Luke Donald: From World No.1 to Ryder Cup captain

Luke Donald reflects on his career and looks ahead to the Ryder Cup.

It’s tough at the top. It’s tough to get there, very tough to stay there, and tough to take when the inevitable descent begins. Europe’s new Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald knows this better than most, having risen to World No.1 for 56 weeks between 2011 and 2012.

Now, a decade later, the five-time PGA Tour winner lies 538th in the world rankings, having missed nine cuts this year and recorded just one top-20 finish. It has been worse, however: the 44-year-old Englishman had dropped into the eight and 900s as recently as 2019. Call it a comeback, perhaps.

Donald himself has taken the rough with the smooth with great grace and in 2023 will come his “lifetime achievement award” as the man who has won four Ryder Cups as a player leads Europe into the event as captain having replaced LIV Golf defector Henrik Stenson. He is optimistic that he’s the man to ensure Europe rise again, just as he intends to.

The always affable Englishman joined us to tell us where it all began, reflect on his career to date, examine his swing, discuss LIV Golf, and muse over Europe’s hopes of regaining the trophy at Marco Simone Country Club.

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I first started playing at my local par 3 course, Little Hay, in Hemel Hempstead, and carried on when Dad bought a timeshare at La Manga in the mid-1980s. There was a pitch and putt course, which I played with Dad and my two brothers – and we got three years of free sports including tennis and golf. Then we ventured onto the big course with four clubs between us! I just fell in love with it. Back home, I joined my first golf club, Hazlemere, aged nine, though apparently you couldn’t join until you were 12. But they were very kind to me, saw some talent and allowed me to join… and I practised away, non-stop.

I couldn’t get enough of it and just wanted to keep practising, keep learning, keep getting better. I loved watching golf on the TV and begged my mum to take me to the course after school. But I was never pushed into it…
I was never told I had to practice three hours a day. That was not the case and not the style of my parents.

I became recognised at county level and was getting picked at under 16 and under 18s. Then, when I got to 16 years old, I got picked for the full men’s team! At that point I was probably one of the best 15 or 20 amateurs in the UK and definitely thought this was something I could possibly do. I loved watching the likes of Faldo and Seve, they were so inspirational to me.

I was a very consistent player, although a lot of my amateur success was in college when I went to the
US in 1997. My game went to a different level at Northwestern University, thanks to Pat Goss, the head coach there. The fact it was structured really helped me take things to the next level, though it required a lot of hard work and Pat’s guidance. 

I won the NCAA Championship – the biggest thing in college golf – in 1999, and ended up winning 13 college events in three years. I was considered the best amateur in the world at that point. Then I went to Q School, got my card and the rest is history. 

I’ve been on the PGA Tour 20 years now. I’ve had a great career during a period when the game was changing. Players like John Daly and Tiger, of course, really changed the game, as it became more of a power game, and obviously it’s continued down that road. I was a player who knew my strengths, knew what to work on and who got the most out of the talent I had and have.

My best year came in 2011. I won both PGA and European Tour money lists, was Player of the Year, won Best Stroke Average and got to World No.1 for a total of 56 weeks, apparently the seventh-longest of all-time. That was incredible for someone who wasn’t able to overpower a golf course. I just did it my way and just talking about it, brings back some good memories…

Obviously, I’m missing a Major on my CV and I had a few chances in my career. I played with Tiger in the final round at the US PGA (2006) and was a couple of shots back when Stewart Cink won The Open at Turnberry (2009), plus I had three or four top 10s at the Masters. It was disappointing that I wasn’t able to get over the line, but sometimes the No.1 ranking is underplayed because it’s all about consistency over a long period of time. It’s the course work of your whole career to get to that point and it’s my best accomplishment in the game. 

It was amazing to sit on top of the golfing world. I was always consistent and in the top 50 for a run of 11-12 years from 2004, knocking on the door of the top 10. Getting to No.1 always seemed a long way away with Tiger and everything he was doing, it didn’t really register that it could be possible. But then I won the World Match Play in 2011, beating Martin Kaymer in the final, which swept me into the top 10 and I suddenly thought it might be doable, if I focused. 

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I had a great team around me at the time I was working with Dave Alred, had a good caddie in John McLaren, my college coach Pat Goss and a good physio and trainer. We had a good plan and we executed it every week. I had a great short game; great wedge play to great putting, and my consistency in it took me to the top.

My brother, Christian, caddied for me from 2002 to 2009. He was a club pro near London and when I came through Q School in 2001 he was caddying for me at the final stage. I just turned to him and said, “How do you feel about coming out caddying for me?”. He knew the game very well, knew my game very well and obviously he knew me and he jumped at the chance. To this day he’s still out on tour, now with Brendan Steele.

We had a lot of fun on the road together, though I’m not the easiest boss. I do expect good work and although it wasn’t ultimately anything to do with that, we got to the end of our journey together. Things just went a bit stale.

My best memories are of the Ryder Cup. There’s something special about being part of a team, battling the course with someone else, rather than just by yourself. It’s just an amazing week, made all the better by the fact we won all four Ryder Cups I played in! I also made a couple of vice-captain appearances – won one, lost one… pretty badly at Whistling Straits in 2020.

Bernhard Langer took a bit of a chance on me in that 2004 Ryder Cup. I was still pretty young, though I had won a European Tour event in Sweden just before qualifying finished. But I was a little bit of an unknown and he decided to pick me and put his faith in me. The week after he picked me, I won in Switzerland, which confirmed that I was ready for my first Ryder Cup. We won easily in Detroit (18½-9½). I played four times, went 2-1-1 and was pretty solid – not bad going for a rookie. 

