"The future of golf is now and it is not the 6ft 5in 'bomber.'"
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In the wake of Luke Donald's double money-list title winning year and his impressive display of skill around the world, Lawrence Donegan declares a shift away from the bomber approach we've seen of late.
Donald is no skinny runt. He is fitter than your average Joe Blow, and he is certainly fitter than he used to be, but he is hardly likely to be mistaken for an Olympic weightlifter. He is a 5ft 10in Englishman who is versed in the sport's subtler skills; who has thought deeply about what it would take to dominate; who has developed a plan and who has executed that plan to stunning effect.
The parallels between football and golf are hardly obvious but in some ways it is possible to imagine Donald as the Barcelona of the Royal and Ancient game; proof positive that the least important weapon in the armoury of the modern athlete is physical stature, that skill allied with intelligence is an irresistible combination, regardless of the sport.
While Lionel Messi and his team‑mates have transported football into an uncharted and wondrous place, Luke Donald has performed an equally valuable service for his own sport. He has saved golf from the brutes. He has reminded its practitioners and its spectators that nothing matters more than skill.
"I think people are taking notice of what I have done and how I have done it," he said when I asked him if he thought he had redefined the way that professional golf is played.
Too right people are taking notice. If not, they will be left behind.
**Donald wins Player of the Year, as voted by his peers. Steve Elling writes:
"What I like about his game is that it's old school," American Ryder Cupper Hunter Mahan said Tuesday.
"Fairways, greens and an incredible short game. He makes everything inside 10 feet. Mentally, he is tough as hell.
"He made a commitment to become the best player he could be. He's a golfer and he's not trying to be anything else."
After 10 years on tour, Donald has maximized his strengths, minimized his weaknesses, and continues to climb up the pantheon, taking over the No. 1 spot this year after supplanting then-numero uno Lee Westwood at the European PGA Tour's flagship event at Wentworth. All while many blow it 30 yards past him off the tee.
"I have done a lot of things that people probably didn't give me much of a chance of doing," Donald said from Australia Tuesday. "Consistency goes a long way."
