Is it me or is Luke Donald's driver really short?

i really find that his driver is super short.. hmmmmm

i know it's rude to compare length.. but can't help it.. HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA

It's ard 44.75 if I am not wrong.

i tot it looks much shorter than that.. hahahahaha

Its short la....

I was in such situation my last 2 games....short and first to hit 2nd shot....

sorry.. i wasn't too clear.. I'm referring to the shaft length.. not driving distance..

Driver, or length of his drives?

Luke tried to change his swing recently to get more length, didn't work out, and now he's back to his previous rather short tee shot.

And judging from today, not very accurate either sometimes.

I think luke donald driving distance is also short in the tour...

But who cares? He's World No. 1!!!

Anyone else also noticed he has the R11s and the RBZ 3 wood in play?

Yeah, I saw his R11. Didn't see the RBZ. I guess his irons are Mizunos but the rest comes from everywhere

I think Bubba Watson's Ping driver is only 44 inch.

crayon33 wrote:

Anyone else also noticed he has the R11s and the RBZ 3 wood in play?

I notice that too.... How come? Can mix sponsor meh?

Luke donalds sand saves and overall game is very solid. He is not a bomb and gouge type of player but plays a lot holes like how most of us play our social games. Sometimes laying up on the long par 4s.

Was watching golf channel a few days back before the Dubai open, the commentators were talking about Luke. He is ranked 125th in driving distance. For distances 150 to 50 yards, it's arguably that he is the best in that distance. Also, last year, he was probably the best putterer on tour.

So in layman terms: he can't drive, but he can definitely arrive.

nientsu wrote:

Was watching golf channel a few days back before the Dubai open, the commentators were talking about Luke. He is ranked 125th in driving distance. For distances 150 to 50 yards, it's arguably that he is the best in that distance. Also, last year, he was probably the best putterer on tour.

So in layman terms: he can't drive, but he can definitely arrive.

I'll take his game any day! He's not a bomber but more a surgeon. Methodical and precise.

Sounds like u!

Luke short game is really superb.

Watch the Round 2 game...had just a short sleep

Kept changing channels...LOL
between HSBC Euro Tour & US Farmers Tour

It would seem Luke's sharp short game may not enough when longer players like Tiger or Rory are both finding fairways and also putting well, as day 3 of Abu Dhabi HSBC is showing so far.

Luke is putting very well when he is on the green, but missing too many fairways leads to missing too many greens, leads to many dropped shots before reaching the green and T55 after 3 days.

When the course does not punish errant tee shots too much, Luke will do well.

Lets not forget I mentioned sometime ago that Luke once held the record for most consecutive number of holes without a THREE putt.

The streak ended in Oct 2011 at 449 holes.

Yes, thats almost 25 rounds of competitive golf......

OFF THE TEE
In 2011, Donald averaged 284.1 yards from the tee ranking T-147th on TOUR for driving distance. This year he ranked 57th on TOUR for driving accuracy (64 percent) compared to his 120th ranking on TOUR in 2010 (62 percent).

Longer Off the Tee:
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 a 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.

ON THE GREENS

Donald has been the best putter on the PGA TOUR in each of the last three years, ranking first for strokes gained -- putting.

Best Putter on TOUR: In 2011, Donald out performed the field by +.844 strokes per round with the putter. This worked out to over 3 strokes per four-round event better than the field on the greens (+3.376 strokes gained -- putting in a four-round event). Luke was 1 of just 5 players on TOUR with a perfect putting record inside 3 feet in 2011. Donald went a perfect 529 for 529 when putting inside 3 feet this season.

Avoiding 3-putts: In 2011, Donald played 1,206 holes on the PGA TOUR and had 15 total 3-putts (fewest on TOUR). This worked out to one 3-putt every 80 holes played for Donald. In comparison, the average PGA TOUR player 3-putted once every 32 holes played in 2011. Since 2009, Donald has played 3,798 holes with just 61 total 3-putts. He continues to improve on his 3-putt avoidance in each year since 2009. Starting on the 8th hole in the 3rd round of the RBC Canadian, Donald went a TOUR record 483 holes without recording a 3-putt. This is the longest streak recorded in a single season since 2003.

Thanks jurongtiger, for the interesting stats. We can see why LD is currently world no. 1.

To add another perspective to the discussion respectfully, the current Abu Dhabi HSBC tournament shows another side of the statistical story.

Abu Dhabi's course is set up to reward accurate distance. Anything short or not accurate, or in Luke's case, sometimes both, is punished.

So far, after Day 3, in terms of GIR putts, LD took 68 while Tiger took a whopping 83 putts.

In terms of total putts, Luke took 91 putts to Tiger's 93, two strokes better.

So, strictly from the perspective of putting, Luke has better stats than Tiger in the tournament so far.

But Luke is par, while Tiger is -11. So strokes are being lost before ever reaching the green.

Remember, in terms of total putts, Luke is two strokes better. So, Luke gave up 13 strokes to Tiger in getting to the green over 3 days, averaging 4.33 strokes per day, per 18 holes.

Next, lets look at distance and accuracy. Luke hit 24 out of 42 fairways. Rory hit only 17! That's 7 better for Luke. However, Luke got 38 GIR while Rory 41. That's 3 better for Rory. What may explain this 10-point gap? Driving distance.

Luke averaged 270 yards over 3 days. Rory, 301.5 yards. That's 31.5 yards, easily up to 2-3 clubs advantage. So, when Rory missed, he up to 2-3 clubs nearer to the green, provided those are not wild misses, he had enough power and accuracy to still hit the greens. Remember, these are fast greens, so shots from further away landing at a more shallow angle are harder to stop on the green. As a result, when Rory hits the greens, he is closer, requiring only 82 putts compared to Luke's 91. That's a massive 9 putts difference and distance of tee shots and approach shots had a lot to do with it.

So why is Luke world no. 1? Consistency. If you are consistently avoiding risks while having a great short game and putting, you can be no. 1 even without a major.

Bit Luke would do well to selectively choose tournaments where errant or short tee shots are not punished as severely as Abu Dhabi. Of course, appearance fees help somewhat.

Drive for show, putt for dough? Well, seems it depends on the course layout, and whether your longer driving opponent can also putt pretty ok.

Peace.

(For the stat junkies among us, more stats in the Tiger Watch thread....)