Monday, April 11, 2011

Luke Donald Comes up Short at Masters

Luke Donald

Luke Donald admitted he 'came up short' after he finished in a share of fourth at the Masters.

Donald had gone in to the tournament on the back of his victory in the par-three warm-up event.

And although no player has subsequently gone on to then win the Masters, Donald looked like he could finally end that jinx.

The WGC-Accenture Match Play champion was right in the mix for the title until the 12th, when his tee-shot led back into Rae's Creek.

Donald rallied with four birdies, though, to finish on 10-under for the tournament alongside Tiger Woods and Geoff Ogilvy.

"It was, I imagine, one of the best Masters to watch," said Donald.

"I dug deep after that five at 12 but unfortunately I've come up short. It was a roller-coaster, but I gave it my best shot."

Justin Rose and Lee Westwoos were the next Brits on the leaderboard, with the duo in a share of 11th with Steve Stricker and Edoardo Molinari.

A final-round 68 completed a superb turnaround for Rose, who had been in danger of missing the cut halfway through his second round.

Westwood, though, saw his hopes derailed with a double-bogey at the 12th - with last year's runner-up eventually carding a 70.

And Westwood was left to rue his putting as finished nine shots off the pace.

"I'm very, very frustrated," he said. "I played tee to green like a man who should have won the tournament but I was abysmal on the greens.

"I went to the belly putter today which I haven't used for six years.

"What's bugging me is that I can't hit the hole from four feet. I gave myself so many chances so to finish on five under is a killer."

Ross Fisher finished on four-under for the tournament, with a double bogey at the 16th hampering his bid to climb the leaderboard.

Scotland's Martin Laird was a shot further back after a pleasing debut at Augusta, while Ian Poulter struggled all day before finishing one-under overall. 

Paul Casey ended on one-over after a closing 71.