Get a Tour Short Game

Luke Donald, the former World No. 1, is on his way back his best, thanks to a renewed short-game focus

Donald hits into the final green at Wentworth during the BMW PGA Championship in 2011

Short-Game Work as a Junior

I had that base of natural ability you need to work off. Some people find it harder than others, but the game came relatively easy to me as a kid. I guess that’s why I fell in love with it. I loved playing. I enjoyed putting in the time and wanted to practice my craft whenever I could. I grew up in the era of Seve and Faldo, but Seve was an inspiration. He had one of the greatest short games of all time with his imagination and touch.

I remember in practice I’d put myself in plugged lies, deep rough and on the edge of trees and try and get up and down. It’s that imagination and practicing real-life scenarios that got me to where I am now. As a kid I didn’t think too much about technique. I had the odd lesson, then when I started to get good, around 13 or 14, I had England coaching, where there was more of a focus on fundamentals. But certainly now, my practice is half situation-based to replicate on-course challenges and half repetition of fundamentals. It might be different to some guys out on Tour but it seems to work for me.

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Written by Luke Donald

Photography by AFP

Click here to see the published article.

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