LDonald
- Thread starter CMcCat
- Start date
I wouldn't count on Luke winning the Open, but Luke's game is absolutely progressing exactly as Pat indicated to me and I mentioned on here a bit earlier. I'd love to see him in the top 50 by the end of the year to get back into the WGC events, but he's got a little work to do. He's 64 this week.
The moral of the story, I think:
If you're ranked #1 in the world, don't change your game.
Indeed, but the urge must be tremendous since so many have tried. Tiger and Padrig are great examples.
That depends on what your goals are. I'm seeing his net worth at $40 million so he's made a pretty nice living doing what he's doing, but he's more or less set for life unless he gets stupid with his money.
Where does he want to take his career? Does he want to hit the next level of earnings? If so, he's not going to do it winning minor tournaments and accumulating points for the world ranking. He'll need to win a major or two and some big PGA events. Does he want to win a major for pride's sake? Is that more important than money or his ranking to Luke Donald?
Luke isn't going to win a major being a consistent good golfer that is short off the tee. He might have a good score, a top 10 finish, but he won't win. Why? There are 156 golfers in the US Open. Let's say all 155 of them are less consistent than LD, but are longer off the tee. Even if they're wildly inconsistent from week to week 2,3,5,10... are going to have a good week and they'll be able to beat him. This leaves LD with 2 options: Stay being a great golfer who can't win the big one, or try to figure out how to get more distance.
He has finished in the top 5 in the majors several times, but not since 2012. He has been cut in the majors 5 times since then, though.. And he had to play his way into the U.S. Open this year. His best chance to win a major was to keep doing what he was doing.
Somewhat OT: does Luke's brother still caddy for Paul Casey? It's my recollection that affiliation happened right after Luke decided to make that change, even before the attempted swing change.
No. Christian isn't caddying for anyone right now I don't think. And Luke missed the WGC Match Play event this year to attend his wedding.
Not really true. First of all, Luke has reached the pinnacle of earnings for golfers. The vast majority of that comes from sponsorships and not from winning tournaments. Luke's sponsors like Mizzuno, Rolex, Ralph Lauren, etc are top end. Luke's reputation for being a pure class act in addition to his golfing prowess (don't forget he was #1 in the world for 53 weeks) bought him that.
Luke doesn't need the money. He wants to win and he really wants to win a major. His length off the tee is an excuse many people use but the last two majors were won by a guy who is pretty short of the tee in Jordan Speith. Zach Johnson won the Masters. You don't have to be long to win, although length helps. A phenomenal short game helps even more.
Luke went back to Pat Goss precisely because he realized that length was not the answer.
Luke can win the British Open for sure! Anyone watch his brilliant 66 last week at the Scottish Open. Kid plays like Tom Watson in cold and windy weather!
Weather is going to be brutal tomorrow. Should separate the men from the boys. I expect Luke to be in the mix come Saturday. Great to see him put together a bogey free round today.
Are you sure you know what "Pinnacle" means? Luke is worth 40 million dollars. Tiger Woods 640 million. Phil Mickelson 180 million net worth. Rory McIlroy 65 million and is 11 years younger than Luke. Yep, Luke is loaded, but not even near the "pinnacle" of golfers earnings. The difference all these guys won majors. As such, those sponsors pay a premium. Yes, they'll pay a premium for #1 in the world, but the average guy who cares about what golfers are sponsoring what, doesn't know the world rankings. He knows who won the Masters because he watched it.
And reputation leads to money and sponsors? HAHAHHAAHA See Tiger Woods. Winning makes you money and I'm not talking about tournament checks. Sponsors like winners more than nice guys.
As I said, Luke made a change to try to win a major. It didn't work, but that's what he was trying to do. He got close in the past. Didn't do it. Do you keep trying the same thing, or do you try something different to get better. He tried something different. Makes sense to me.
