Changing swing coaches tough call for Donald
Luke Donald and Pat Goss have been together since their days together at Northwestern over a decade ago when Goss guided a young Donald to collegiate prominence — and beyond.
That’s what made Donald’s recent decision to drop Goss as his swing coach and replace him with Jason Dufner’s swing coach Chuck Cook so difficult.
“Outside of telling my brother I didn’t want him to caddie for me anymore, it was probably the second toughest decision I’ve ever had to make on the golf course,” Donald admitted. “I’ve had a lot of success with Pat, and I got to No. 1 and certainly would never take anything away from what we did together.
“But it’s a feeling — as a player you always know what you feel inside, and I want to just feel a little bit more in control of my ball when I’m over it. Hopefully the switch to Chuck, that will come about.”
But the switch doesn’t mean the end of Donald’s relationship with Goss.
“I’ll continue to have Pat as a mentor and have him work on my short game,” he said. “I think he’s one of the best short game coaches in the world, and obviously he’s proven that with me.
“He understood it perfectly. He’s always wanted me to be as good as I can be and make those decisions that I think will make that difference in my career.”
Premier pairing:Move over ZZ Top, move Rush #151; the power trio that will be rockin#146; Conway Farms on Thursday and Friday will be Henrik Stenson, Tiger Woods and Adam Scott, who are 1-2-3 in the FedExCup point standings.That trio tees off Thursday at 10:53 a.m. on No. 10, and Friday at noon on the first tee. Wheaton#146;s Kevin Streelman is grouped with Bill Haas and Hunter Mahan and goes off Thursday at 11:59 a.m. on No. 10. Meanwhile, the friendliest/nicest pairing has to be the Justin Rose, Steve Stricker and Brandt Snedeker grouping, which goes off at 10:42 on the tenth tee Thursday. Who knew?FedExCup points leader, Henrik Stenson, the seemingly serious guy with the intense eyes? Evidently the guy is quite the prankster.He regaled the media Tuesday with a couple of his exploits, including this one:Ÿ#147;I bought this electric pen back in the day in Shanghai, and I walked around asking everybody, #145;I don#146;t think I#146;ve got your e-mail address,#146; and whenever they took the pen they got an electric shock so they dropped the it.#147;Yeah, that was good. I#146;ve got a few good stories.#148;Drive for show:During Tuesday#146;s practice round, the par-4, 15th hole was playing 337 yards downhill and a number of players were easily driving the green.Of course that could all change this weekend when the wind is expected to shift and come in more from the north and east, right into the players#146; faces.He said it:#147;I#146;m not the host ... especially if people don#146;t like the golf course, then I#146;m definitely not the host.#148;#151; Luke Donald