Luke Donald: Will Former World No. 1 Ever Become a Dangerous Closer?

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: April 22, 2013

commentComment        

It wasn't all that long ago that Luke Donald was the world’s top-ranked golfer with only his ability to win a major golf championship left to prove. Two short years later, the Englishman has slipped all the way to sixth and now faces the question of whether he’s lost the ability to close in PGA Tour events, much less major championships.

Coming off a disappointing performance in the 2013 Masters, Donald saw an opportunity to win his first PGA Tour event in more than a year slip away Sunday with a two-over 37 on the back nine during the final round of the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links.



Donald did manage to post a two-under 69 to finish two shots behind eventual winner Graeme McDowell (in a playoff over Webb Simpson) at seven-under 277. But for a player who is all about winning, the Heritage ended up as just another question mark in a full year of falling just short too many times for comfort.

The last Tour event Donald won was the 2012 Transitions in Tampa Bay. Since that victory, he has posted eight top-10 finishes, including seven top-five showings, without ringing the bell a single time. No other player this side of Tiger Woods has had that much success on the PGA Tour in the past 13 months. That also means no other player has been as unable to close out a victory as Donald in that same span.

Call it 'damned if you do or damned if you don’t', but his inability to finish when in contention has to be of concern to Donald, who has seen Rory McIlroy and then Tiger himself ascend past him into the world’s No. 1 ranking within that same win-less time frame.

Now to be fair, Donald’s near misses have included top fives at the 2012 PLAYERS Championship and the British Open as well as last year’s Tour Championship—all high-end events on challenging layouts. It’s also reasonable to allow that a player’s finish isn't always dictated by his clo...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Golf

Latest News


Comments

Comments are closed.

Sponsors

Bruins Tickets The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League.

Red Wings Tickets The Detroit Red Wings are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League.

Penguins Tickets The Pittsburgh Penguins are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League.

New York Rangers Tickets play their home games at Madison Square Garden, they are one of the oldest teams in the NHL, having joined in 1926 as an expansion franchise, and are part of the group of teams referred to as the Original Six.

San Jose Sharks Tickets The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California, United States.

Toronto Maple Leafs Tickets The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League.

New Jersey Devils Tickets The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League.

Washington Capitals Tickets The Washington Capitals are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C.

Buffalo Sabres Tickets The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League. Get the Sabres and all of your NHL Tickets here.

NASCAR season is on of the most attended sports in the world. NASCAR Tickets to the best tracks is a must every year. Some of these tracks are: Talladega Tickets, Lowes Motor Speedway Tickets, Pocono Raceway Tickets, located in Ridgeway Virginia you have Martinsville Speedway Tickets and southern US you have two of the most popular Atlanta Motor Speedway Tickets and Texas Motor Speedway Tickets. Don't miss all the racing events this year!

Boston Red Sox Tickets The Boston Red Sox are a member of the Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Since 1912, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park. This is one of the hottest MLB Tickets sales of any team in the major league.

New York Yankees Tickets The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the borough of the Bronx, in New York City, New York and are a member of Major League Baseball's American League East Division. Get tickets to one of the hottest games of the season Yankees Red Sox Tickets.

Chicago Cubs Tickets The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League.

Phillies Tickets The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883.

Orioles Tickets The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland.

Do you love wrestling? Get your WWE Tickets and WWE Survivor Series Tickets today!