Luke Donald, ..Hanging it up?

I've been a big fan of Luke for a while, and was surprised he's not playing the Honda..

I know he was out with a bad back last year...do you think this will be his last season?

Nope.

He’ll find his health and decent game eventually. He still has a few full card years left in him if he wants it

Doubt it. Still has a few years left and who knows if he would go to Champions Tour route. But with how well he hits irons, its amazing he didnt win more.

I could see it happening sooner rather than later.

He has done a few stints with Sky Sports covering golf and he seemed to enjoy it. The Sky team is becoming quite a dynamic younger team with the likes of Dougherty now fronting the coverage. Donald was a good fit with that at the events he was involved in.

Contrast that with his game being nowhere near the level that it used to be. He was never been long nor straight but it seems like he is shorter and more crooked than ever and whilst his putting stills seems to be above average, it is not at the unfathomably good level it was back at the beginning of the decade.

Adding all of that up to the fact that he has millions in the bank, a wife, three young daughters and he himself is 41, is he really going to be grinding like he did when he was 30 to get to where he did? I can't see it but I can see Sky throwing a good few thousand at him which will give him plenty of spending money with all of his other millions being a great cushion for him.

I could see it happening sooner rather than later.

 

He has done a few stints with Sky Sports covering golf and he seemed to enjoy it. The Sky team is becoming quite a dynamic younger team with the likes of Dougherty now fronting the coverage. Donald was a good fit with that at the events he was involved in.

 

Contrast that with his game being nowhere near the level that it used to be. He was never been long nor straight but it seems like he is shorter and more crooked than ever and whilst his putting stills seems to be above average, it is not at the unfathomably good level it was back at the beginning of the decade.

 

Adding all of that up to the fact that he has millions in the bank, a wife, three young daughters and he himself is 41, is he really going to be grinding like he did when he was 30 to get to where he did? I can't see it but I can see Sky throwing a good few thousand at him which will give him plenty of spending money with all of his other millions being a great cushion for him.

Luke is highly articulate and intelligent, so no chance of appearing on Sky then!

I could see it happening sooner rather than later.

 

He has done a few stints with Sky Sports covering golf and he seemed to enjoy it. The Sky team is becoming quite a dynamic younger team with the likes of Dougherty now fronting the coverage. Donald was a good fit with that at the events he was involved in.

 

Contrast that with his game being nowhere near the level that it used to be. He was never been long nor straight but it seems like he is shorter and more crooked than ever and whilst his putting stills seems to be above average, it is not at the unfathomably good level it was back at the beginning of the decade.

 

Adding all of that up to the fact that he has millions in the bank, a wife, three young daughters and he himself is 41, is he really going to be grinding like he did when he was 30 to get to where he did? I can't see it but I can see Sky throwing a good few thousand at him which will give him plenty of spending money with all of his other millions being a great cushion for him.

 

Luke is highly articulate and intelligent, so no chance of appearing on Sky then!

Ha. To be fair they're pretty good overall on Sky. I'd be happy to see Donald replace Mark Roe though, who is bad.

He could be having..........................

He could be having..........................

I got it!

Luke was on The Fried Egg podcast a week or so ago. He mentioned that he played the Sony and will play either Honda or Tampa. He is still trying to build "resiliency" in his back and wants to take it slow and easy until summer, where he plans to play a full schedule.

I could see it happening sooner rather than later.

 

He has done a few stints with Sky Sports covering golf and he seemed to enjoy it. The Sky team is becoming quite a dynamic younger team with the likes of Dougherty now fronting the coverage. Donald was a good fit with that at the events he was involved in.

 

Contrast that with his game being nowhere near the level that it used to be. He was never been long nor straight but it seems like he is shorter and more crooked than ever and whilst his putting stills seems to be above average, it is not at the unfathomably good level it was back at the beginning of the decade.

 

Adding all of that up to the fact that he has millions in the bank, a wife, three young daughters and he himself is 41, is he really going to be grinding like he did when he was 30 to get to where he did? I can't see it but I can see Sky throwing a good few thousand at him which will give him plenty of spending money with all of his other millions being a great cushion for him.

 

Luke is highly articulate and intelligent, so no chance of appearing on Sky then!

 

Ha. To be fair they're pretty good overall on Sky. I'd be happy to see Donald replace Mark Roe though, who is bad.

Do you think so?

Save for Nick Doherty, who is very good in front of the camera, and Tony Johnstone who is quite witty, self effacing and exceptionally knowledgeable about the bushveld, you could ditch the rest for me; Beemer barely seems to know what he's going to say when he starts a sentence. Radar plays the brash Aussie too much. Coltart answers every question with another question. They all treat McGinley like he's some kind of sage just because he won a home Ryder Cup. Butch is past it, so is Euan. And don't get me started on Mark Roe!!

Jordan Spieth (Speith) - same thing happening?

