Luke Donald arrives rested in bid for first major

Former world No. 1 Luke Don­ald said a slight break leading up to the Masters Tour­nament is nothing new for him as he prepares to get over the major hump this week.

Donald’s most recent tournament was the Malaysian Open, where he missed the cut March 24. He has two third-place finishes and four top-20 finishes on the Euro­pean Tour since October.

Donald hasn’t played in the U.S. since March 17 in the Tam­pa Bay Championship, where he finished fourth in his best stateside tournament so far this year. He has three top-20 finishes in four tournaments on the PGA Tour.

“Coming into this week, I’ve had three weeks off before,” he said. “I don’t think my break has been too different. I had to think a lot about my schedule, playing both tours and, obviously, having the middle of the year be very busy.”

Donald said he wanted to spend time working on his game. He came to Augusta Na­tional Golf Club last week and played Friday and Satur­day, getting extra work on a course where he feels comfortable. He has played in eight Masters, making six cuts. His best finish is a tie for third in 2005.

“It’s obviously familiarity and technique that helps,” he said. “Knowing the greens and knowing the speed, and seeing the ball just drop in. I’m not a putter that likes to hit the ball hard, and having fast greens is probably a benefit for me.”

Donald has two top-5 finishes in the Masters but continues to seek his first major victory.

“It’s just being patient, waiting for my turn to come,” he said. “It’s frustrating sometimes. When you have that background of good results, then you know good things are going to happen.”