Luke Donald Returns to Old Coach

NOT MAKING THE 2014 EUROPEAN Ryder Cup team was a bitter disappointment, former world No. 1 Luke Donald told The Telegraph's James Gorrigan in a recent interview.

Luke Donald (Allison)

"Of course, you always want to play in the Ryder Cup–it’s provided probably my most enjoyable moments in the game. But my desire to play at Gleneagles was heightened because I knew how good Paul would be as a captain. He has been a big influence on me in the Ryder Cup [he partnered McGinley in his very first match in 2004] and I love the way he plans out everything."

The Englishman who dropped from 10th to 34th in the world during the last season will return to his longtime coach, Pat Goss, after a somewhat fruitless 13 months with Chuck Cook. (Cook has worked with Tom Kite, Payne Stewart and, more recently, Jason Dufner.) The Cook swing change that was meant to take Donald's ballstriking to a new level–a move designed to eliminate a flip and use the big muscles more–hasn't panned out.

"Chuck and I talked after I missed out on the Ryder Cup and the Tour Championship," Donald said, "and we agreed that if after 13 months the improvements weren’t coming then it was wise to look elsewhere. Chuck and I still have a great relationship, it’s just that I physically couldn’t do some of it."

As Donald has discovered, getting better is a difficult business when you're already at an elite level. The 36-year-old player still in search of his first major victory also offered this telling comment:

I lost sight of what made me successful. I focused too much on my what I perceived as my weakness and forgot about my strength, which is from 150 yards and in.

Next up for Donald is this week's WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai. Maybe 2015 will be the year Donald gets his mojo back, and maybe 2016 will be the year he returns to the Ryder Cup.

(H/T Will Gray, GolfChannel.com)

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