Jordan Spieth (Speith) - same thing happening?

 

 

 

 

I could see it happening sooner rather than later.

 

He has done a few stints with Sky Sports covering golf and he seemed to enjoy it. The Sky team is becoming quite a dynamic younger team with the likes of Dougherty now fronting the coverage. Donald was a good fit with that at the events he was involved in.

 

Contrast that with his game being nowhere near the level that it used to be. He was never been long nor straight but it seems like he is shorter and more crooked than ever and whilst his putting stills seems to be above average, it is not at the unfathomably good level it was back at the beginning of the decade.

 

Adding all of that up to the fact that he has millions in the bank, a wife, three young daughters and he himself is 41, is he really going to be grinding like he did when he was 30 to get to where he did? I can't see it but I can see Sky throwing a good few thousand at him which will give him plenty of spending money with all of his other millions being a great cushion for him.

 

Luke is highly articulate and intelligent, so no chance of appearing on Sky then!

 

Ha. To be fair they're pretty good overall on Sky. I'd be happy to see Donald replace Mark Roe though, who is bad.

 

Do you think so?

Save for Nick Doherty, who is very good in front of the camera, and Tony Johnstone who is quite witty, self effacing and exceptionally knowledgeable about the bushveld, you could ditch the rest for me; Beemer barely seems to know what he's going to say when he starts a sentence. Radar plays the brash Aussie too much. Coltart answers every question with another question. They all treat McGinley like he's some kind of sage just because he won a home Ryder Cup. Butch is past it, so is Euan. And don't get me started on Mark Roe!!

I quite like Beem. He's not trying to be anything he's not and doesn't harp on about his playing career all the time. He has a gentle way about him. Radar is enjoyable too. He has good insights and usually calls the shot correctly.

Give me those two over Ken Brown any day!

It is very hard to play HIGH LEVEL golf with any sort of back injury, like my pal BIG STU, I can relate (only too well)

Jordan Spieth (Speith) - same thing happening?

 

 

 

 

Fergie-- Seriously you may be on to something--- I always thought Luke and Chucky Three Sticks had gotten too mechanical----- And if he is having back problems I feel sorry for him because I can relate

It's amazing how many pros have fallen into the trap of trying to change too much over the years.

Luke has 5 wins and has made $36,000,000.00 in on course earnings. It would be sad if he never contends again but he's going to have a helluva great life.

I'd also put him in the category of "He who got the most out of his talent."

Similar back here as well. Not fun. Never going to just cure it either, although there are things you can do to help. I can't imagine playing anywhere near the amount of golf these guys play and walking the course. It's just insane. One tournament, and I would be ready to shut it down.

It is very hard to play HIGH LEVEL golf with any sort of back injury, like my pal BIG STU, I can relate (only too well)

I’m reading this thread and the mind is filled with images of Mike Weir (past and present).

Jordan Spieth (Speith) - same thing happening?

The desperate search for distance hurt Donald and will hurt many more players to come.

This rise and fall of Luke Donald. If you're short-ish off the tee, you better be accurate. SG Tee plummets.

He's just kinda slowly fizzled out. It's hard to be 2.2 shots better than the field for an extended period of time!

Luke's improvement off the tee is partly what led him to #1 in the world. Obviously he was unable to sustain that, but he was gaining about 2 shots per tourney from hitting the ball longer.

Sure, you can still win with below average distance, but as Luke saw, (all else being equal), a bump in length off the tee put his game over the top for a short period of time.

• Donald's club head speed of 111.6 mph in 2011 is a +2.7 mph improvement over his 2009 average of 108.9 mph. Nearly 50 percent of his drives landed between 280 and 300 yards in 2011 (1 in every 2 tee shots). This is large improvement over his previous two seasons on TOUR. In 2010, 1 in every 4 of his drives ( 25 percent) landed in the 280-to-300 yard range.
  
• The 2011 season is the first time in the last three years where Donald began to avoid one side of the course from the tee. This year, he ranked 14th on TOUR for right rough tendency (11.4 percent). This is a large improvement over his prior two seasons (2010 -- 16.1 percent rank of 141st; 2009 -- 14.2 percent rank of 96th).
  

https://www.pgatour.com/news/2011/11/07/donald-shotlink.html

Jordan Spieth (Speith) - same thing happening?

 

 

 

 

Fergie-- Seriously you may be on to something--- I always thought Luke and Chucky Three Sticks had gotten too mechanical----- And if he is having back problems I feel sorry for him because I can relate

 

It's amazing how many pros have fallen into the trap of trying to change too much over the years.

I can think of a few guys that left stuff alone and did pretty good

Bruce Lietzke (RIP)

Hale Irwin (3-USOPEN)

Dr. Gil Morgan (NARD)

Arnold Palmer (RIP)

I could see it happening sooner rather than later.

