was then—this is now.

The Englishman won the 2012 Transitions Championship but hasn't won since.

"I was the former world No. 1 and was there for a long time and obviously slipped down," Donald said in a story by the Associated Press on GolfChannel.com on Saturday. "But I haven't felt my game had gotten that much worse."

He was 29th in the world prior to the RBC Heritage.

In eight events in 2014, Donald has three top-10s, but until this week's stop on Hilton Head Island, he hadn't contended. But Donald played well at Harbour Town and had a chance to win until a hole-out by Matt Kuchar on the 72nd hole clinched another second-place finish for Donald.

Will he ever become an elite player again like he was in 2011-12?

I don't think so.



While he still remains one of the best putters in the game, he doesn't hit it long enough (averaging 281.4 yards off the tee, 156th on the PGA To...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Golf

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