The K Club in 2006 was great. I won all three of my matches, getting revenge on Chad Campbell who beat me in the singles at Oakland Hills two years earlier… Then 2012 at Medinah was obviously very special, the way we came back from being 10-6 down, and winning a vital point with Sergio (Garcia) on Saturday before Poults and Rory did their thing. Then captain Olazabal had the faith in me to put me out first in the singles – and obviously I did the business (2&1) against Bubba Watson. A lot of my memorabilia at my house is Ryder Cup-related stuff.

The biggest change in the game since I turned pro is knowledge. More than anything else. Technology has improved, especially with the driver and golf ball, but the overall knowledge and the amount of things we have accessible now… TrackMan, radar devices, biomechanics, forceplates through how to work out better, how to create speed, how to minimise face rotation in the swing… Players, particularly juniors and those coming through the college ranks, are understanding every part of this so that by the time they get onto the tour, they know how to hit it far and to how to control the ball. And if they have a brain too, they can be very competitive.

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I’ve always had a pretty handsy swing, but after I had wrist surgery in 2008 I had too much face rotation through the ball as I tried to gain distance. It left me open to some of the injuries I was prone to, so I decided
it would be best to concentrate on what I was solid at, which was from 120 yards in and being the best at that.
I wasn’t too worried about distance, just trying to get the ball on the fairway more. You have to be extremely good with your short game and putting to be able to do that at a high level because it’s easier to gain strokes on the field through distance.

Clearly, for a while now, the results haven’t been quite as good as I hoped. But I’ve been working pretty hard on my game and there’s a lot of good in it. I think I’m ranked top 50 in strokes gained this year, but my driving’s again let me down and that, as we all know, goes a long way to determining success nowadays. If you’re a little under average in driving distance, it becomes very difficult unless you’re deadly accurate. 

But I’ve definitely seen improvements in my game. I’ve had tournaments where I’ve gained strokes on the field, and that hasn’t happened for a number of years. Of course, more work is still to be done but realistically most weeks rest on my putting and my short game. The latter is still pretty decent, though not quite up to the 2011 levels. My putting is a little hot and cold – some weeks it’s decent and others it’s a little off. I need that to improve, along with more consistent driving, to make those little differences my game needs.

The fields are very stacked these days, they’re tough and you only have to be a fraction off and you’re going home… I’ve missed a bunch of cuts by a single shot, which is tough. If you make the cut by one shot and have a great weekend, you get a big confidence boost. So it’s been a bit frustrating but I’m still plugging away, working hard and seeing positives.

There’s always been peaks and troughs and there are certainly no regrets in anything I’ve done in my career. Looking back, it brings a smile to my face, having accomplished so much with the type of game I had. I would love to have better results right now – and I don’t think they’re very far away – but it gets tougher to compete against these young guys who are very strong and very good. My goals have changed a little bit because of that. I’m realistic, but I still think I’m good enough to compete and if I have a great week, I’m good enough to have a chance to win. That’s why I’m out here competing and if I didn’t think I had a chance, I probably wouldn’t want to be playing…

It has crossed my mind to call it a day, because you go from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows and you wonder whether you’ll ever get back on a higher level. But that’s part of it and it’s a case of trying to find ways to be successful, and if it doesn’t work then you move onto something else. You’ve got to really exhaust all avenues…and I don’t think I’ve quite exhausted them all yet.

I still have the hunger and passion and I still love competing. It’s great, hitting those great shots and learning how I can be a little better at this and that aspect of the game. I’m in a pretty good place… millions of golfers would want to be in my place, playing PGA Tour events, and I’m grateful for the opportunities. And when it’s my time to step away, I’ll step away. But not quite yet.

Exemption-wise, I’m on my last year of the career money list. That means I need to be top 125 this season to continue to be exempt on the PGA Tour. I still have three or four-year exemption years for the DP World Tour.

These are very interesting times with LIV Golf – it seems that everyone has his price. They haven’t reached out to me to play on it though I can see the benefits for someone in my situation, similar to Westwood and Poulter, coming to the end of their career and where it’s a struggle to compete on the PGA Tour at times. It’s a lot of work and I’m away from my family for 25 weeks of the year, missing not seeing my kids grow up. So playing fewer events for a guaranteed purse is an attractive proposition… if you’re comfortable with where the money has come from.

Part of being a captain is to create a strong 12-man unified team. I’ll be working on that over the next 14 months. I’m not here really to talk about LIV and whether they will be eligible or not. That’s to be seen and kind of a hypothetical question. But over the next few months hopefully we’ll have some clarity on that situation and we can start making some decisions about that when it becomes more clear.

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Henrik [Stenson] and I have spoken. Everything is totally fine between us. We’re friends. Next time I see him I’ll congratulate him [on the LIV victory]. He obviously played great and fair play to him. Obviously I was disappointed back in March not to get the call. They went with Henrik, and I understand Henrik has a great Ryder Cub record himself and was a vice-captain last year in Whistling Straits. It wasn’t to be and a lot has transpired in the last few months. We all know what’s happened and obviously extremely grateful and honoured and excited to be given this opportunity.

I have signed a contract and I intend to see that through. I’m giving you my word that I will be here for the next 14 months. I’m excited about this opportunity, I really am. The Ryder Cup means so much to me and I’m not going to take this lightly.

Being Ryder Cup captain is a little bit like a lifetime achievement award for me. It is truly one of the greatest honours that can be bestowed upon a golfer, to lead a team of your peers and be an ambassador for an entire continent. I feel extremely privileged to have been given that responsibility and it is a responsibility I do not take lightly.  Some of my best experiences in golf have been in the Ryder Cup and I would not swap those for anything. It is an event like no other and I cannot wait to create more special memories in Italy next year. 

I love everything the Ryder Cup embodies. from the camaraderie and companionship of being part of a team, to the history of the contest, but most of all playing for something bigger than yourself. 

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