 

He has done a few stints with Sky Sports covering golf and he seemed to enjoy it. The Sky team is becoming quite a dynamic younger team with the likes of Dougherty now fronting the coverage. Donald was a good fit with that at the events he was involved in.

 

Contrast that with his game being nowhere near the level that it used to be. He was never been long nor straight but it seems like he is shorter and more crooked than ever and whilst his putting stills seems to be above average, it is not at the unfathomably good level it was back at the beginning of the decade.

 

Adding all of that up to the fact that he has millions in the bank, a wife, three young daughters and he himself is 41, is he really going to be grinding like he did when he was 30 to get to where he did? I can't see it but I can see Sky throwing a good few thousand at him which will give him plenty of spending money with all of his other millions being a great cushion for him.

 

Luke is highly articulate and intelligent, so no chance of appearing on Sky then!

 

Ha. To be fair they're pretty good overall on Sky. I'd be happy to see Donald replace Mark Roe though, who is bad.

 

Do you think so?

Save for Nick Doherty, who is very good in front of the camera, and Tony Johnstone who is quite witty, self effacing and exceptionally knowledgeable about the bushveld, you could ditch the rest for me; Beemer barely seems to know what he's going to say when he starts a sentence. Radar plays the brash Aussie too much. Coltart answers every question with another question. They all treat McGinley like he's some kind of sage just because he won a home Ryder Cup. Butch is past it, so is Euan. And don't get me started on Mark Roe!!

I was happy enough with what you were saying until you said that Butch and Euan are past it. The two of them bounce of each other brilliantly in the commentary booth. I have grown up listening to them on Sky Sports and cannot see past them when it comes to commentary. When you added Livo in the studio, that was the dream team right there.

I could see it happening sooner rather than later.

 

He has done a few stints with Sky Sports covering golf and he seemed to enjoy it. The Sky team is becoming quite a dynamic younger team with the likes of Dougherty now fronting the coverage. Donald was a good fit with that at the events he was involved in.

 

Contrast that with his game being nowhere near the level that it used to be. He was never been long nor straight but it seems like he is shorter and more crooked than ever and whilst his putting stills seems to be above average, it is not at the unfathomably good level it was back at the beginning of the decade.

 

Adding all of that up to the fact that he has millions in the bank, a wife, three young daughters and he himself is 41, is he really going to be grinding like he did when he was 30 to get to where he did? I can't see it but I can see Sky throwing a good few thousand at him which will give him plenty of spending money with all of his other millions being a great cushion for him.

 

Luke is highly articulate and intelligent, so no chance of appearing on Sky then!

 

Ha. To be fair they're pretty good overall on Sky. I'd be happy to see Donald replace Mark Roe though, who is bad.

 

Do you think so?

Save for Nick Doherty, who is very good in front of the camera, and Tony Johnstone who is quite witty, self effacing and exceptionally knowledgeable about the bushveld, you could ditch the rest for me; Beemer barely seems to know what he's going to say when he starts a sentence. Radar plays the brash Aussie too much. Coltart answers every question with another question. They all treat McGinley like he's some kind of sage just because he won a home Ryder Cup. Butch is past it, so is Euan. And don't get me started on Mark Roe!!

 

I was happy enough with what you were saying until you said that Butch and Euan are past it. The two of them bounce of each other brilliantly in the commentary booth. I have grown up listening to them on Sky Sports and cannot see past them when it comes to commentary. When you added Livo in the studio, that was the dream team right there.

Ewen Murray is excellent and Butch is pretty funny. They seem to genuinely enjoy each other's company, which comes across in the broadcasts they do together.

Sad that “Butch” and “Livo” have called it a day on Sky .

I like “Radar” .

Murray is still class but rest of them with their false banter are woeful . Or should I say “Roe-ful”?

In fact even Murray is probably considered too old school now .

Younger viewers are not interested in the stuff Alliss waffles on about , hence Sky going for more contemporary presenters . Sadly they use likes of Boxall and Roe and Lee ! Their “banter” is absolutely lifting .

I struggled to watch the Honda last night when Roe was commentating. I can understand Sky using their own team for the Majors and Euro events but I they seem to be commentating more and more on regular PGA tour events. Wonder why this is?

Jordan Spieth (Speith) - same thing happening?

 

 

 

 

Fergie-- Seriously you may be on to something--- I always thought Luke and Chucky Three Sticks had gotten too mechanical----- And if he is having back problems I feel sorry for him because I can relate

 

It's amazing how many pros have fallen into the trap of trying to change too much over the years.

 

 

I can think of a few guys that left stuff alone and did pretty good

 

Bruce Lietzke (RIP)

Hale Irwin (3-USOPEN)

Dr. Gil Morgan (NARD)

Arnold Palmer (RIP)

 

Phil Mickelson

Updated for accuracy...

I heard through the grapevine, that Luke was gonna start a YouTube channel.

:)