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Golfreiser
 Luke
Donald og kona venter sitt andre barn snart. Det prioriteres høyt i familien.
Det fører til at Luke Donald ikke stiller i en meget rik turnering
29.10 Verdens beste spiller:
Dropper turnering - støtter
konas fødsel
Luke Donald er i ferd med å stå øverst på pallen på
begge sider av Atlanteren. Han velger imidlertid familie framfor 7 millioner
dollarsturneringen i Kina i november.
Her er hva Tim Maitland skriver om dette:
Baby Comes First As Donald Ducks Shanghai Sortie
29th October, Hong Kong
Tim Maitland
World number one golfer Luke Donald has reluctantly cancelled his trip to next
week’s WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai to be with his wife for the birth of their
second child. The Englishman, who is trying to become the first player in
history to win the money lists on both sides of the Atlantic, had been hoping
that the daughter they are expecting would conveniently arrive this week.
Donald, who had his bags packed and was ready to go, finally conceded on Friday
that family had to take precedence over the US$7 million event in China and his
quest to get into the record books.
“It’s important for my wife and it’s important for me to make sure that I’m
around to support her. It’s no coincidence that the birth of our first daughter
inspired me to some really great golf. Family does put a lot of things into
perspective; my job is very important but the family out-trumps everything,”
said the 33-year-old Englishman in a phone interview from his home in the
Chicago suburbs.
Professionally, Donald has every reason to want to be in Shanghai for the
WGC-HSBC Champions. With five weeks left on the European Tour schedule he leads
the Race to Dubai by over 1.3 million Euros from Rory McIlroy. He also has
previous form at the Sheshan International Golf Club. He finished third, albeit
by ten and nine shots, behind Italy’s Francesco Molinari and fellow Englishman
Lee Westwood whose ‘Duel on the Bund’ head-to-head battle earned comparisons
with the legendary ‘Duel in the Sun’ Open Championship in 1977.
“It speaks volumes for the tournament. I got to witness it as the third man in
that group. I was a few shots back – I didn’t have my best golf – but it was
nice to see the quality of the golf down the stretch from both players; it was a
fitting end to a great event,” Donald said, despite admitting to being what the
English would call a ‘gooseberry’.
“I actually was feeling a bit ‘third wheel’. To finish third was actually a
pretty good accomplishment. I was struggling with my game big time and I was
using every bit of energy and strength just to give myself a chance to get into
that final group. I didn’t have control of the golf ball. I was a little bit
frustrated with my own game but it was still nice to see how it should have been
done!” he explained.
“It’s a world-class golf course – a long course – and it’s produced some great
winners. That’s the biggest bonus about the tournament: the winners have been
world-class players. Francesco last year, how well he played down the stretch
fending off Lee Westwood… that’s always a mark of a good tournament when it
produces good winners,” he said, referring to a roll of honour that includes
Phil Mickelson twice, Sergio Garcia and Asia’s first male Major champion ‘YE’
Yang Yong-Eun.
Donald added that the recent controversy over the last-minute decision to delay
mailing out the ballots for the PGA Tour Player of the Year voting had nothing
to do with his choice to stay by his wife’s side. Donald won the Children’s
Miracle Network Classic at Disneyworld to claim the PGA Tour’s money list, but
described holding off posting the voting slips to the players until after
Shanghai, because a WGC win for a PGA Tour player might impact the outcome, as ‘sketchy’.
“I have no problem with them including the HSBC Champions, they should! It was
just the timing of it. The thing that disappointed me is that the schedule has
been the same all year. I feel bad for the Asian golf fans that they didn’t see
that. It’s something that should have been known at the beginning of the year,
not the day after Disney. The goalposts moved. It’s like running a marathon for
26 miles, crossing the finish line and then they say ‘actually we’re going to
make it 27 miles’. It’s just the timing of it. It’s an important event; to have
a WGC outside the US and such a big event in Asia. I’ve supported it the last
few years when I’ve been eligible. I would be there if it wasn’t for the baby,”
he said, adding that headlines describing him as ‘angered’ or ‘upset’ were wide
of the mark.
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