Second chance for Donald
Having missed one big opportunity to win at St Andrews on Monday, Luke Donald gets another in Madrid this week.
Having missed a golden opportunity to win at St Andrews on Monday, Luke Donald gets a second chance at the Madrid Masters starting on Thursday.
One ahead with a round to go at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, Donald dropped to seventh with a desperately disappointing 73.
Only three of the other 69 players scored higher on the day and what made it worse was the Ryder Cup star, whose last victory came more than three and a half years ago, had sparkled with a 65 on the Old Course only three days earlier and had followed that up with a 64 at Kingsbarns.
Donald is paired with former Ryder Cup partner Sergio Garcia on the first two days at Centro Nacional in the Spanish capital and both will be hoping it sparks them into life.
Garcia has not had a top-three finish all year – Donald has at least had a second place in America – and has dropped from second in the world to eighth.
Also in the field is Scotland’s ex-US Amateur champion Richie Ramsay, whose fourth-place finish at the home of golf secured his European Tour card for next season.
It could have been even better – Ramsay three-putted from the Valley of Sin on the last hole when a par would have left him joint second with Rory McIlroy and Oliver Wilson.
But the Aberdeen golfer was determined to take the positives out of the week, especially as he was only in the field because of Paul Casey’s injury.
“I think you have to look at the whole package,” he said. “I played great down the stretch and keeping my card is huge.
“I’m delighted – first year on Tour, it’s a tough gig, but I’m confident that, if I go out there and show my potential, I can be up at the top of leaderboards.
“I’ve gone out there and not cared about the result. You have a putt and it’s either going to go in or it’s going to miss.
“If it doesn’t, just hole the next one. I’ve been more relaxed and I finished right up there in a fantastic tournament.
“Any time you have your job secure for next year, it’s a massive weight off your mind.”
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