All down to short game, says Luke

LUKE DONALD has struck a blow for every golfer who cannot smash the ball out of sight — it does not mean you are doomed to failure these days.

Donald’s victory in the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in Tucson, completed with a win over new world number one Martin Kaymer, offers hope for all those players Tiger Woods calls “plodders”.

The 33-year-old Englishman, now up to third in the world behind Kaymer and Lee Westwood, ranked 177th out of 192 with an average driving distance of 277 yards on the PGA Tour in America last season.

And if his start this year is anything to go by, he is about to drop even lower. His average so far is only 261.5 yards compared to the 314.8 of Bubba Watson, the longest of the long-hitters. That’s a difference of more than 53 yards, but Watson finished fourth last week and Donald first – on a monster course that measured 7,791 yards.

The second successive English champion at Dove Mountain – Ian Poulter, another not known for his length, triumphed last February – finally appears to have learnt to go with what he has. Not power, but consistency and marvellous short-game skills. After his first title in the States for five years, Donald said: “Probably back in 2007, I think I decided to try to hit the ball a little farther to try to catch up to some of my peers. I think it made my swing get off kilter and it’s taken a good two or three years for it to get back to almost where I need it to be.”