Donald won't allow himself to get too excited
Web posted
Saturday, April 9, 2005
The 27-year-old Masters Tournament rookie scored 2 points for the European Ryder Cup team that defeated the American team last year at Oakland Hills Country Club.
He also teamed up with Paul Casey to win the 2004 World Cup for England, and tacked on individual titles at the Scandinavian Masters and the Omega European Masters.
But the boyish-faced Donald is hardly a household name in the United States, even though he won an NCAA individual championship just six seasons ago at Northwestern.
He might be about to change all of that.
Through 20 holes of the Masters, he is tied for the lead with Chris DiMarco and David Howell at 5-under par.
"It's 20 holes I've played, a lot of golf to be played, and there's danger lurking around every corner at Augusta," said Donald, who lives in Chicago.
"So I'm going to try and, again, just put it in the back of my mind tonight and not think about it, come out tomorrow, be fresh, and if I keep playing the way I've been playing, then I'll start worrying about it come Sunday."
The English-born Donald was 3-under par through 15 holes after play was stopped Thursday. He birdied No. 6 during the completion of his first round and birdied No. 2 to start the second round before weather ended play.
"I felt prepared," he said. "I think knowing this course is beneficial, but you know, I'm coming into this week and playing as good as I've ever played, and my game feels really good right now."
The last player who won the Masters in his first appearance was Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979. Gene Sarazen in 1935 and Horton Smith in 1934 are the others to win the tournament in their first year.
But in recent years, Masters rookies have fared well. Paul Casey, Carlos Franco, DiMarco, Darren Clarke, Adam Scott, David Toms and Tom Lehman carded top-10 finishes their first times at Augusta National Golf Club.
Donald's only PGA Tour victory came at the rain-shortened 2002 Southern Farm Bureau Classic.
"It was the first win as a professional and so obviously a big deal at the time, yeah, very big deal," he said.
"It was my first year and gave me a lot of confidence for my second year on Tour."
Donald's early performance shouldn't be unexpected considering his performance in recent weeks.
Donald has finished in the top 13 or better in five of the six PGA Tour events he's played this year, including ties for second in the Buick Open and The Players Championship two weeks ago.
Reach Jonathan Heeter at (706) 868-1222 or jonathan.heeter@augustachronicle.com.
